Howling III: The Marsupials (1987) Review

"I think he fell in love with the Russian werewolf."
-Professor Sharp



In Australia, Jerboa (Imogen Annesley) runs away from her werewolf colony and falls in love with a young man, Donny (Leigh Biolos).  Eventually, a group of scientists and military officers discover the the existence of Jerboa and where she is from and have to decide how to handle the werewolf situation.


What Works:

This movie is f**king bizarre.  There isn't another way to describe it.  It's disgusting and weird and even surreal.  There are so many times that I shouted "What the f**k?!" at my TV while watching this.  I have to give the filmmakers props for going as hard as they did.

While it's not handled the best, the romance between Jerboa and Donny is mildly interesting.  She gets pregnant and gives birth to a wolf/human baby.  When she shows Donny, he immediately accepts it and just goes with this weird development.  It's beyond strange, but it was interesting.

Finally, Barry Otto does a good job as the main protagonist.  He plays a scientist who is very sympathetic to the plight of the werewolves and Otto can act, which can't be said about some of his fellow cast members.


What Sucks:

As I mentioned, there are some moments of really bad acting.  Andreas Bayonas is probably the worst example.  He only has one scene, but it's painful.

The werewolf transformations don't look nearly as good as they do in the first two movies.  At best, they look gross, at worst they look stupid.  It's definitely a step down from the previous films.

The kills are also super disappointing.  This movie is rated PG-13, so there is almost no blood.  The kills are beyond lackluster.  Two of them are kinda funny, but none of them look good.

Finally, this movie doesn't really have a 3rd act.  Like 2/3's of the way through the movie, our surviving main characters run off into the outback and live out there for years.  There isn't a big showdown or anything like that.  It's pretty shocking how subdued it is.  I can't really think of another movie that is structured like this and there's a reason for that.  Movies need a 3rd act.


Verdict:

Howling III is definitely the weakest of the first three films.  While I like how weird it gets and Barry Otto does a good job, there is some really bad acting, lackluster kills and effects, and a non-existant 3rd act.  If you like watching extremely weird movies, maybe check this one out to satisfy some morbid curiosity, otherwise stay far away.

 3/10: Really Bad 

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