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The beautiful Imogen Annesley stars as Jerboa, a marsupial werewolf who runs away from her tribe, ending up in the movie business, where she entrances a young man named Donny (Lee Biolos). The trouble begins when the true nature of her anatomy becomes obvious to authorities. Meanwhile, a scientist named Beckmeyer (Barry Otto) and his associate Sharp (Ralph Cotterill) go about proving that others of Jerboas' species exist. This leads to a standard story thread where some in authority see the marsupial werewolf as a threat that must be eliminated; Beckmeyer wants to do everything he can to spare them.
"Based" on Gary Brandners' novel, but re-imagined by director Philippe Mora (who'd also directed the infamous "Howling II"), this is a low budget production that proudly wears its Aussie origins on its sleeve. The words "upbeat" and "eccentric" definitely apply to this original take on the sub genre. Mora goes for a tongue in cheek approach, yet the film is not devoid of an odd, interesting poignancy. This is due to the fact that some of the main characters are rather endearing, and the viewer may very well wish for a happy ending for them. The werewolf effects are pretty damn cheesy, which helps to create a feeling of camp at times.
Annesley is not a great actress, but at least she's pleasing to watch. The eclectic cast includes a couple of Aussie icons in cameo roles: Michael Pate as the President, Frank Thring (who's quite funny) as an Alfred Hitchcock-style director, and Barry Humphries, who turns up at the end as his Dame Edna Everage character. Otto, Max Fairchild as Thylo, and Dagmar Blahova as Olga are all pretty good considering the nutty nature of the film in which they're appearing.
The "Howling" franchise does have a reputation for horrible sequels, but in truth (or at least this viewers' humble opinion), most of them do have entertaining attributes about them. And "Howling III" has a quirky charm that makes it impossible to just dismiss outright.
Six out of 10.
score 6/10
Hey_Sweden 16 May 2019
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4857070/ |
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28-2-2021 12:07:08