Howling III Blu-ray Review

As werewolf films go there actually aren’t very many that I like.  TO be completely honest I am not a fan of The Howling.  I saw it was I was a kid and didn’t like it.  After being told how nuts I was I watched it again in my 20’s, then again a few times in my 30’s. At that point I realized I was not going to change my mind.  I think the fact I found the film dull was my main reason for not enjoying it.  I did however enjoy some of the sequels.  Primarily because they were basically insane.  The most ridiculous of the bunch has to be part 3.  And I mean that in a good way.

The Howling 3 takes us to Australia where we meet a young girl named Jeroba.  She is a werewolf who is being molested by her stepfather. One day she has enough and runs away.  She heads to the city and runs into a man named Donny. He’s an American who is casting for a horror film. He likes what he sees in here, arranges an audition, and she gets the part. It’s a werewolf film, and when she disagrees with the transformation scene she decides to tell Donny that she in fact is a werewolf.  He just assumes she’s nuts but has sex with her anyways.  During there intercourse her sees that her stomach has white hair all over it. This doesn’t seem to freak him.

After the movie is done filming Jeroba attends the wrap party.  The party in question has strobe lights flashing about and they trigger a transformation in her.  She runs out before anyone can see but gets hit by a car.  She’s taken to the hospital where the doctors notice her fur, a pouch, and the fact that she is pregnant. Her family track her down and take her back to their wolf town, while this is going on another woman performing at the ballet begins to transform into a werewolf and is quickly captured. And then she just as quickly escapes.  She in turn flees to the werewolf town just as Jeroba is giving birth to the half human half werewolf baby. From there is gets even more nuts as the government assembles a team to raid the town and capture the werewolves, but the werewolves can summon a ghost wolf for protection. 

Now I have to warn you that this film is PG-13 so the gore in it is toned down.  Don’t get me wrong there are gore scenes just a tad tamer then the series is used to.  The transformation scenes look great and you get a nice handful of them.  It’s the totally insane story that I dug.  I mean this film manages to trace werewolves back to Tasmanian devils.  What film does that?  See werewolf films are usually more series in tone.  This one is just plain crazy which to me is what sets it apart and makes it fun to watch.

Because of the plot the film developed a cult following over the years and now Scream Factory, who have already put out the original and part 2 are bringing out part 3. The transfer is stunning just like everything they do.  The film looks great from the city scenes, to the outback, all the colors are great.  The night scenes look amazing as well.  The audio is crisp and Scream Factory did a great job on the special features as always.

• NEW Digital Transfer Sponsored By The National Film And Sound Archive Of Australia
• NEW Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Philippe Mora, Moderated By Filmmaker Jamie Blanks
• NEW A Conversation With Philippe Mora – An Interview With The Writer/Director
• Vintage Interviews From The Documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!By Director Mark Hartley
• Theatrical Trailer

Fans of the series will enjoy this outing just as much as the others.  If you’re a fan it’s a must buy.  If you have never seen it before, or like me were not a fan of the original definitely pick this one up.  It’s probably the most original werewolf film you will ever see.  It’s a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.
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Overall 3.5 out of 5 Stars!