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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Howling III: The Marsupials (Blu-ray) (1987)
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Howling III: The Marsupials (Blu-ray) (1987)
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Released 6-Mar-2019
This review is sponsored by
Details At A Glance
| General |
Extras |
| Category |
Comedy / Horror |
Audio Commentary-with Philippe Mora
Audio Commentary-with Philippe Mora & Jamie Blanks
Interviews-Crew-Colonial Lycanthropy: A Conversation with Philippe Mora
Interviews-Crew-Extended Not Quite Hollywood Interviews
TV Spots
Trailer-x4
Gallery
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| Rating |
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Year Of Production
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1987
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| Running Time |
98:03
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RSDL
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Flipper
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Dual Layered
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Cast & Crew |
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Start Up
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Menu |
| Region Coding |
2,4
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Directed By |
Philippe Mora
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Studio
Distributor |
Umbrella Entertainment
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Starring |
Barry Otto
Ralph Cotterill
Imogen Annesley
Leigh Biolos
Dasha Blahova
Frank Thring
Max Fairchild
Barry Humphries
Michael Pate
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| Case |
Standard Blu-ray |
| RPI |
$19.95
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Music |
Allan Zavod
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NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.
Plot Synopsis
The third instalment in the incredulously long Howling series (eight films and counting), 1987's Howling III: The Marsupials sees the return of Australian filmmaker Philippe Mora (Mad Dog Morgan) as director and co-screenwriter, cooking up a uniquely goofy genre romp set in the wilds of Australia. As a sequel to Joe Dante's The Howling, it is easy to understand the disdain towards Howling III, as this is a standalone entry which does not feel like an organic continuation of the original classic and is not connected to its predecessor. However, the film is an entertaining success if taken as a bizarre, completely off-the-nails '80s Ozploitation comedy-horror, as flawed as it definitely is.
In Australia, a clan of marsupial werewolves live in isolation and relative peace in a rural bush town, let by Thylo (Max Fairchild). Werewolf Jerboa (the gorgeous Imogen Annesley) escapes her tribe, fleeing to the streets of Sydney where she meets an American named Donny (Leigh Biolos), who is working on a low-budget horror film and wants to recruit the runaway for a role in the production. Jerboa and Donny rapidly fall in love, but Jerboa's true animalistic nature is soon revealed to the world. Meanwhile, Australian anthropologist Beckmeyer (Barry Otto) is determined to uncover the truth behind the continent's long-standing werewolf secrets, joining scientist Professor Sharp (Ralph Cotterill) in his investigations.
On paper, Howling III is based on Gary Brandner's novel The Howling III: Echoes, but the film actually bears no resemblance to its literary source. Storytelling is inconsistent throughout, as Mora throws a lot at the wall to see what sticks - most bizarrely, the film establishes that a camera crew is following The President of the United States (Michael Pate), but the distinction between the purported "found footage" and the film footage does not exist, and no additional references to a camera crew are uttered after the five-minute mark. For some reason, too, the American government is heavily involved in Australian affairs, and Jerboa ostensibly does not hold any grudges against Thylo in the third act despite the fact that he sexually abused her (which is why she left the tribe in the first place). However, the mythology behind Howling III is sufficiently fascinating, connecting the Aussie lycanthropes to the extinct Tasmanian Tiger, and the film actually has a message about tolerance and peace, reminding us that werewolves are people, too.
There are fun ideas throughout Howling III, including a transformation sequence during a ballet as well as a scene in which Jerboa gives birth in marsupial fashion. One poor extra is even thrown off a building, set to the tune of the A.J. Brown song "All Fall Down." Nevertheless, Mora's vision is held back by a noticeable lack of funds; the prosthetic effects are cheap and phoney, a military raid on the werewolf pack involves merely a dozen soldiers, and a short scene at the Oscars was obviously filmed in a tiny room. There is a certain charm to this cheapness, though your mileage will vary depending on your tolerance for this type of cinema. As a horror movie, Howling III noticeably lacks bite as well, and even though a couple of attack sequences are well-edited, Mora strangely keeps things PG-13, shying away from the type of overzealous gore (and cheap nudity) that we come to expect from campy horror. Furthermore, rather than closing with a big finish, Howling III instead fizzles out with a minor showdown followed by a peculiar extended prologue, solidifying this as a cult curiosity as opposed to a genuine genre classic.
At the very least, Howling III: The Marsupials never takes itself too seriously; for crying out loud, one of the characters even asks "Wanna put a shrimp on the barbie?" The performers all understand what type of movie this is, and play the material accordingly without winking at the camera. Frank Thring (Ben-Hur, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) is especially amusing as an eccentric film director. In a sea of werewolf flicks and Howling sequels, Howling III stands out because it proudly wears its heritage on its sleeve; the more Australian it gets, the more fun it is to watch. It's not a strong endeavour, but it's a fun enough waste of 94 minutes.
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Transfer Quality
Video
Another Ozploitation title that has long been relegated to subpar VHS and DVD releases, Howling III: The Marsupials was subjected to a full restoration by Frame, Set and Match in 2015, sponsored by the National Film & Sound Archive. According to the NFSA, the restoration involved a 4K scan of the original camera negative, though it is unclear whether or not the remaster was actually completed at 2K or 4K resolution. For the movie's long-awaited Australian Blu-ray debut, Umbrella Entertainment have placed the movie on a dual-layered BD-50, with an astonishing average video bitrate of 35.39 Mbps which is one of the best we've seen from this indie Aussie label. Prior to this release, Howling III was released on Blu-ray in the U.S. by Timeless Media Group in 2010, but it was an extremely poor SD upscale that is unwatchable, by all accounts. Umbrella's Blu-ray is therefore a complete revelation, giving new life to this maligned cult title - it looks as great as any catalogue remaster from a big-time boutique label like Arrow Video or Shout! Factory. In fact, Shout! Factory actually obtained this particular remaster for their own Blu-ray release in the United States.
First things first, the optical shots throughout the movie look like absolute garbage. In addition to frozen specks of dirt, the optical shots (i.e. shots involving transitions and titles) are soft and exhibit severe frozen grain, which initially had me worried about the quality of the presentation. However, once we get past the opening titles and onto the first generation material, Howling III looks downright sensational in high definition: sharp, detailed, stable and vivid. Admittedly, a smattering of film artefacts are still evident, including various hairs and white specks, in addition to instances of telecine wobble which often coincide with cuts. With that said, though, I was surprised by the stability of the opening titles against black, as gate weave is very subtle and kept to an absolute minimum. Indeed, it's clear that the restoration process was extensive, and the film was treated with tender loving care despite its shonky reputation. A light layer of welcome film grain coats the presentation, and thankfully Umbrella's competent encode ensures it's consistently well-refined as opposed to chunky or blocky; there are no signs of macroblocking, nor is there any aliasing, banding, or other encoding anomalies. However, I did detect tell-tale signs of digital noise reduction - although there is grain, there's also some slight smeariness to the image. This isn't noticeable on my 55" television, but it became instantly evident on my 65" screen, which is disappointing.
The level of fine detail on display is consistently eye-popping for a film of this vintage and budget, and in fact the transfer is unflattering towards the cheap prosthetics and make-up effects. Close-ups reveal the most amount of detail on faces and costumes (see the extreme close-ups of Frank Thring at the 20-minute mark), though medium and wide shots are still mostly impressive, particularly in generous lighting. Grain spikes under lower lighting, such as when Jerboa scares away the two men whilst lying on the park bench at night, or the party scene at 22 minutes, but it's still nicely refined and serves to accentuate the textures, though mileage may vary for "grain haters." It's clear that the opticals were all severely hit with the DNR stick, which erases fine detail and leaves these shots looking soft and muddy. How interesting that some grain-heavy darker scenes weren't subjected to the same level of DNR. During the first generation material, however, the transfer is sharp for the most part; Otto's facial hair is extremely well defined, for instance. Colours are mostly strong, though the transfer lacks some vibrancy and balance in some scenes, with milky blacks. Still, skin tones look pleasing, and there's appreciable lushness to the greenery in the third act. There's no doubt that the presentation could be improved with 4K encoding and High Dynamic Range, but that's neither here nor there.
Despite its shortcomings, Howling III: The Marsupials looks pretty d*** good for its high definition debut, and both videophiles and casual movie fans should be able to appreciate it. I'm not sure that the film was necessarily worth such an extensive restoration, but here we are. I just wish that the restoration team didn't feel the need to apply some DNR to reduce the grain, as the slight smeariness is the only disappointing aspect of the presentation.
English subtitles for the hearing impaired are included.
Video Ratings Summary
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Audio
Aside from the audio commentaries, the disc's sole audio option is a lossless, 24-bit DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. Howling III was not originally mixed in 5.1; it was remixed for home video. Purists may want the original audio, but as far as I can tell, no sound effects have been altered or replaced, making it true to the original mix. Surround sound activity is subtle, with the track sounding more like a stereo mix as there isn't much in the way of noticeable separation or panning, but there is still appreciable use of the surround channels - in the opening sequence, sounds of wind and birds noticeably extend to the rear channels, while the buzzing of electrical equipment is isolated to the rear at 29:55, and music frequently comes through all available speakers. However, in other scenes, the rear channels are silent as the presentation is purely front-centric - this includes virtually any dialogue scene that's without any environmental ambience or music. This is par for the course, though, and it's preferable to stay true to the original presentation as opposed to adding extra things to the soundscape during the remix.
It's clear that, like the video, the audio received an extensive, loving restoration. The sound is hindered by the recording equipment of the era, but the track is nevertheless satisfyingly clear, with perfectly-prioritised dialogue and effective sound effects. There isn't much in the way of noticeable LFE or subwoofer activity, though the audio does sound sufficiently deep nevertheless. Thankfully, I was unable to detect any hissing, crackling, popping, sync issues or drop-outs. All things considered, Howling III: The Marsupials sounds terrific on Blu-ray.
Audio Ratings Summary
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Extras
A collection of audio commentaries, interviews, and marketing materials. This is more extensive than most were probably expecting. The main menu features extended clips of the movie, in keeping with Umbrella's usual modus operandi.
Audio Commentary with Philippe Mora
Director Philippe Mora goes solo for this first commentary track, which is presumably the same track that was recorded for the original DVD release some years ago (he mentions the film was made fourteen years prior, placing the recording in 2001). The director comes in strong from the beginning, talking about his experiences on Howling II, how this third film came about, and his recollections of making The Marsupials. He covers shooting in Sydney, the restrictions of the tight budget (including only being able to do a maximum of two takes for each scene), the casting, and satirising horror movies with the (fake) movie within the movie. The helmer has some funny anecdotes about Frank Thring, and he points out that Imogen Annesley was only seventeen years old when the movie was made. In addition, they didn't get permission to film when Jerboa runs through the arcade in the middle of Sydney. It's also funny to hear about filming with a mouse that was covered in prosthetics to look like a baby werewolf during the birth scene. A dog was even made up to look like a Tasmanian Tiger, but it escaped into the wild, which Mora theorises is the cause of several reported sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger in following years. Another interesting fact is that they repurposed the mechanical pig from Razorback to make it look like a werewolf (it's very obvious after learning this). Towards the end of the track, as Mora struggles to find more things to talk about and leaves more dead space, he highlights the difficulty of doing a commentary track for the full length of the movie. He ends the track and stops speaking at the beginning of the Oscar ceremony.
Audio Commentary with Philippe Mora & Jamie Blanks
Filmmaker Jamie Blanks moderates a discussion with Mora about Howling III throughout this feature-length commentary track. It covers the same familiar story of how the movie got funded, and the helmer goes off-topic to speak about moviemaking experiences prior to getting into the Howling series - a good 40 minutes is more like a biographical discussion of Mora's career, as opposed to another scene-specific commentary. Mora also covers Howling II again, once again pointing out that it was filmed behind the Iron Curtain, though he does have some interesting details to impart about said production. Orson Welles is another topic, again showing that this track doesn't have much relevance to the movie at hand. Mora and Blanks circle back around to Howling III around the 55-minute mark, and Mora actually talks about his insistence that this Blu-ray remaster be created using the original camera negative. Unfortunately, the commentary is mixed a bit too low, especially compared to the volume of the movie itself - it can be heard to comprehend the comments at times. It's nice to have this second commentary, but I can't say it's essential, and I didn't get a great deal out of it.
Colonial Lycanthropy: A Conversation with Philippe Mora (720p; 14:30)
Recently produced by Umbrella Entertainment for this release, here we have a fifteen-minute interview with Mora. He talks about getting funding together for Howling III (that's the third time in this set of extras), his experiences on Howling II (with Christopher Lee), wanting to make an Australian movie, his fascination with the extinct Tasmanian Tiger, his complete distaste for CGI, his appreciation for practical effects, and more. There's inevitable overlap with the commentaries (he mentions the positive New York Times review again), but this is still a worthwhile featurette.
Extended Not Quite Hollywood Interviews (720p; 18:55)
A staple of Umbrella's Ozploitation titles, here we have 19 minutes of extended interviews about Howling III which were shot by Mark Hartley for Not Quite Hollywood, featuring director Mora as well as special make-up effects artist Bob McCarron. There are fascinating tidbits to take from this extra, though there is overlap with the previous extras. It's particularly interesting to hear that Nicole Kidman was considered for Jerboa, and that Mora deliberately didn't watch the first Howling movie before making his sequels. McCarron speaks about his involvement with the movie, including his first impressions of the bizarre screenplay, and he reflects on the way the horror genre has changed to become more self-serious.
TV Spot (HD; 00:11)
A blink-and-you'll-miss-it TV spot for the film from its original release. Taken from a rough standard definition VHS source, but encoded in 1080p.
Trailer 1 (HD; 1:38)
The first of four trailers on this disc, which gives a lot away and is cheesy as heck. Video quality looks like a respectable DVD, and is clearly an SD source, but it's encoded in 1080p. One cannot help but laugh at the trailer's proclamation that this is "the most terrifying Howling of all!"
Trailer 2 (720p; 2:04)
Another preview, which is just a longer version of the previous trailer. This is taken from a rough VHS source, and is 4:3 full-frame.
Trailer 3 (720p; 2:05)
Like the previous trailer, this is in 4:3 full-frame and is taken from an extremely rough source - the image is blurry and pixelated. Still, a fun inclusion.
Trailer 4 (720p; 1:24)
And a fourth trailer, which is again in 4:3 full-frame and looks like an old YouTube video. A fun little curiosity.
Press Gallery (720p; 4:00)
There are eleven images in this gallery, ranging from newspaper articles to promo stills. This can either be viewed as a silent slideshow, or you can navigate using the buttons on your remote control.
R4 vs R1
NOTE: To view
non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually
also NTSC compatible.
The Region A Shout! Factory release misses out on the following special features:
- Audio Commentary with Philippe Mora
- TV Spot
- Three trailers
- Press Gallery
A UK Blu-ray from Screenbound Pictures is also due for release in October 2019, which only contains an audio commentary (the one with Mora and Jamie Blanks), a trailer, and the "Colonial Lycanthropy" interview featurette. No doubt about this one: at this point in time, the Umbrella disc is the clear winner.
Summary
I will never, in good conscience, call Howling III: The Marsupials a great or even a particularly good movie by any measure, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it. The pure, straight-faced absurdity is sufficiently amusing, and fans of B-grade '80s horror should have a good time with it.
For its Blu-ray debut, Howling III looks and sounds fantastic, thanks to an extensive remaster which breathes new life into this cult title. And Umbrella's encode is immaculate to boot. Throw in a satisfying selection of special features, and this Blu-ray is worth buying - assuming you actually like the movie. Definitely rent before you buy.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
© Callum Knox (I studied biology)
Monday, September 23, 2019
| Review Equipment |
| DVD | Sony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG OLED65E6T.
This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 2160p.
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| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver.
This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
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| Amplification | Samsung Series 7 HT-J7750W |
| Speakers | Samsung Tall Boy speakers, 7.1 set-up |
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