"Werewolves du jour"
Philippe Mora on the making and selling of Australian myth
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| Howling III: a poster from the Mexican DVD release | When I pitched the idea of a marsupial werewolf film to the powers that be at the time in the Government film funding body, they choked on their latte and I was treated with contempt.
My Daliesque description of marsupial human women with pouches generated expressions of shock, and my argument that marsupials were unique to Aussie culture was met with stony silence. I guess they lacked a certain sense of humour.
A commercial bank came to the rescue and lent us one million dollars to make the film. Later, it sold five million dollars worth of DVDs in the US in a few days. The New York Times startled me with giving the film a great review, mentioning the marsupial birth and a ballerina turning into a werewolf onstage in the Sydney Opera house.
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Howling III: the ballerina werewolf |
Personally, this film was inspired by the newsreel footage at the start of the film of the tragically extinct, but incredible Tasmanian tiger or Thylacine. The faux Latin inscription around the logo reads "Illegitimi Non Carborundum" or "don't let the bastards grind you down."
One of the pleasures of making pop culture is throwing myths into the zeitgeist. There is a special place in my heart for the Australian marsupial werewolf.
Philippe Mora, June 2008.
Read some choice reviews of Howling III, from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Newsday, and The New York Times.
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