Ginger Snaps (2001)

An immense success by any stretch of the imagination, the phenomenal "Ginger Snaps" is a winning combination of horror and humor, filled to burst with satire, subversion and plenty of thrills and chills. Even sixteen years after its initial release, it remains a wickedly entertaining and refreshing take on the werewolf legend, courtesy strong visual direction, a witty script and some absolutely wonderful performances. It's a cult masterpiece, and deserves far more attention and admiration than it currently claims. I do firmly believe that it is not only easily amongst the best werewolf films ever made... it is perhaps even among the best horror films ever made.In the Canadian suburbs of Bailey Downs, the Fitzgerald sisters lead a depressive life. Death obsessed Goths who get their kicks creating mocked "murders" for school projects, Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are social misfits who just can't fit in, and have created a suicide pact to murder themselves by age 16 should they still be stuck in their droll, painfully boring life. With a wild animal on the loose that is terrorizing the neighborhood and killing family pets at an alarming rate, the sisters decide to play a prank on their school's resident mean-girl Trina (Danielle Hampton), by making it appear her beloved dog is the latest victim. However, on this fateful night, Ginger also happens to get her first period, and it soon draws the attention of the real beast, which bites and mauls her.Narrowly escaping, the sisters soon realize that the bites are healing at an unnatural rate. Over the following weeks, as Ginger begins her journey into womanhood, Brigitte begins to notice disturbing changes in her sister... changes that might not be from puberty and maturation... but might be the effects of the creature's bite! He sister might be becoming a werewolf! And so, Brigitte must team up with drug-dealer Sam (Kris Lemche), in order to try and use his chemical expertise to find a cure to Ginger's terrible ongoing transformation!Director John Fawcett guides this tale with a sense of visual bravado, expertly crafting a hard-hitting and consistently hilarious mood and tone through keen storytelling. His smooth, flowing camera-work and quirky use of strange angles and occasional ambitious movement has a very nice feeling to it, hearkening back to the good-old days of horror before modern trends of shaky, gritty stylings began to take over. It's very tactful, slow-building and deliberate, which is quite a pleasant surprise for a film that's relatively contemporary.The script is co-written by frequent "Queer as Folk" and "Orphan Black" scribe Karen Walton, who is just a joy. Her quirky dialog and wonderful use of metaphor and subversive humor helps elevate the idea to fantastic new levels. At its heart, it's a story about what it means to become an adult- more specifically, to become a woman. And with its clever use of becoming a monster as a metaphor for puberty, Walton crafts an incredibly wild and entertaining tale that all should be able to relate and identify with. She also injects plenty of pitch-black humor that really helps give the film a unique identity and makes sure to pull the rug out from under you just enough times to keep you on the edge of your seat.The performances are also a vital key- the cast is lovely. Isabelle makes for a wild and unhinged character. She's just a ton of fun, and you get a whole range of emotion from what she does with the Ginger character. You will both laugh and cry thanks to her throughout the entire runtime. Emily Perkins knocks it out of the part as our protagonist Brigitte. Perkins has always been likable and notable in the horror community, thanks to her child-actor roots in films like Stephen King's "It." And here, she really stretches her wings, with an incredible role that's just dripping with everything an actor could want. She commands the role of Brigitte with grace and style. Lemche and Hampton, along with others such as Jesse Moss round out the supporting characters perfectly. In particular the highly likable Lemche, who does a great job with his quirky character. But I gotta give the most props to Mimi Rogers in the wonderfully insane supporting role as the mother of our leads. Rogers is just so much fun, portraying the sort-of perfect "supermom" who begins to show cracks beneath the surface when her idyllic existence is questioned. Perfect role.Add to that a top-notch production, and you have the formula for a classic! Cinematographer Thom Best does an amazing job with the lighting and composition, delivering grand imagery to compliment the story. Editor Brett Sullivan (who went on to direct the sequel "Ginger Snaps: Unleashed") does a fine job with the pacing and piecing together of sequences. And composer Mike Shields delivers the goods with his moody and mournful score. The central theme of the film still stands as just a gorgeous and melancholy composition- one of the finest horror themes in years.It truly is a shame that the film is not a household name, and has been relegated to the status of "cult film." It's a complex, genre- bending masterpiece that delivers non-stop laughs and screams, and it should be highly recognized for this. But it was a sad victim of poor timing, losing much of its audience due to events like the Columbine Massacre and other world tragedies that pushed audiences away from its tale of teens in peril. Here's to hoping that as the years go on, its small but dedicated audience continues to grow and grow. Because this film deserves all the fans it can get!"Ginger Snaps" is a perfect 10. It's one of the finest werewolf films ever made. One of the finest horror-comedies ever made. And perhaps even one of the finest horror movies ever made, period.

"Ginger Snaps" is a nice addition to the werewolf genre, especially because it is more than just a werewolf movie. It does have different layers to it, which do all come together quite nicely.However, yes there is a however, I would have liked a bit more screen time for the werewolf creatures. But truth be told, then what was shown was quite good, and Ginger's gradual transformation was nicely done, especially the part about the tail.One of the best things about "Ginger Snaps" was without a doubt the acting performances by Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle. They really carried the movie quite well.The creature effects were good, although the werewolf looked a bit odd, especially the face. But hey, how is a mythical creature supposed to look like?"Ginger Snaps" is an entertaining movie even if you are not a particular fan of werewolf movies.

Allegories are nothing new to the horror genre, or fiction in general, but oftentimes they're rather forced and/or unimaginative. There are of course some good examples, like X-Men, but often, especially in horror, it's painfully obvious what the allusion is meant to be and what the film makers want to say with it. It ain't exactly subtle, is what I'm saying. Which is why it's often better to not even attempt to be subtle and make the painfully obvious allegory slash symbolism work for you.Such is the case of Ginger Snaps. Two sisters, Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) are hilariously alternative teenagers. They're into goths, suicides, the colour purple and living in the most dungeon-like basement I've seen in a while. Yet it doesn't feel fake, but just the right amount of over the top. But everything takes a turn for the worse when one of them changes. Both into a woman and a werewolf. Suddenly she's all about blood and lust and mating and bitching at people, leaving her poor virginal sister behind. I said the allegory was painfully obvious, didn't I. But, it works because the film is honest about it. It plays it off as a joke, with tongue firmly in cheek, which turns a groan-worthy B-movie shlock into quite hilarious horror parody, which is still works as a straight horror film as well. Almost like Stephen King's Carrie meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer.It also helps that the two main leads are both fantastic. Isabelle is the more typical horror heroine with the looks and the lines, which makes her a great partner for Perkins, whose portrayal of a wallflower shut-in Brigitte is one of the better ones I've seen. She's shy and the oddball in school, but she has character and smarts to make her more than a stereotype.The movie's only real fault is the third act, which is rather predictable and clichéd as far as monster horror movies go. There are some good twists, but it does drag quite badly and the ending is not worthy of the buildup. It's not really even all that awful, but it is disappointing when compared to the tone and promise of the two previous acts.Still, Ginger Snaps is a great movie to check out if you're into campy horror movies that know not to take themselves too seriously.

Sisters Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger Fitzgerald (Katharine Isabelle) live in the cookie-cutter suburbs of Bailey Downs where something is killing the dogs. They are obsessed with death and are outcasts in school. Ginger intends to hold Brigitte to their pact. "Out by 16 or dead on the scene but together forever." They love staging bizarre deaths. Brigitte is picked on by popular girl Trina Sinclair and the girls try to stage killing Trina's dog. Ginger finally has her first period at 15 but is attacked by a werewolf. Brigitte saves Ginger and drug dealer Sam runs over the wolf with his van. Soon Ginger starts turning and turning heads at school. Brigitte tries to find a cure for Ginger with the help of Sam.I love so much about this movie. Firstly I love both actresses. They have terrific sister chemistry. Katharine Isabelle does a great slow walk down the hall. Emily Perkins is a terrific disheveled nerd. That song is hauntingly beautiful. I love all the bizarre deaths staged by the sisters. This is such an unique take on the werewolf transformation weaving it into the sisters hormonal transformation. It's one of the reasons why the original Carrie was so great. There is great sly humor and Mimi Rogers is a good solid foundation at home. The gore is a bit amateurish but that's indie horror for you. What they lack in expertise, they make up for it in fun. Slipping on your own vomit is such a great way to die.