Ginger Snaps
Monday, March 27th, 2006I can’t resist a good spooky woods horror movie even if it is gone midnight when it starts and I have to be up at eight. I choose the sleep deprivation and I’m quite glad I did as I was quite impressed by this intriguing horror movie directed by John Fawcett (whose previous work includes Taken and Mutant X).
The film centres around the classic werewolf mythology while at the same time using this as a metaphor for puberty. Two sisters Brigitte (aka “B”) and Ginger of which Ginger gets bitten and infected by “some kind of dog thing” would probably be the most appropriate term. Think werewolf meats the re-animated dogs from Resident Evil.
It’s all down hill from here. More blood, more hair, feelings of sexual desire. It’s the usual stuff we all went through with the added horror of the fact you’re turning into a werewolf. As Ginger decends, B tries to keep a straight head on the situation and enlists the help of Sam to try and cure her sister and stop her decline into a monster.
Emily Perkins (Brigitte) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger) put on a solid performance as the outcast school goths and you really get a feeling for the whole attitude while still there is a beautiful relationship between them underneath it. There is something out them coming together to tape up Ginger’s tail for gym that creates an intimate heart warming moment.
For horror fans there is plenty of gore in it. Killing, bleeding, slashing it’s all in there. And while you shouldn’t judge a movie on how much violence it has in (except for maybe Battle Royale because that was just classic :p) it’s always good to throw some in on top a good horror movie.
Ginger Snaps has managed what the best films in manage to do in making two different movies in one movie. One a traditional werewolf infection story, the other a tale of two sisters as they go through puberty. Whichever appeals to you it’s worth checking out.
