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Every once in a while, our neighbors to the north deliver a film that receives a solid amount of critical acclaim. Sure, my favorite Canadian import is perhaps "Strange Brew." However, John Fawcett´s take on the werewolf mythos, "Ginger Snaps," is one of the freshest and interesting takes on the age-old concept of the lycanthrope. Though it could be called a feminist´s werewolf film, "Ginger Snaps" shows a teenager fighting both the curse of the werewolf´s bite and the curse of womanhood. Throw in a measure of gore and teenage characters that are far more interesting than the current crop led by Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar and you have a little Canadian horror film that is definitely worth a look.
Ginger (Katherine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are two sisters that strive to be different than everbody else. They spend their days faking their own deaths and taking gory photographs to document their efforts. They love to be different and they love the thought of death. Both girls are considered outcasts in school, though Ginger has caught they eye of a couple of boys. In addition to their rejection of conforming to what is perceived as cool, both girls do what they can to fight off their biological maturation. They consider menstruation a curse and a sign of being normal.
One thing that has become of interest to the two girls is a recent string of killings in the neighborhood involving dogs. Something rather large and vicious has been murdering and mauling dogs at a feverish rate. The dogs are all literally torn to shreds, no matter how big and powerful the dog, whatever killed it offered the dog no chance to survive or fend off the attacker.
During an evening outing to inflict revenge upon a schoolgirl who attempted to injure Brigitte, Ginger is attacked and bitten by the large beast that has been thinning the neighborhood canine population. The two girls escape, and the creature is killed when it is struck by a moving van owned by the neighborhood drug dealer, Sam (Kris Lemche). Sam and Brigitte quickly realize and believe that Ginger´s attack was in fact a lycanthrope. Ginger first brushes it off as her subjection to hormonal change. She begins to change sexually and physically, while Sam and Brigitte team up to try to save her from the fate they know is just around the corner.
"Ginger Snaps" is an entertaining little film. It keeps a sense of humor and attains enough tension to remain thrilling until the final credits crawl. The film is far superior to teen efforts such as "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Urban Legend." The story of "Ginger Snaps" may be a greater reach than those films, but isn´t that true of all monster movies? Katherine Isabelle is very good as Ginger. She portrays enough sexuality to be convincing as an upstart nymphet, but shows the suffering attributed by her infection of the werewolf´s curse.
The film was marketed as being very sexual in tone, but the film really does not spend much time focusing on this aspect of the story. This is all for the better, as the film places its attention to Ginger´s changes and the need to stop her from turning completely into a werewolf. The film becomes a character study of Ginger as she evolves into a woman and a werewolf. It has some frightening moments, but is reinforced by its compelling story and better than usual teenage acting.
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[release]8450[/release]