Ginger Snaps
by John Fawcett
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Emily Perkins, Jesse Moss, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Mimi RogersDirector: John Fawcett
Writer: John Fawcett
Producer: Alicia Reilly Larson
Producer: Dan Lyon
Producer: Karen Lee Hall
Producer: Noah Segal
Producer: Steven Hoban
Writer: Karen Walton
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 108 minutes
Audience Rating: Unrated
Movie Reviews of Ginger Snaps
Movie Review: Grade as a horror movie: A. Grade as a character study: A+.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my all time favorite movies and without a doubt, one of the most criminally underrated and misunderstood.
I wrote this review for "Ginger Snaps" the same day I wrote a review for "The Hitcher" (1986), both movies that struck me deeply the first time I saw them years ago, both movies I've watched since many times and gained a deeper appreciation and understanding for them. While for the most part they have little in common, for the purpose of my review, they have interesting things in common: They are both low budget movies billed as horror movies and thus unfairly viewed and written off as "cheap horror movies." However, the truth of the matter is that both films are *excellent* pieces of cinematic art (yes, art) with first rate acting and two movies with some of the best characterization I've ever seen. In "The Hitcher" the relationship between the Hitcher John Ryder and the young man Jim Halsey is endlessly fascinating, subtlely nuanced, and astonishingly complex. The same goes double for the relationship between sisters Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald.
The tragedy is, in both of the movies, there is little recognition or appreciation of the amazing characterization and relationship, because "it's just a dumb horror movie." Indeed, even many of the positive reviews for "Ginger Snaps" say "Wow, great movie! One of the best werewolf movies ever!" That's nice, I agree totally, it is a great "werewolf" movie, indeed one of the best, but where's the kudos for the characterization, for the tight plotting and emotional range, the acting? Sadly, too many people think because this is a "horror" movie that it can't also be a jaw-dropping study of human nature and make you think as well.
My last tie-in with "The Hitcher:" While C. Thomas Howell does a good job in "The Hitcher," Rutger Hauer drives the film with an earth-shattering performance. In "Ginger Snaps" though, we're in for a real treat - unlike the former movie mentioned, this film has two Grade A performances from both actresses portraying the sisters, Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle. Filmmakers should take note - you give these fine actresses a role with some meat on it, they will deliver the goods, and more.
"Ginger Snaps" takes place in a typical suburb. The main characters are the sisters Brigitte and Ginger. Both would probably be considered "Goth" but more than that they are viewed as cynical, dark, socially maladjusted, and being fascinated with death. They are very close, some would say disturbingly close, and in the early part of the movie we get a wonderful view into the world they share and the pithy barbs they trade about the outside world they despise. Unlike most sisters, they film themselves (often tragically touching - "Bury me in this dress") killed by their own hand in disturbing and explicit ways, and ostensibly have their own suicide pact. We are shown their room, which is like a grim, dark cave, and their relationship with their clueless but well-meaning parents. We come to understand them and their world, and to sympathize with both of them.
Then comes the hitch. Neither of the girls have gotten their periods, which is abnormal at their age, and speaks volumes about the way they've held the outside world at bay. The suburb has been terrorized by a beast of some sort, mauling dogs and such. The beast attacks Ginger (probably because she was menstruating) and then has a run-in with Sam, a guy who works at a local greenhouse and sells pot to the high school kids. And all of a sudden, everything changes.
Ginger turns into a more normal, outgoing, and sexually voracious young woman virtually overnight. The viewer doesn't know if she's turning into a werewolf or just going through puberty and going through teenage growing pains, but the movie, with a wicked sense of innovation, builds and shows an elaborate parallel between menstruation and "the curse of the werewolf." It's such a simple and ingenuous concept, we have to wonder why no one came up with it before.
Ginger and Brigitte grow apart. Brigitte worries that Ginger is becoming a werewolf, or worse, a vapid teenage whore, while Ginger regards her little sister as stuck in childhood, clinging to old things and holding her back. It's a fascinating look at the growth process and why the things we hold dear as children and teenagers are not often the things we hold dear as adults. It's also an incredible study of growing up and growing apart.
I don't want to give too much away, but the relationship between as the relationship between the sisters grows more and more distant and strained, it evolves and takes turns the viewer cannot imagine it taking at the beginning of the movie (back when you thought you had the movie pigeonholed). The relationship is further complicated when Brigitte enlists the aid of Sam to help Ginger. Ginger doesn't like this at all, and it's utterly fascinating to see react the way she does when Sam comes to the football field for Brigitte, and Sam and Ginger's confrontation in the greenhouse. The movie goes places and makes observations that a first-time viewer wouldn't think it is capable of. But it is capable, of that and much more.[...]
I guess at this point I should give a few words to some of the other good things about this movie, however I am running close to my word limit. The ancillary actors, particularly Kris Lemche as Sam and Mimi Rogers as the mother, are all very good. The setting is well taken advantage of: somber autumn days in a dead end suburb. The special effects are fine, and have held up surprisingly well over the years, but they won't blow you away by any means.
The music from this movie is fantastic, mostly because of the opening and ending scores. The song that plays over the end credits, in fact, is one of the greatest (and best fitting for the moment) songs I've seen/heard from a movie ever. Whenever I watch this movie I watch through the credits because it's so good, and fits so well with the ending. It gets me every time, and unfortunately, it's not available on the soundtrack, and the composer has the beginning, but not the end theme, on his website, which is unfortunate, because I'd really like to obtain the end theme.
In conclusion, I recommend this movie for horror fans and fans of werewolf movies. I recommend it even more for viewers with a discriminating eye who like horror movies but like movies with top notch acting, characterization, and an unparalleled look at human nature and an enthralling study of the relationship of two sisters. This movie gripped and moved me deeply, and I recommend it very highly.
One last note - I didn't write this review to get everyone to agree with me, I did it so people who read this know why I love this movie, and I hope it will help people to appreciate this film more, on another level.
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