Film is a medium of duplication. When a movie is a hit, you can darned well bet that something similar will soon follow. During the late 1990’s, as a genre, horror flicks either took teenagers out into the woods รก la The Blair Witch Project or they were self-referential spoofs in the vein of Scream. And right when I was about to lose faith the I’d never find a horror film that wouldn’t scare me again, along comes John Fawcett’s Ginger Snaps, a moderately budgeted Canadian mood piece rooted with strong writing and drawl humour.
Sisters Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte Fitzgerald (Emily Perkins) are social outcasts who have sworn to kill themselves together before they’re old enough to get their driver’s license. They don’t have any friends and spend their spare time making disgusting videos about how they might like to one day die. Ginger and Brigitte are stuck in the suburban hell known as Bailey Downs, the sight of several mysterious and bloody dog slaughters. It seems some sort of violent creature is on the prowl, gobbling up the family fido and leaving a torn carcass as evidence.
Out one night to play a prank on a classmate, Ginger encounters the werewolf and is bitten. Now infected herself, Ginger goes on the prowl looking for someone to mate with and perhaps eat for dinner afterwards. Inseparable since childhood, Brigitte tries to find a cure for her sister before the patches of hair on Ginger’s back becomes an all-consuming infection.
Often horror films are only as good as their gimmick or monster. Generating scares can be attained in almost any film simply by drawing out a tension-filled scene or by having a ghoulish figure jump out of the shadows with a shriek. Blood is common enough and not overly frightening anymore. That leaves the story as a big difference between an effective horror film and one that’s expendable. Ginger Snaps is very aware of itself and its place within the genre. It acknowledges the long-standing beliefs surrounding werewolves such as the full moons and silver bullets and promptly tosses them out. Ginger Snaps makes the lycanthrope frightening again following the dumbing down of the monster stuff like Teen Wolf. The werewolf is once again fierce and dripping with blood. Here it is created to be a vicious predator that will kill solely out of instinct. The myth of this film’s werewolf is one of authenticity.
Horror movies are sometimes laden with symbols of emerging sexuality. It shouldn’t come as a big surprise considering the crowds for these types of movies tend to skew on the young end. Sometimes these images are subtle, other times it’s as obvious as a blue M&M sitting in a pile of Glosettes. An example would be the bucket of pig’s blood in Carrie. Ginger Snaps falls into this category as well. Ginger and Brigitte are both late in blooming. As a result, their sexual instincts have been suppressed. Just as Ginger is bitten, though, she finally gets the curse, her first period. Rather than seeing it as a right of passage into adulthood, Ginger sees it as a sign of becoming more like her mother.
Between the logical rewriting of the werewolf myth and the deeper agenda of Ginger and Brigitte’s complex and macabre mindsets, Ginger Snaps‘ greatest asset is its writing. Karen Walton’s script is always moving forward, laying the groundwork for events yet to happen. The tone is consistent throughout and problems are, for the most part, solved with creative and logical solutions that feel very real within the context of the film’s world. With each ensuing viewing of the film, I continue to pick up on the dry humour that runs throughout the film. Much of it comes from Ginger’s naturally sarcastic outlook on life, but the sisters’ interaction with their uber-yuppie parents are of particular note. Kids are often complaining that parents don’t understand. The case is clear with Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald (John Bourgeois and Mimi Rogers). They think they know what’s best for their daughters, but they really don’t have much of a clue. Although it might be a little unfair at times, they are portrayed as a couple of lifelong losers who just don’t have a clue of who their children really are.
There are times when these attempts at laughs fall flat. These are the weakest parts of the entire film. Luckily, they’re not particularly numerous. While it suffers from a corny pun for a title, Ginger Snaps is a satisfying return to mythology, cheesy gore and fear for the horror film.
Ginger Snaps Gallery
Trailer
