I apologize for having left off reviewing horror movies for so long. But personal issues, and my younger brother, left me with little time to watch new horror movies. That said...
"Ginger Snaps" is an independent Canadian film, released in 2000. Directed and written by John Fawcett (who directed "The Dark" in 2005), produced and written by Karen Walton (winning a "Best Film Writing" Canadian Comedy Award in 2002), and also produced by Steve Hoban (a producer on the 2006 "Black Christmas), the film was well received critically, winning the "Best Film" title in 2001 from the International Horror Guild. But how does it fare today?
The film follows goth sisters Brigitte (Emily Perkins of the 2010 TV show "Hiccups") and Ginger Fitzgerald (Katharine Isabelle of "Freddy Vs. Jason"), who are fascinated by death, and have the social school standing of the average goth (as in, not much). To get revenge on one of the popular kids, Ginger convinces her sister to help her fake an attack on the student's dog, since there have been a rash of dog mutilations recently. However, things go wrong when they find a mutilated dog, and Ginger is soon attacked by a creature that mauls her, before it gets hit and killed by a van driven by Sam (Kris Lemche, who played the jerk goth in "Final Destination 3"). However, Ginger's wounds heal unusually fast. But that isn't all the changes that Ginger goes through...and the fact that she's having her first period does not explain everything.
The plot of the film is not a great one for a werewolf movie. However, it is very successful as a character study. You see Ginger going through changes, becoming more outgoing, more sexually assertive, and as a result, more distant from her sister. It is a quite interesting metaphor for puberty, actually, and the differences it can cause between siblings.
The acting in the movie is extremely great. Emily plays Brigitte quite well, showing her as being very introverted, and as an outcast. She clearly depends on her sister quite a bit, which makes the split between the two quite painful to watch. Katherine, on the other hand, plays Ginger as someone who is attractive, but never really seems aware of it. That is, until she hits puberty. When that happens, she turns into, essentially, a party girl, aggressive in all of her dealings. She does this quite well, giving the relationship between the two sisters a great feel of sisters who were great friends, and then they grew up and apart. Actually, one of the main issues, funnily enough, is the great chemistry between the two. I mean, the act off of each other quite well, and really seem close. But let's just say there are serious vibes that just should not be there between sisters. Ginger, often, comes off as very possessive of Brigitte, threatening just about any guy who looks at her sideways. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. It's understated, but there is definitely a "sisterly LOVE" vibe.
As for the other cast members, they all do a decent job. Kris Lempke as Chris is basically the werewolf expert of the movie, helping Brigitte try to cure her sister. However, his motives are left ambiguous, seeing as the students at the school have him pegged as a "cherry popper", a rumour that is never proven or disproven. Sam claims it's false, but he says this to Brigitte, so he could have ulterior motives. The parents are played pretty well, the mother (Mimi Rogers, a competitive poker player) concerned for her daughters, and eager to help them grow up into strong women, and the dad (John Bourgeois, an accomplished TV actor) playing the role of a dad who is out of his depth dealing with the three females in the house. The school jerks are, well, school jerks, and have as much depth as you expect. They all do a good job, but since the movie is strongly focused on the sisters, the rest of the cast is almost left in the background the entire movie.
The effects of the film are pretty good, for the most part. The blood is done quite well, looking quite realistic, except for when it isn't supposed to be. That's the impressive part. The thing is, the girls create fake death scenes from time to time (read: often). And the blood in those scenes looks about as real as you'd expect fake blood as done by teenagers to look. But when the blood is supposed to look real, it looks quite real. It's actually pretty impressive, for an indie film. The only effect I had an issue with is the werewolf. Now, it looks fine when you see it for flashes. But when the camera focuses on it...it takes away from the scare factor quite a bit, to say the least.
Speaking of gore, this film is bloody, rather appropriately so, given the metaphor. You see several dismembered dogs, and while the kill scenes are rare, with almost no human deaths until the last half hour of the movie, when they happen, they hit hard, with one room being covered in blood as a result. I'm honestly not sure whether this movie or the first half of Elfen Lied was bloodier. That should say something.
In the end, this film does not really work as a werewolf film. The werewolf effects are lame, the horror doesn't hit until about the last half hour, and only the last 15 minutes really scared me, as such. However, as a character study, and a metaphor about two sisters growing apart, even when one is not ready, it works extremely well. The casting of the sisters, and the overall intelligence of the script, helps out a lot. I would recommend you see it, but not as a horror movie. Well, you'll feel uncomfortable due to the incestuous undertones, but that's not quite the same thing.
"Ginger Snaps" is an independent Canadian film, released in 2000. Directed and written by John Fawcett (who directed "The Dark" in 2005), produced and written by Karen Walton (winning a "Best Film Writing" Canadian Comedy Award in 2002), and also produced by Steve Hoban (a producer on the 2006 "Black Christmas), the film was well received critically, winning the "Best Film" title in 2001 from the International Horror Guild. But how does it fare today?
The film follows goth sisters Brigitte (Emily Perkins of the 2010 TV show "Hiccups") and Ginger Fitzgerald (Katharine Isabelle of "Freddy Vs. Jason"), who are fascinated by death, and have the social school standing of the average goth (as in, not much). To get revenge on one of the popular kids, Ginger convinces her sister to help her fake an attack on the student's dog, since there have been a rash of dog mutilations recently. However, things go wrong when they find a mutilated dog, and Ginger is soon attacked by a creature that mauls her, before it gets hit and killed by a van driven by Sam (Kris Lemche, who played the jerk goth in "Final Destination 3"). However, Ginger's wounds heal unusually fast. But that isn't all the changes that Ginger goes through...and the fact that she's having her first period does not explain everything.
The plot of the film is not a great one for a werewolf movie. However, it is very successful as a character study. You see Ginger going through changes, becoming more outgoing, more sexually assertive, and as a result, more distant from her sister. It is a quite interesting metaphor for puberty, actually, and the differences it can cause between siblings.
Guess which one is the werewolf.
The acting in the movie is extremely great. Emily plays Brigitte quite well, showing her as being very introverted, and as an outcast. She clearly depends on her sister quite a bit, which makes the split between the two quite painful to watch. Katherine, on the other hand, plays Ginger as someone who is attractive, but never really seems aware of it. That is, until she hits puberty. When that happens, she turns into, essentially, a party girl, aggressive in all of her dealings. She does this quite well, giving the relationship between the two sisters a great feel of sisters who were great friends, and then they grew up and apart. Actually, one of the main issues, funnily enough, is the great chemistry between the two. I mean, the act off of each other quite well, and really seem close. But let's just say there are serious vibes that just should not be there between sisters. Ginger, often, comes off as very possessive of Brigitte, threatening just about any guy who looks at her sideways. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. It's understated, but there is definitely a "sisterly LOVE" vibe.
As for the other cast members, they all do a decent job. Kris Lempke as Chris is basically the werewolf expert of the movie, helping Brigitte try to cure her sister. However, his motives are left ambiguous, seeing as the students at the school have him pegged as a "cherry popper", a rumour that is never proven or disproven. Sam claims it's false, but he says this to Brigitte, so he could have ulterior motives. The parents are played pretty well, the mother (Mimi Rogers, a competitive poker player) concerned for her daughters, and eager to help them grow up into strong women, and the dad (John Bourgeois, an accomplished TV actor) playing the role of a dad who is out of his depth dealing with the three females in the house. The school jerks are, well, school jerks, and have as much depth as you expect. They all do a good job, but since the movie is strongly focused on the sisters, the rest of the cast is almost left in the background the entire movie.
Wow. That is all I have to say.
The effects of the film are pretty good, for the most part. The blood is done quite well, looking quite realistic, except for when it isn't supposed to be. That's the impressive part. The thing is, the girls create fake death scenes from time to time (read: often). And the blood in those scenes looks about as real as you'd expect fake blood as done by teenagers to look. But when the blood is supposed to look real, it looks quite real. It's actually pretty impressive, for an indie film. The only effect I had an issue with is the werewolf. Now, it looks fine when you see it for flashes. But when the camera focuses on it...it takes away from the scare factor quite a bit, to say the least.
Speaking of gore, this film is bloody, rather appropriately so, given the metaphor. You see several dismembered dogs, and while the kill scenes are rare, with almost no human deaths until the last half hour of the movie, when they happen, they hit hard, with one room being covered in blood as a result. I'm honestly not sure whether this movie or the first half of Elfen Lied was bloodier. That should say something.
In the end, this film does not really work as a werewolf film. The werewolf effects are lame, the horror doesn't hit until about the last half hour, and only the last 15 minutes really scared me, as such. However, as a character study, and a metaphor about two sisters growing apart, even when one is not ready, it works extremely well. The casting of the sisters, and the overall intelligence of the script, helps out a lot. I would recommend you see it, but not as a horror movie. Well, you'll feel uncomfortable due to the incestuous undertones, but that's not quite the same thing.
The werewolf. No, not a statue of the werewolf, the actual, on-film, werewolf effects.
