Ginger Snaps (2000)
Ginger Snaps is among the best werewolf movies ever made. This film takes the complex themes behind lycanthropy and uses them to their fullest potential in a story about the horrors of growing up that is alternatively funny and frightening.
Set in a small suburb that has recently seen a rash of dog killings, we find Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald (Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle). These misfit sisters are obsessed with death and repulsed by all the normals around them. When Ginger is bitten by a strange creature, she begins to change. Everyone else attributes the increased libido, hair growth, and behavioral changes to Ginger hitting puberty but Brigitte knows better.
With its connection between werewolfism and puberty, Ginger Snaps has hit a goldmine. A full moon comes around once a month; so does your period. Both concern your body changing without your control, both signify there's no going back to how things were before. In this film, the transformation is initially met with fear and misunderstanding but eventually embraced as part of the woman's identity. Sound familiar?
Though there are plenty of metaphors and allegories, it’s also the story of a young woman who begins transforming into a werewolf. People will get torn apart. But the story mostly centers around Brigitte looking out for her sister as she turns into a different person. The two already had a deceptively complex relationship before. It often felt like Ginger was more of a bully than a friend. In a way, this is the abusive relationship going even further. Ginger is turning into someone she wouldn't have approved of days ago but she can't stop. Not on her own.
There's more food for thought when we look at the side characters. Mimi Rogers as the mom seems ecstatic about her daughter beginning her transformation. It’s played mostly for comedy but look again and this time consider her last scene. She's not simply there to make you laugh. There’s a lot to be said about what happens to the one guy that keeps hitting on Ginger (Jesse Moss). Jason McCardy's fate is funny and says something about the difference between men coming of age and how differently society sees it than women's.
For several reasons, the theme of death comes back several times throughout the picture. It stars two teenage girls who are obsessed with death and romanticize suicide. Once Ginger is bitten, they’re forced to confront the idea seriously for the first time. Ginger isn't merely transforming into a killer, she could unleash a plague upon our world. What now?
This is a smart, layered story. The characters grow and reveal more about themselves as the events around them unfold. There are many funny sequences and the same amount will make you scream. If I have one criticism, it’s that there are times where it’s too smartly written, acted, and layered for its own good! Let me explain. This is a low-budget enterprise. Under $5 million, which means the big scene in any werewolf movie... is missing. The carcasses and gore look great but we don't have the big werewolf transformation/reveal. You're enjoying the movie so much it comes as a shock that all you get werewolf-wise... is THIS.
We don’t often get horror films of this caliber. Ginger Snaps has depth, scares, and some laughs. It offers everything you’d want to see in a horror film with ample blood and gore throughout and unsettling ideas. It might even unlock some profound conversations among teens and adults who watch it together. It’s got a few tiny issues in the special effects department, but we're talking minor stuff. Ginger Snaps is a cult film that deserves a much bigger fan base than it's gotten so far. (On Blu-ray, July 24, 2015)
