"Are you sure it's just cramps?"
Brigitte
"Just so you know... the words 'just' and 'cramps',
they don't go together."
Ginger
 |
| The sisters Fitzgerald: poster children for outcast high-school types everywhere. |
Synopsis:
Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald are teenage sisters who find themselves at odds with the popular fads and kids at school. While planning a revenge prank against one of their tormentors, Ginger's period attracts the attention of a strange beast lurking in the nearby woods. The Fitzgeralds escape when the thing is killed in a road accident, but not before Ginger is bitten. That's when things gets even stranger, as Ginger finds her body slowly transforming and develops a taste for human flesh. It's up to her loyal sister, Bridgette, to keep these alarming traits hidden from family and peers while searching for a cure to the transformation before it's too late.
Final Word: 7/10
Despite drawing controversy during it's filming for it's unfortunate coinciding with the Columbine High School massacre and the Myers High School shooting, this indie Canadian film has none the less gone on to develop a die-hard cult following and spawning 2 sequels.
The idea of juxtaposing menstruation with the werewolf genre seems like such a natural fit, it's hard to believe this hadn't been done before. Combining this novel conceit with a post-Scream snarky-teen sensibility (long before that got over-done), Ginger Snaps is a film that serves up a satisfying dose of satire, horror and pitch-dark laughs- despite the limitations of a shoe-string budget.
But aside from a fresh idea and some excellent dialogue, the film owes it's success entirely to its two leads; Emily Perkins as Brigitte, the younger and meeker of the two sisters, and Katharine Isabelle as Ginger. Their relationship wholly convinces, and it's with genuine regret audiences witness the divide between them widening. Tensions mount as Ginger succumbs to her growing feral nature while Bridgett is forced out from her older sister's protective shadow- the two moving fatefully and tragically toward an inevitable confrontation.
In a world full of rehashed ideas, play-it-safes and creative-process-by-majority-vote, Ginger Snaps can stand proud of its achievments. Overlook some shoddy effects and sub-par TV acting, and what you have here is a gem of a film with indie-spunk in spades.
Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald are teenage sisters who find themselves at odds with the popular fads and kids at school. While planning a revenge prank against one of their tormentors, Ginger's period attracts the attention of a strange beast lurking in the nearby woods. The Fitzgeralds escape when the thing is killed in a road accident, but not before Ginger is bitten. That's when things gets even stranger, as Ginger finds her body slowly transforming and develops a taste for human flesh. It's up to her loyal sister, Bridgette, to keep these alarming traits hidden from family and peers while searching for a cure to the transformation before it's too late.
Script: 2/2 - sharp and humorously caustic dialogue
Pace: 1/2 - a lull here and there but otherwise OK
Acting: 1/2 - the leads excel, but most of the supporting cast is poor
Aesthetic: 1/2 - the prosthetics are fun, but the 'creature effects' leave a lot to be desired
Intention: 2/2 - a quirky indie-horror-comedy around a novel premise
Final Word: 7/10
Despite drawing controversy during it's filming for it's unfortunate coinciding with the Columbine High School massacre and the Myers High School shooting, this indie Canadian film has none the less gone on to develop a die-hard cult following and spawning 2 sequels.
The idea of juxtaposing menstruation with the werewolf genre seems like such a natural fit, it's hard to believe this hadn't been done before. Combining this novel conceit with a post-Scream snarky-teen sensibility (long before that got over-done), Ginger Snaps is a film that serves up a satisfying dose of satire, horror and pitch-dark laughs- despite the limitations of a shoe-string budget.
But aside from a fresh idea and some excellent dialogue, the film owes it's success entirely to its two leads; Emily Perkins as Brigitte, the younger and meeker of the two sisters, and Katharine Isabelle as Ginger. Their relationship wholly convinces, and it's with genuine regret audiences witness the divide between them widening. Tensions mount as Ginger succumbs to her growing feral nature while Bridgett is forced out from her older sister's protective shadow- the two moving fatefully and tragically toward an inevitable confrontation.
In a world full of rehashed ideas, play-it-safes and creative-process-by-majority-vote, Ginger Snaps can stand proud of its achievments. Overlook some shoddy effects and sub-par TV acting, and what you have here is a gem of a film with indie-spunk in spades.
