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Ginger
Snaps
(2001) |
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The werewolf genre has been limping along at best since the spate of quality wolf films in the 70s and 80s - namely The Howling, An American Werewolf in London and the lesser celebrated but impressive Wolfen. Unfortunately many moons later the werewolf has lost much of its bite (see the pathetic American Werewolf in Paris and the series of increasing Howling sequels of decreasing quality). But with Ginger Snaps the wolf is back and it's baying for blood.
Bridgette and Ginger are teenage sisters - fiercely introverted and determined to avoid the 'typical teenage' lifestyle they see as debauched and mediocre. The two are also obsessed with the macabre frequently acting out suicides in all their gory detail. Ginger, the elder and more assertive of the two forms the powerful role model for her younger sister. Unfortunately, the town's canine population appear to be falling prey to an unknown, vicious predator. Things go from bad to worse for the sisters when along with the traumas of High School life Ginger is savaged by the mysterious beast. She survives and even more miraculously finds that her massive wounds are healing almost immediately. Unfortunately things turn hairy - literally - when Ginger finds some less welcome changes gradually developing. Hair starts growing from her wounds. She develops a white streak in her hair. The teeth and nails become progressively more pointed and she begins to crave meat. In the meantime, in a desperate battle against time, younger sister Bridgette tries desperately to find a cure for her increasingly unstable sister. Director John Fawcett has succeeded in updating a classic horror genre - which is certainly more than can be said for films such as the disastrous Dracula 2000 or The Mummy. The thoroughly modern take on the werewolf legend starts with a change in location from the classic foggy lanes of London or the mists of Eastern European mountain ranges to small town Canada. Similarly, the myths surrounding the legend are transformed into viruses and cures. Finally, our protagonist is a female. Ginger Snaps also scores in terms of having complex relationships at the basis of its script. It is also less dependent on special effects than most of its illustrious predecessors. The result is a slow burning film, which leaves the viewer uncomfortable throughout but rarely openly scared. The use of linking the onset of Ginger's menstruation with the changes in her body due to the wolf virus is a particularly unsettling and effective method. But this is a horror film and there is a fair amount of graphic gore and blood. Fittingly, the film moves to a quite terrifying climax which will have the best of you on the edge of your seats or maybe more fittingly - digging you claws into whoever is sitting next to you. The end - like many classic werewolf films - is muted and melancholy. Ginger
Snaps has saved the genre from extinction and furthermore
the werwolf is back with a fresh new coat and plenty of bite.
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