O, Canada...
Yeah, I know...it's not "new" news, but I fear there may be a certain segment of so-called "horror fans" that may have avoided seeing the stunning, relevatory "Ginger Snaps"
because they heard a bit about it from less than informed sources. They may have heard that it was essentially "Heathers" with werewolves, and gotten turned off by it, thus never
giving it the chance this flick so richly deserves. While the films certainly share some thematic elements, trying to sum up "Ginger Snaps" with that comparison is like saying that
"Goodfellas" is a film about a crew of New York businessmen...not entirely innacurate, but way off the mark as well. In fact, any attempt to directly compare "Ginger Snaps" to any
previous film is to miss the point entirely. Err, um...with one notable exception...but I'll discuss that more a bit later...
The synopsis...
Sisters Ginger Fitzgerald (Katherine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins)...known to Ginger as "Bee"...are quite close in age...Ginger is 17 and Bee is 15 (and a half)...and they share a very close relationship.
They share interests, similar personalities, and preoccupations. Those preoccupations run, shall we say, to the decidedly dark and morose aspects of human existence. Specifically,
the sisters have an ongoing fascination with death and dying. It seems they've made a "pact" with each other...swearing not only loyalty in life, but loyalty in death...in other words, they
swear to either be together forever or else die together. Their fascination with death is not misspent on these two intelligent youths, however, as they find creative outlets for their angst.
They have a hobby of elaborately staging and filming scenes of their deaths as part of what they call their "death project". These are not "normal" girls by a long shot, but by the same token,
they are merely taking the emotions and fears experienced by most teens and working them out for themselves in their own unique, if morbid, ways. One gets the impression that their preoccupations
are more than a little therapeutic for the girls...and that seems to be just what they need...their parents are living a distant and essentially loveless marriage, and are constantly bickering and arguing.
We get the impression that if not for the sake of Ginger and Bee, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald (John Bourgeois and Mimi Rogers) would have divorced long ago.
Ginger and Bee, while being of different ages, are in the same grade, due apparently to Bee being moved forward a grade in school. So, they have the benefit of experiencing the same stages of development
at the same time. They are de facto "twins", in a very real sense. The fact that neither of the girls has had their first period is an issue of some concern to their mother, and she does her awkward best of trying to
guide her daughters through this highly sensitive time in their lives. Their father seems indifferent to the issue, but when it does come up, he reacts with revulsion ("Pamela..." he says to his wife at one such time, "We're eating
dinner, here!") There seems to be no doubt that their mothers' attempts at being motherly coupled with their fathers' attempts to completely skirt the issue causes Ginger and Bee to feel that much less comfortable with their bourgeoning
womanhood, and the sisters retreat further and further into their relationship with each other, as well as their morbid curiosities. As a result of their awkwardness and corresponding dark 'n' downbeat manner and style of dress,
the girls are ostracized by their schoolmates, and are often the subject of unwarranted hostility from other girls in their school. One girl in particular, Trina Sinclair (Danielle Hampton) does her best to make the Fitzgerald sisters lives
a living hell, taking every opportunity to pick on Bee in particular, especially during field hockey practice, where Trina constantly singles out Bee and pushes her over for no apparent reason other than pure malice.
Ginger, being the loving and highly protective sister she is, defends Bee to the best of her abilities, but nothing ever really changes; these defenses only serve to further alienate the girls from their classmates.
Things begin to change, however, on the day Ginger starts her first menstrual cycle. Ginger and Bee react with a detached sense of "Ewwww", and Ginger stresses that just because she's "becoming a woman", things are not
going to change between her and Bee. Bee accepts this statement cautiously...and for good reason.
Their tense lives in a suburb of Ontario are made more tense still by a string of seemingly random attacks on neighborhood dogs, presumably by a "wild animal". When Trina pushes Ginger and Bee too far one day at field hockey practice,
they concoct a little revenge scheme that they think will teach Trina a lesson of sorts. Their plan: to use their morbid talents to "fake" an attack on Trina's dog. They sneak out one night (while their parents are at "counseling", no less) to do their
dirty deed. While taking a shortcut through a local playground, they stumble on the mutilated remains of another dog...a real one. Ginger has the bright idea to use the remains as a "substitute", because it would look more realistic than their feeble
creation. While hunched over to scoop up the "guts", the girls are suddenly set upon by an unseen beast. The beast drags Ginger into the nearby woods, biting her and giving her a nasty scratch on the shoulder in the process. The girls manage a narrow escape, and upon returning home,
the alarmed and panicked Bee examines Ginger's wounds. Miraculously, they are already healing themselves. Already, Bee knows something just ain't right with her sister. Over the course of the next few days, Ginger literally "snaps", and starts to act out in
increasingly brazen and uncharacteristic ways. Bee, and indeed, everyone in the sisters' lives, starts to notice the changes. Is Ginger becoming a werewolf, as Bee suspects, or is she mutating into something infinitely more brutal, terrifying, and deadly...a woman?
I know...I know, you read that last line and said, "He got it backwards". Well, no I didn't, Mr. Smartypants. You'll see...
I've heard and read a lot of criticism of "Ginger Snaps" about how it's not a horror movie. I've also heard people (mostly "macho" guys) bitch about how "Ginger Snaps" is too "girly"...and that it talks about "feminine issues" (i.e. tampons, menstruation, etc.) too much.
Well, stop yer pissin' and moanin', you mysoginistic fuckwits! Open comment to all those idiots who can't see the forest for the trees in this case: get a clue. "Ginger Snaps" is not only a true horror film (in many ways), but is also the best werewolf movie since "The Howling". Luckily, it doesn't fall victim to the "self awareness" or "self referential" tone of far too many recent horror films.
It simply is what it is...and that is a hugely effective werewolf yarn woven deftly into the context of true female teenage angst. In fact, I've never seen a better metaphor for the often frightening changes that girls go through around the time of their first period. It's a true coming of age story, on many levels, and it's gratifying to see such a story told so well.
The Artisan Entertainment DVD release of "Ginger Snaps" for the US market is pretty bare bones, and it's regrettably presented in that obnoxious "formatted to fit your television" way, and other than a trailer it completely lacks special features. In other words, here in the USA, we haven't been lucky enough to get a proper release of "Ginger Snaps"...so listen up, distributors! We want this fucker and we want it NOW! Still, I suppose it's good that we have the film at all. So, I'm going to stop my bitching.
On the other hand, the TVA Films release of "Ginger Snaps" is touted as a "Collector's Edition", and that moniker is truly fitting in this case. Not only is the film presented in its native widescreen, but the print is absolutely phenomenal. Compared to the US release on this level alone, the Canadian release is just amazing. But wait...there's so much more...the Collector's Edition also contains two audio commentaries (one by writer Karen Walton, and the other by director John Fawcett), English and French 5.1 audio tracks, extensive deleted scenes with optional commentary by Fawcett, a featurette, scenes containing actual cast auditions and rehearsals, a "making of" type documentary that shows some of the work behind the creation of the werewolf and other special effects, trailers, tv spots, biographies of the cast and crew, production artwork galleries, photo galleries, and a great little slideshow type thingy that walks us through Ginger and Bee's "death project" (that's one of my favorite features here, by the way). In short, this single disc presentation is absolutely packed to the gills with amazing, insightful special features, and is exactly the kind of release that "Ginger Snaps" should have received in the first place. I'm sure the Canadian folks are pretty thankful! That said, this edition can be found on the 'net for under $20 US. So, you literally have no excuse not to see this film the way it was intended to be seen. Do not...and I repeat do not buy the Artisan Entertainment edition unless you have absolutely no other way to see this movie. Hell, even then, do yourselves a favor by sending a message to Artisan and don't buy their edition on general principle...and then do whatever you have to do in order to get your hands on the Collector's Edition. Trust me...it's more than worth the effort. All one needs to do in order to see the difference between the two editions is to examine the menu screens as seen here.
"Ginger Snaps" is a fine film...with amazing performances, strong pacing, excellent "mood", and is overall one of the best mainstream horror films that I've seen in ages. The Artisan Entertainment release does not do the film justice, but it will do in a pinch, I suppose. The Canadian Collector's Edition is just the sort of release that Artisan should have given "Ginger Snaps" all along. In fact, it's a model release. If all great horror films were given this kind of treatment right out of the gate, then we would all be able to sleep better at night after plunking down our hard earned bucks for a new DVD.
O, Canada...
