Ginger Snaps (2000) Review
Spoiler-free so you can read before you watch
Horrorific content by Lycan on October 22nd, 2021 | Movie Review | Teen, Dysfunctional Family, Werewolf
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It’s about 2 outcast sisters navigating puberty and a werewolf attack.
Ginger Snaps was directed by John Fawcett (who also directed The Dark) and stars Emily Perkins (from Extraterrestrial, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning and Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed), Katharine Isabelle (from The Girl In The Photographs, See No Evil 2, Torment and American Mary) and Kris Lemche (from They're Watching, Final Destination 3 and My Little Eye).
Hungry like the Wolf.
If werewolf films are your bag this is the film for you. As a self-proclaimed connoisseur of lycanthropic movies Ginger Snaps is an all-time personal favorite of mine. Werewolf movies can have a tendency to be a little cheesy at times but this movie is very self-aware and the tongue in cheek way the werewolf transformation steps in for an over exaggerated metaphor of puberty and the journey of adolescence is smart and humorous. Katherine Isabelle and Emily Perkins do a fantastic job at playing a pair of outcast, alternative sisters obsessed with death and the macabre. I always recommend this film to people even if they don’t particularly care for werewolf movies because the character study and the relationship between these siblings is unique, original and completely is a league of its own specifically within the horror genre.
The addition of Mimi Rodgers as Pamela Fitzgerald the mother of the odd and gothic Fitzgerald sisters is a stroke of genius and the actress will make you giggle as she tries, with little hope, to understand her strange, off the wall, offspring.
The film explores female sexuality and coming of age through the lens of the traditional Victorian gothic horror wherein, more often than not, female werewolves were a metaphor for feminist groups such as the suffragettes, the girls are rebels, anarchists and buck societal norms and it’s a nice nod to longstanding werewolf tales.
In addition there is a great use of traditional werewolf lore such as wolfsbane and silver, which as a lycanthrope fanatic I rather enjoy.
Worth Watching?
Absolutely! There are some truly scary moments in the film as well and plenty of blood and gore throughout. I would say this film is a must watch! 10 out of 10 howls from me.
