Two suburban teenage sisters - Ginger and Brigitte - are devoted to each other. They have a mutual obsession with death and want to die together. There has been a series of attacks on dogs in the neighbourhood and the sisters go to kidnap a classmate's dog. On attempting to do this, they come face to face with the original dog attacker - a mysterious creature who bites Ginger. An oncoming truck seems to kill the creature and Ginger's wounds heal up, so she doesn't go to the doctor. Ginger turns into a lycanthrope. She has unprotected sex with a boy from school and kills a dog. Their classmate Trina, whose dog they kidnapped, comes around and starts a fight with Ginger. In the middle of the melee, Trina slips and whacks her head on the kitchen counter and accidentally dies. The girls put her in the freezer and Brigitte remonstrates with Ginger that she cannot go out anymore. Brigitte and her friend Sam, a drug dealer, comes up with a herbal cure for lycanthropy - monkshood. It saves Brigitte from an infected boy at school (the one Ginger carelessly shagged) who is trying to attack her. However, Ginger is still on the rampage. She has killed the guidance counsellor and Brigitte watches her sister kill the janitor. At home, the girls' mother has discovered Trina's body in the freezer. On the hunt for the girls, the mother finds Brigitte and tells her they will burn down the house to erase evidence of Trina's death. Sam is fending off Ginger's advances when they find her. Ginger turns into a full on werewolf. Sam and Brigitte are concocting a cure whenever Ginger attacks Sam and gravely wounds him. To pacify her, Brigitte drinks some of Sam's blood but Ginger is unconvinced and goes on to kill Sam. Brigitte is armed with a cure and a knife as Ginger stalks her through the house. Can she save her sister or will she be forced to defend herself? Many critics slammed the film for its heavy fisted use of lycanthropy to metaphorically depict puberty and the joys of beginning menstruation. It came out in 2000 and was ignored for a while. It is by far, the best werewolf film I have ever seen, as well as one of the finest, most emotionally involving horror films I have ever seen. And I usually find werewolf films boring - they are not on the top of my favourite horror film bad guys. However, Ginger Snaps is a lot more interesting than your average teen horror flick. The chemistry between the two actresses who play devoted sisters Brigitte and Ginger is incredible, and the special effects - particularly the effects when Ginger starts to turn into a werewolf - are very good for a low budget film. The film is highly intelligent and brings a more contemporary and believable perspective on the werewolf saga to today's audience. There is also a lot of gore and blood for horror viewers who are that way inclined. But above all, it is the tales of two sisters being torn asunder by a terrible curse. They think they have problems with the 'curse' of menstruation, but a far grimmer fate awaits them... Horror film making at its apex.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
