Ginger Snaps Trilogy Limited Edition Box Set
Directed by John Fawcett/Brett Sullivan/Grant Harvey.
Starring Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Nathaniel Arcand, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers, Brendan Fletcher, and Janet Kidder.
SYNOPSIS:
Limited edition box set featuring all three Ginger Snaps movies on Blu-ray.
Time once again for Second Sight Films to unleash another box of delights upon us, this time the goodies within being Canadian cult favourite Ginger Snaps and its sequel/prequel, and as far as quality packages go, they continue to set the standard for making these sets proper collector’s item. But what of the movies themselves?
The original Ginger Snaps was first released in 2000 and quickly gained a reputation for being a werewolf movie with a bit of a difference, namely that the werewolf was not an American tourist lost on the Moors, or a news reporter looking for a story but instead was a teenage girl named Ginger Fitzgerald (Katherine Isabelle). Ginger and her younger sister Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are outcasts in their peer group, not being popular with the boys or girls in their school, and they spend their time together making videos of death scenes whilst their mother asks them embarrassing questions about their developing – or not, as the case may be – bodies.
One night, Ginger is attacked by an unseen beast and dragged off before returning moments later, covered in blood and being pursued by what looks like a wolf. The wolf is hit by a van and killed but soon afterwards Ginger begins to display traits that are very unlike her pre-bitten self, much to Brigitte’s bemusement. Brigitte befriends local drug dealer Sam (Kris Lemche), whose van was the one that hit the wolf, and the pair try to piece together what is going on whilst Ginger goes to town with the local boys, gets revenge on the girl that bullied her and attacks the neighbour’s dog. Can Brigitte save her sister?
Obviously a metaphor for the onset of puberty, Ginger Snaps carries many universal themes that kids of any generation would be familiar with but it is also very much a time capsule of the late 1990s/early 2000s post-Scream high school movie, complete with the slow-motion walk through a crowded school corridor that every movie of that ilk had to have.
For all its (then) fashionable tropes, the movie is a star vehicle for Katherine Isabelle and Emily Perkins, who both shine in their respective roles, and their performances are what ground the movie, making Ginger and Brigitte sympathetic and relatable, even when they may not be behaving quite so friendly to others. The supporting cast are all fine by comparison, with only Mimi Rogers making an impression outside of the two main leads, but the main issue is the 108-minute run time, which is not really filled and the movie runs out of steam going into the third act, resorting to a familiar and underwhelming ending that should tug at the heartstrings more than it does thanks to the dragged-out nature of the climax. However, getting to that point is quite the ride as you get to watch Katherine Isabelle transform from awkward outcast to stylish wolfwoman with obvious relish.
And so given the movie’s popularity with certain audiences, a sequel came along in 2004. Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed picks up with Brigitte as she tries to control the lycanthropy she has become infected with by injecting herself with monkshood to slow her transformation. After an attack by another werewolf, Brigitte is taken to a rehab clinic for drug addicts and things starts to get even weirder as fellow inmates and staff discover Brigitte’s secret, just in time for the werewolf to attack again, only this time Brigitte is ready.
In some ways, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed is a better production than its predecessor, as it is tighter, looks cleaner, ups the gore and has an even better performance from Emily Perkins (note – Katherine Isabelle does return as Ginger, but she isn’t in it for very long), plus the run time is a snappier 94 minutes. However, despite this, it doesn’t quite grab you in the same way as the first movie, and once the initial setup is underway the story resorts to clichés to weave its way to the end which, again, is a bit underwhelming.
This time the metaphors are for addiction and sexuality, as Brigitte is tagged as a lesbian by her therapist when she tells of her condition, and with the clinic setting being reminiscent of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and the winter weather outside adding to the bleak atmosphere, this darker, broodier sequel does try to do things a little differently but ultimately can’t sustain the same intrigue as the original.
Filmed back-to-back with Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning is the prequel you didn’t know you needed, mainly because you probably thought that the original movie was the Fitzgerald sisters’ first encounter with a lycanthrope. No, no, no, as this movie goes back to the year 1815 and tells the story of when the Ginger and Brigitte of that time were lost in the Canadian wilderness and attacked by a werewolf. After being rescued by a Cree warrior, they are taken to a fort where the inhabitants have been fending off the werewolves that live in the surrounding forest, but the arrival of the injured women causes some of the men there to get on the defensive, and what ensues causes divisions in the ranks as secrets are revealed and the sisters must team up and use all of their powers if they want to survive.
An intriguing idea on paper, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning fails to capture the spirit of both of its predecessors, feeling both generic and tired despite some gruesomely gory action set pieces. The metaphors and subtext of old have gone, making this prequel feel flat and less interesting as Ginger and Brigitte just seem to spend their time running away from potential rapists, or getting leeches put on their bloody wounds as angry men get, well, angrier for no real reason.
Also running at 94 minutes, this feels a lot longer than part two, which itself was hardly nippy in the pacing department, but at least it had some substance, whereas this pointless, plotless prequel just seems to have been cobbled together as both lead actors were on set and likely contracted to appear, which they did begrudgingly if their permanent scowls are anything to go by.
Each disc comes with a huge selection of archive and new cast and crew interviews – the first film getting the most – and deleted scenes, audio commentaries, trailers and behind-the-scenes featurettes. As well as that there is a 112-page book featuring new essays on the movies by the likes of Meredith Borders, Kat Hughes, Dr Rachel Knightley, Mikel J Koven, Jolene Richardson, Zoë Rose Smith and Caelum Vatnsdal, plus collector’s art cards and a lovely rigid slipcase to house it all in.
This is a set that collectors will want to own as it contains pretty much every nugget of information on the movies and how they were made. The movies themselves are a mixed bag, but it is easy to see why the original is so beloved, especially by a certain generation who were no doubt going through similar growing pains and insecurities at the time, and it does still hold a certain power that would go on to be sugar-coated and exploited by a certain werewolf/vampire saga a few short years later. Overall, a solid first movie, a decent sequel and a disappointing prequel if you want it, all presented in another first-class package.
Flickering Myth Rating – Ginger Snaps – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Flickering Myth Rating – Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Flickering Myth Rating – Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Chris Ward
