Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf.
Ginger's sister Brigitte, now a werewolf herself, must try to find a cure for her blood lust before the next full moon while hiding out in a rehab clinic from a relentless werewolf.
The allure of easy money sends Mary Mason, a medical student, into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so called "freakish" clients.
Directors:
Jen Soska,
Sylvia Soska
Stars:
Katharine Isabelle,
Antonio Cupo,
Tristan Risk
A lonely young woman traumatized by a difficult childhood and her increasingly desperate attempts to connect with the people around her is sent into a murderous tailspin.
Is becoming a woman analogous, in some deep psychological way, to becoming a werewolf? Ginger is 16, edgy, tough, and, with her younger sister, into staging and photographing scenes of death. They've made a pact about dying together. In early October, on the night she has her first period, which is also the night of a full moon, a werewolf bites Ginger. Within a few days, some serious changes happen to her body and her temperament. Her sister Brigitte, 15, tries to find a cure with the help of Sam, a local doper. As Brigitte races against the clock, Halloween and another full moon approach, Ginger gets scarier, and it isn't just local dogs that begin to die.Written by
<jhailey@hotmail.com>
When Ginger and Brigitte go to visit Sam because he has an idea, he slams the door when Ginger and Brigitte come in. Then when you see Sam and Brigitte talking the door is open. Also when the door is slammed the hinge is on the left when they are talking the door is the other way round; if you were looking from the same view as when he slammed the door the hinge would be on the right. See more »
Quotes
Ginger:
You swore we'd go together, one way or another.
Brigitte:
When we were eight.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Thank you to: ¡EEK! (EXPERIMENTAL ENGINEERING KORPORATION) See more »
Alternate Versions
A Collector's Edition DVD was released in Canada that contains over 20 minutes of Deleted/Extended footage. The additional scenes are as follows.
A scene in the hallway of the high school. Ginger carves the word "Fuck" into a locker door while Brigitte takes a Polaroid of herself. There is a small amount of dialogue as Brigitte says that people suck.
Extended footage of Brigitte and Ginger arriving home after the attack on Ginger. There is more of Brigitte screaming for help, and extra footage of her scrambling to get first aid supplies to help Ginger.
Ginger gets out of the shower, stands in front of the bathroom mirror and pulls some of the hair out of her shoulder wound.
While changing TV channels, Brigitte comes across a really cheesy werewolf movie and watches it for a moment.
Additional footage in the greenhouse before Brigitte tells Sam that she's a werewolf. Sam is conducting an experiment on a rare plant when Brigitte startles him and ruins the experiment. Sam alludes to the fact that his family owns the greenhouse, and that it's "the family crypt."
Mr. Wayne threatens to suspend Ginger for attacking Trina on the playing field. Brigitte blackmails him into letting Ginger go, threatening to claim that he tried to rape Ginger.
Ginger starts to get stir crazy after being isolated in her room. She thrashes around and tears pictures off of the wall. At one point, she spits out a tooth, claiming "That's five." But she shows Brigitte that she's grown "two more of the new ones," and shows Brigitte her fangs. Ginger reads a list of symptoms for PMS, then tries to get Brigitte to let her go out. Brigitte responds "PMS is the least of your problems."
Another scene in the greenhouse with Sam mentioning that the cops have been asking him about Trina's disappearance. Sam assumes that Brigitte killed her. Brigitte calls him a "cherry hound." Sam asks if Brigitte thinks he's the type to go around chasing virgins. Brigitte asks Sam if he thinks she's the type to go around killing them.
A little kid in a puppy suit comes across Jason. Jason asks the kid if he can bark, and the kid lets out a little "woof." "That's not a bark," Jason says, grabbing the kid and growling.
A much extended scene involving Mr. Wayne's death. Ginger tells Mr. Wayne that Brigitte locked her in the bathroom. He has Brigitte paged over the school's intercom. Brigitte hears the page and begins walking towards his office. She shyly walks past 2 police officers who are investigating Trina's disappearance. She hesitates for a moment before entering Mr. Wayne's office. When she opens the door, Ginger pulls her into the office, where Mr. Wayne is laid out dead on the desk. Brigitte tells Ginger that there is a cure, and that it worked on Jason. Brigitte says that Sam can make more. Ginger yells at Brigitte for betraying her for some guy.
Additional footage after Pamela finds Trina's body. Mr. Fitzgerald walks outside and asks what she's doing. She says she's just remembering old times.
In the van, Pamela gives Brigitte some make-up to hide the circles under her eyes.
Extended scene at the party. Ginger opens her shirt up in front of Sam. He sees her morphed abdomen and says "Nice getup."
Brigitte makes her way through the party crowd, trying to find Sam and Ginger. She runs into Jason's friends, who mock her for looking like a zombie. She leaves, and Jason walks up, just missing her. He asks his friends if they've seen Ginger. One friend asks if he and Ginger broke up, and Jason responds "Oh yeah." The friend says that Ginger is hot and that Jason is an idiot for breaking up with her. Jason calls him a fag.
Outside the party, a police cruiser pulls up next to Pamela's van. The little kid in the puppy suit is in the back seat. Two officers go inside looking for Jason. Pamela thinks they are after her daughters, so she grabs the plastic container holding Trina's severed fingers and follows them inside.
Brief additional dialogue when Brigitte walks in on Sam and Ginger.
Pamela wanders through the party.
Jason grabs Brigitte and Ginger as they try to leave the party. The police officers find Jason's friends, and ask if they know where he is. One friend, mad about being called a fag, points Jason out. Jason sees the cops, thinks they are after Ginger, and calls them over. Pamela shows up and knocks Jason down, yelling "Let go of my girls!" She tells her daughters to run, and walks over to the cops. She shows the cops Trina's fingers, and claims that she killed Trina. She starts flailing around so the cops will take her away. Jason watches all of this, then grabs a beer and starts talking to a random hot girl at the party.
Action Radius
Written by Patrick Tilon & Junkie XL (as Tom Holenborg)
Performed by Junkie XL
Used by permission of BMG Music Publishing Canada Inc./Pennies From Heaven B.V., The Netherlands and Roadrunner Records See more »
Ginger Snaps is one of the best revisionist horror movies I've seen - if you liked "Ravenous" you'll enjoy this. Contrary to a previous reviewer's remarks, the film is not heartlessly "cool" - no chilly hipster would be capable of the compassion this film shows to its outcast, unbeautiful characters. Like all the best horror films, the true subject of fear is very real - the earthquake effect of sexual maturity on teenagers, girls in this case, and the disruption of sibling relationships by differing levels of sexual maturity. It also speaks to a genuine post-Columbine concern. When youth culture admires alienation, morbid affectation and misanthropy, how can genuine psychosis be distinguished from acting out? The highest praise goes to Isabelle and Perkins, whose characterisation is superb. Mimi Rogers as the mother who raises denial to an art form is also excellent.
On the downside, the last twenty percent of the film declines into cliched stalk-and-slash, with typically idiotic behaviour by previously intelligent characters, and an embarrassingly polymeric monster. The humanoid werewolf makeup is so derivative of "Buffy" I'm surprised Optic Nerve didn't sue. Moreover, for its revisionist pretensions, the films underlying attitudes to sexuality are disappointingly regressive, as are the final fates to which it consigns its characters.
On balance though, highly recommended.
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Ginger Snaps is one of the best revisionist horror movies I've seen - if you liked "Ravenous" you'll enjoy this. Contrary to a previous reviewer's remarks, the film is not heartlessly "cool" - no chilly hipster would be capable of the compassion this film shows to its outcast, unbeautiful characters. Like all the best horror films, the true subject of fear is very real - the earthquake effect of sexual maturity on teenagers, girls in this case, and the disruption of sibling relationships by differing levels of sexual maturity. It also speaks to a genuine post-Columbine concern. When youth culture admires alienation, morbid affectation and misanthropy, how can genuine psychosis be distinguished from acting out? The highest praise goes to Isabelle and Perkins, whose characterisation is superb. Mimi Rogers as the mother who raises denial to an art form is also excellent.
On the downside, the last twenty percent of the film declines into cliched stalk-and-slash, with typically idiotic behaviour by previously intelligent characters, and an embarrassingly polymeric monster. The humanoid werewolf makeup is so derivative of "Buffy" I'm surprised Optic Nerve didn't sue. Moreover, for its revisionist pretensions, the films underlying attitudes to sexuality are disappointingly regressive, as are the final fates to which it consigns its characters.
On balance though, highly recommended.