Ginger Snaps (2000)

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.

Director:

John Fawcett

Writers:

Karen Walton (story), John Fawcett (story)

Stars:

Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche

8 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emily Perkins	...	Brigitte
Katharine Isabelle	...	Ginger
Kris Lemche	...	Sam
Mimi Rogers	...	Pamela
Jesse Moss	...	Jason
Danielle Hampton	...	Trina
John Bourgeois	...	Henry
Peter Keleghan	...	Mr. Wayne
Christopher Redman	...	Ben
Jimmy MacInnis	...	Tim
Lindsay Leese	...	Nurse Ferry
Wendii Fulford	...	Ms. Sykes
Ann Baggley	...	Mother
Graeme Robertson	...	Toddler
Maxwell Robertson	...	Toddler

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

male rape victim | werewolf | full moon | canadian horror | driving lesson | 

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Taglines:

Ginger Snaps....AND Bites

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 2001 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Ginger Snaps I

Filming Locations:

Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,430, 28 October 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,554, 1 November 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Copperheart Entertainment,Water Pictures,Motion International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Still airs from time to time on the UK horror channel.

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Goofs

When Brigitte and Sam are running through the house trying to find Ginger as a Werewolf, every window they pass has light shining in, even though it's supposed to be late at night.

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Quotes

Ginger: [to Brigitte] A girl can only be a slut, a bitch, a tease, or the virgin next door.

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Crazy Credits

Thank you to: ¡EEK! (EXPERIMENTAL ENGINEERING KORPORATION)

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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.

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Connections

Featured in Nothing (2003)

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Soundtracks

Overflow
Written by Romell Regulacion
Performed by Razed in Black
Used by permission of Cleopatra Records, Invivo Music and Dimension Gate Music

User Reviews

Surprise of the year! Impressive horror.

Whoever marketed 'Ginger Snaps' should get some kind of award for sabotage! Looking at the packaging and it's name-dropping of 'The Craft'(??!) one would think you were in for your typical late 90s "ironic" MTV teen horror ala 'Scream' and the '..Last Summer' series, or some sort of 'Buffy' cash in. I nearly avoided watching it for exactly that reason. Am I glad I didn't!

'Ginger Snaps', while not totally perfect, is one of the freshest horror movies I've seen in ages, and one of the best werewolf movies of recent years. You can read the plot elsewhere so I won't bore you by repeating it. But I have to comment on the excellent script, with its realistic portrayal of teen life. No 90210/'Seventh Heaven' whitewash here! The teens act and talk like REAL PEOPLE, and the honesty about sex, drugs and puberty is rarely seen in contemporary movies, horror or otherwise.

I said not totally perfect because the climax was a let down. The last 20-25 minutes of the film lost its way a bit, and dragged in places. A bit more tightening up and a stronger ending could have made 'Ginger Snaps' a classic. As it is it's an original spin on an old concept, and highly recommended viewing!