Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)

Set in 19th Century Canada, Brigette and her sister Ginger take refuge in a Traders' Fort which later becomes under siege by some savage werewolves.

Director:

Grant Harvey

Writers:

Christina Ray, Stephen Massicotte

Stars:

Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Nathaniel Arcand

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Katharine Isabelle	...	Ginger
Emily Perkins	...	Brigitte
Nathaniel Arcand	...	Hunter
JR Bourne	...	James
Hugh Dillon	...	Reverend Gilbert
Adrien Dorval	...	Seamus
Brendan Fletcher	...	Finn
David La Haye	...	Claude (as David LaHaye)
Tom McCamus	...	Wallace Rowlands
Matthew Walker	...	Doc Murphy
Fabian Bird	...	Milo
Kirk Jarrett	...	Owen
David MacInnis	...	Cormac
Stevie Mitchell	...	Geoffrey
Edna Rain	...	Elder

Storyline

Set in 19th Century Canada, Brigette and her sister Ginger take refuge in a Traders' Fort which later becomes under siege by some savage werewolves. And an enigmatic Indian hunter decides to help the girls, but one of the girls has been bitten by a werewolf. Brigitte and Ginger may have no one to turn to but themselves.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1815 | 1810s | female protagonist | canadian horror | five word title | 

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Taglines:

Find the source of your fear.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot back-to-back with Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004).

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Goofs

When the werewolf breaks into the fort, Brigitte's knife alternates between pointing upwards and downwards at least three times.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Brigitte: The Indians say the curse began in the time of the Ancients and was passed down through the blood of generations. There are legends of the Wendigo and the coming of the Red and the Black. Legends of the Day of Reckoning, when Death would consume the land, and good would face evil; of the day the curse would be broken forever - or grow stronger, and live on to plague generations to come. But ours was a story of survival; of two sisters bound by blood. A bond that would not be broken...

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Crazy Credits

Near the end of the credits, it says "No animals or werewolves were harmed badly during the production of this film."

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Alternate Versions

The DVD release contains deleted scenes. The additional footage is as follows:

• While looking for a set of keys, Finn tells the girls that he is a map maker. The girls ask what has happened at the fort. Finn doesn't answer them. They see a pile of werewolf drawings on a desk, and look at Finn questioningly. He says that the pictures are of old wives tales.
• An extended dinner scene with additional dialogue amongst the men. Seamus says that the scripture has made Gilbert twisted. James loudly questions Hunter's motives for staying at the fort. Seamus defends Hunter. Hunter puts a knife to James' throat before letting him go. Rowlands begins to make a speech before being interrupted by the howling of werewolves outside.
• Returning to the fort after helping Ginger escape, Brigitte is brought before Rowlands. Gilbert claims she is a disciple of the devil and will steal the souls of the men. Rowlands tells Brigitte that when he looked into his son's eyes before shooting him, he saw nothing. He then says that when he looks into Brigitte's eyes, he sees only her sister. He tells the men they can do what they want with Brigitte, and that he washes his hands of the whole thing.
• An extended burial scene where Gilbert makes several veiled attacks towards Seamus' personal life.

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Connections

Follows Ginger Snaps (2000)

User Reviews

An effort without any heart

After the success of the superior werewolf thriller "Ginger Snaps", it seems Lions Gate rushed to churn out two sequels in the shortest amount of time possible, those being the frightening "Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed" and the disappointing "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning". Where "Unleashed" was a bit of letdown compared to its predecessor, it made sense and it followed the storyline well and even managed to wrangle up a boatload of genuine scares. Then there's "Ginger Snaps Back", the weakest and wholly unnecessary entry into the series. It should have stopped with "Unleashed" but the writers have decided to give our doomed heroines Brigitte and Ginger one last go around.

This time Ginger and Brigitte (a major plus is that Katharine Isabelle reprises her role as Ginger whereas she was missing in the second film save for a few scenes) are wandering around in the Canadian wilderness after being stranded in the early 1800's. For some reason it's a prequel that has nothing to do with the story that was developed in the first two films, so what's the point besides some cheap werewolf scares? When they come across a wrecked Indian camp that depicts carnage and brutal murder, they hastily make way to find shelter. That's when they find a strange fort in the middle of nowhere that some soldiers reside in, and that's where the nightmare begins. At night, a pack of vicious werewolves continually attacks the fort outside the thick log walls, and by day things take a nasty turn for Ginger when she is bitten... again. It's all apparently a foreshadowing of the events in the first film but none of it is needed. There's no tension or intrigue where there was in the first and second, plus any trace of black humor that made the first film so ingenious is not apparent anywhere. The editing and cinematography seem rushed and at times I found the film almost incoherent. A huge disappointment that further ruins the integrity of the first. They should leave Ginger and Brigitte alone now.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English Cree

Release Date:

27 August 2004 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning

Filming Locations:

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

49 Films, Combustion, Lions Gate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1