Ginger Snaps is a movie about sisterhood, growing up, and werewolves. Ginger and Brigitte are two teens in suburbia who like to pose in gruesome photos depicting their own deaths. They vow never to be normal and would rather die than become the typical high school "breeders."
But all that changes when Ginger is attacked by a vicious doglike creature in the woods. Using lycanthropy as an awesome metaphor for puberty, Brigitte watches as her sister changes daily before her eyes and the bonds of sisterhood are put to the test by hormones, boys, and hair in unusual places.
I really appreciate a movie with strong female characters, and I have to say that this movie attracted me because of that. Ginger kind of gets the short end of the characterization stick since she spends the movie morphing into a sex and violence-crazed monster, but younger sister Brigitte has a great role. As she watches her sister transform (both through lycanthropy and puberty), she shows her own fears of growing up, of losing her sister, of becoming just another typical and boring girl. Her relationship with Ginger is complex, and we understand that from her actions and decisions.
Don't get me wrong, I think the presence of "scream queens" has its place, but Ginger Snaps just proved itself to me in a lot of ways. It has a solid plot with meaning beyond the nightmarish werewolf-horror, a strong and complex lead (who is even a teenage girl. Bonus!), and good enough writing and filming to make me not mind the really horrible creature effects (Howling 3: The Marsupials almost had more realistic were-wallabies. But not quite.)
Joey and I both agreed that we really liked this movie beyond the realms of comparing it to other horror films. Thank you, Canada, for giving us Ginger Snaps!
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