Fifteen year old Goth sisters Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are the misfits of their high school. They strive to be different and are obsessed with darkness and death, making a pact, dead by sixteen.
The boring suburb of Bailey Downs has been hit by a spate of animal attacks, leaving pets viciously mauled. The arrival of Aunt Flo forces Ginger into adulthood and she is disgusted by how her body betrays her. Unfortunately for her, her first period coincides with a walk beneath the full moon and she is attacked by a werewolf. Soon enough, Ginger starts to change, not only physically but mentally, and it is up to her loyal sister Bridget, with the help of drug dealer Sam (Kris Lemche) to attempt to cure her before all hell breaks loose in their little Canadian town. Luckily for Brigitte, dope connoisseur Sam knows a lot about plants, including certain herbs that might help.
Wonderfully acted, with Mimi Rogers as their endlessly upbeat and misguided mother, Ginger Snaps caught my attention a decade ago and I happened to be flicking through the channels late one night recently and found the SyFy channel showing it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a good as I remember it. It’s tongue-in-cheek, clever and gross out violent in some parts. Isabelle is captivating as her animal instincts start to take over and Perkins is just as good as the fed up shadow of her older sister. The dialogue is biting and funny, and reminded me of the teenage speak from Buffy and Heathers.
Ginger Snaps also has one of the most chilling opening credits scenes I have ever seen: one death shot after the next shows the sisters playing dead for the camera. This film is bloody and gory, and includes lots of gross body shots like the tail sticking out of Ginger’s underwear. Feel free to feel slightly nauseated by this (I did!). We also get vomiting, blood licking and one horrible shot of a teenage boy peeing blood into a urinal; turns out he’s been infected by Ginger during sex. So, you have been well warned.
A bloody excellent, low budget horror movie. ****
Check it out on Amazon HERE
Are you brave enough to watch this?
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