Ginger Snaps in an interesting movie in the sense it came out of nowhere, has taking roost in a "dead" genre, has achieved a small cult-like fanbase whilst being relatively unheard of and unheralded and is also is decidedely awful. And breathe. It also steals so many elements from other sources (Carrie, An American Wereworlf in London, The Craft) that you have to have respect its audacity.
Based on the effect it has on two sisters, the film is about a deadly werewolf virus spread by, um, a werewolf in small-town America. The sisters are death obsessives, and in a truly bizarre sequence- show slides of themselves in various staged deaths in a class presentation. What makes this film so interesting is the graphic depiction and discussion of the problems girls get when becoming women being compared to the transformation of people into monsters. Issues of conformism and femininity are raised and dropped frequently also.
With all these Carrie and teen movie-isms being paraded and subsequently blown apart, you do wonder for the writer and director's sanity. And this comes from a fan of David Lynch. The film veers between the po-faced to the inadvertantly funny frequently and whatever humour the film is trying to show is often completely inappropriate to the content of the scene. The horror of the film feels forced and false as the director decides to show gore rather than pyschological thrills.
Ginger Snaps sure is a curiosity. However, this comes from the fact the film is so overblown in some departments (mainly thematically) and underdone in others (i.e. horror). In the end, this humble reviewer did not know what to think. It is memorable, and like the characters striving to be different however it comes across as a total mess. This is car-crash cinema at its most bizarre- you hate yourself for watching it but you still do anyway.
And, to think there is going to be both a sequel and a prequel to this monstrosity...
Based on the effect it has on two sisters, the film is about a deadly werewolf virus spread by, um, a werewolf in small-town America. The sisters are death obsessives, and in a truly bizarre sequence- show slides of themselves in various staged deaths in a class presentation. What makes this film so interesting is the graphic depiction and discussion of the problems girls get when becoming women being compared to the transformation of people into monsters. Issues of conformism and femininity are raised and dropped frequently also.
With all these Carrie and teen movie-isms being paraded and subsequently blown apart, you do wonder for the writer and director's sanity. And this comes from a fan of David Lynch. The film veers between the po-faced to the inadvertantly funny frequently and whatever humour the film is trying to show is often completely inappropriate to the content of the scene. The horror of the film feels forced and false as the director decides to show gore rather than pyschological thrills.
Ginger Snaps sure is a curiosity. However, this comes from the fact the film is so overblown in some departments (mainly thematically) and underdone in others (i.e. horror). In the end, this humble reviewer did not know what to think. It is memorable, and like the characters striving to be different however it comes across as a total mess. This is car-crash cinema at its most bizarre- you hate yourself for watching it but you still do anyway.
And, to think there is going to be both a sequel and a prequel to this monstrosity...