twist of fait accomplis

Ginger Snaps, 2000 [ ADD ]
Director: John Fawcett
Availability: Medium (avoid the weak, featureless, full frame American DVD and get the special edition DVD from Canadian distributor TVA International)

There's been a sore lack of truly original, clever horror on the big screen in the last decade (or more, depending on who you ask). Ginger Snaps, though, breaks the mold. It serves up a modern werewolf plot with a feminist edge and lots of intelligent humor and action. Can't say that about Halloween: Resurrection.

Two outcast sisters, both in their mid-teens and not yet... "women", head out one night to cause some trouble. Sure, a number of dogs in the area have been mauled in recent weeks, but what do they have to worry about? Well, when it's a werewolf during the mauling, you don't want to find out you're having your first period outside, in the dead of night. That's the type of thing that gets a werewolf's attention (the movie's clever tagline is: "That's why they call it 'the curse'"). Ginger, the older sibling, is attacked and dragged away by a vicious beast. Her younger sister comes to her rescue, but not before Ginger is severely battered, bruised, and scratched.

In the following weeks, a number of changes start to take place. This is where things get good. As we learned in The Howling and other werewolf movies, the transformation is the most interesting part of the story. Director John Fawcett certainly lingers on this, making Ginger's transformation into a werewolf (and also into womanhood) a decisive factor in her freshly wounded relationship with her younger sister. Times change and people change, but not usually like this.

If you're up for a couple hours of great fun, Ginger Snaps is good means to that end. In terms of modern horror, it's one of the better films of the last five years and has developed quite a nice little following.