Streaming Service: Shudder
Watched: 10/4/2020
Believe it or not, this is the first time I have ever seen Ginger Snaps. Though it has long been on my radar and on my list of movies to see, I’ve had difficulty tracking it down over the years whenever I had the urge to see it. Either it wasn’t available to rent (way back when it first came out) or I couldn’t find it on a streaming service. When I compiled my list for my Halloween Moviefest, I was happy to see it was on Shudder and made sure to add it.
One of the appealing aspects of this film is that it’s young women at the center of the chaos brought on by a werewolf invading suburbia. This twist in the usual werewolf trope allowed the plot to dive deep into the dynamics of sisterhood and the divisions that occur while growing up. The sisters start out united in a small world of their own making. No one else is allowed to come close to them. They’re definitely morbid and even have a death pact. Ginger is the oldest at sixteen. Bridget is one year younger and has skipped a grade in school. They are a united front at both school and home. It’s clear that their world is each other. In love with the idea of death, the sisters don’t know how to deal with it when it lands on their doorstep in the form of a werewolf.
Until Ginger becomes infected, Bridget, has always followed in her older sister’s footsteps. As the lycanthrope virus starts to change Ginger, it’s increasingly up to Bridget to find a solution to her sister’s affliction. Ginger loves Bridget, but she’s evolving in more ways her younger sister can’t grasp. It’s not just her evolution into a werewolf that Bridget can’t grasp, but her burgeoning sexuality. Suddenly, Ginger isn’t content with just hanging out with her sister in their morbid little world and a deep fractures starts to form. Bridget’s love and devotion to an older sister that is hell bent on self-destruction (and the destruction of others) is touching, yet heartbreaking.
Ginger Snaps is a horror classic for a reason. It takes all the werewolf tropes and mixes them with a good dose of family drama as well as a coming-of-age story.
There’s a whole lot of gore and blood in this film (as to be expected), but those who love dogs might be bothered by the animal deaths.
My only complaint is that I wasn’t too impressed with the mostly hairless werewolf design. I loved all of Ginger’s looks as she was evolving (especially her teeth and that tail!), but the final form was a let down.
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Bridget’s sacrifice for her sister (infecting herself) was heartbreaking. It was a ploy to save her sister, but Ginger only wants to have Bridget join her new pack. Even though Bridget knows that Ginger just didn’t want to be alone in her hell, she loves her sister completely and will do anything for her except die with her. I appreciated Bridget’s tragic arc and that in the end she wasn’t able to save her sister. It made the whole story hit a lot harder than if Bridget had saved Ginger.
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