To me, this movie is perfection.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

It's possible I'm biased, but I've never managed to make it all the way through this movie in one sitting. I just get so bored. Ginger Snaps is often feted as a smart, slick, witty teen drama/horror/comedy hybrid, using werewolf movie tropes as a metaphor for puberty, loss of innocence, and a character study of two sisters growing apart. It does have some snappy lines and genuinely funny moments, such as Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) consulting the supermarket's 'feminine hygiene' aisle as Ginger's lycanthropic changes blur with the clunky plot point of her first period, but for me those are also the scenes that highlight the movie's weakness.For my taste, the preoccupation with Ginger's burgeoning womanhood - her menstruation, her 'wolfishness' portrayed through aggressive sexuality (including flipping the roles on a pushy boy who has the nerve to ask her "who's the guy here?" shortly before she pins him down and bites through his chest), pleasure- seeking, and short-tempered moodiness - are a set of clichés that never feel as clever or deep as they seem to think they are. The scene in which Ginger compares blood lust to the joy of masturbation never fails to make me cringe. It doesn't help that writer/co-story writer Karen Fawcett's dialogue sounds less like genuine teen-speak than the esprit d'escalier of a 35 year old remembering high school. Maybe it's because Brigitte and Ginger are so hard to identify with, being cast so firmly as outsiders from the start, with their shared obsession with death, a la Harold and Maude. Emily Perkins' performance - swaddled in baggy clothes, and hiding behind a forest of uncombed hair - is whole- heartedly committed to a vision of teen awkwardness, but the excessive wild-eyed staring overwhelms any sense of nuance or character development which could have brought the story some genuine depth in its first two thirds, and adds to the feeling of playing scenes for laughs instead of balancing dark humour with real emotion.The movie's practical effects are unusual, and I don't have a problem with that, though it seems to put off a lot of horror fans, and the lycanthropy is not the conventional kind. Most of the liberally splattered gore scenes are effected with high speed cuts and crunchy sound effects rather than a more psychological approach, which feels like an odd choice given the movie's attempts at locating itself so firmly inside the sisters' shared bond. Ultimately, Ginger Snaps may be many people's idea of a sharply comic modern(ish) take on horror movies - and particularly the role of women in horror - and if it speaks to you like that then great; such is the power of representation in movies. Unfortunately, for me it feels severely dated, clunky, and unrelatable, and it's easy to see the excitement about the movie as chronic over-hyping. If you go in expecting a teen drama with naked-molerat-werewolves and a somewhat second-wave feminist message, you might be pleasantly surprised, but if you remember the 90s trope of being too cool to take anything seriously and found it annoying then, you may want to give this movie a wide berth.Maybe there'll be a reboot one of these days to smooth off the rough edges from a potentially promising idea?

I have no idea how I have never heard of this movie before. It seems to have been left off the cult horror movie list, maybe due to all the let's call it "animal cruelty" - which honestly made me want to puke but aside from that it's a good horror film. There is so much teen angst and drama to keep you entertained and it's truly frightening and freaky. To break up some of the tension there are the occasional moments of hilarity, whether intentional or not it provides the audience with some much needed lightness in an otherwise dark film.If you love horror films and have not yet had the pleasure of watching Ginger Snaps then I highly recommend it. I hope the rest of the installment proves to be as good as this one.

Ginger Snaps is a rather odd addition to the world of werewolf flicks. Opting for a more emotional and personal approach, over the typical sliced and diced mish-mash of an almost-plot that most werewolf movies cozy up too, Ginger Snaps is perhaps a masterpiece of the werewolf genera. Following themes of coming-of-age and sisterhood bonds this film is both moving and intense.Taking on macabre tones throughout, Ginger Snaps has just the right amount of werewolf gore--with effects that are quite good, considering the movies low-budget. Their main cast all do a good job acting and their story is cohesive and well-written.The only down side to the film might be in the cliché high school setting, although even this manages to come off as believable-- thanks to some of the well written characters and their deviations from the typical high school tropes. Overall, the film is quite enjoyable and certainly a thrill to watch. It's unique and bizarre, in short, a necessary film for any werewolf-lover.

The viscerally effective horror thriller "Ginger Snaps" sports a doubly clever title. Gingersnaps, of course, are yummy cookie treats sweetened with molasses and, naturally, ginger, but that is hardly what is being suggested here. "Snaps" can also mean "to go crazy" or "to lose it," which is certainly the case for the film's lead character, Ginger Fitzgerald. And more to the point, "snaps" can also mean "to seize with a sudden closing of the jaws," which is what poor Ginger does quite a lot of here, as she slowly morphs into a truly grotesque werewolf, in John Fawcett's surprisingly effective film. Released in September 2000, the Canadian picture was moderately successful at the box office but has since then become something of a bona fide cult item, and one that has spawned two further entries.In the film, the viewer encounters the Fitzgerald sisters, the pubescent Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and her 15-year-old junior, Brigitte (Emily Perkins); two death-obsessed oddballs who spend their time making movies of their faked suicides and rehashing their mutual death pact. But their morbid fixation soon palls in the light of a more serious concern. Their suburban community of Bailey Downs has lately been plagued by a series of attacks; some strange creature has been brutally killing the local dogs. And then one night, coinciding precisely with her first menstruation, Ginger is attacked and bitten by that self-same creature, which is then run over and squashed by the van being driven by the local high school drug dealer, Sam (Kris Lemche). Too late for Ginger, though, who soon starts to sprout hair, grow sexually rapacious, smoke pot, and "utter sharp biting words" (yet another meaning of the word "snap") at everyone around her. But when she actually starts to sprout a tail at the base of her spine, that is when Brigitte realizes that these are not just simple physical and personality changes brought on by Ginger's first period, and goes to Sam in the hope of finding a cure. And since Ginger's increasingly promiscuous and violent personality has already resulted in one more infected lycanthrope and at least three dead bodies, that cure cannot come quickly enough....Watching "Ginger Snaps" for the first time, this viewer was forcefully reminded of the films of another Canadian filmmaker, David Cronenberg, whose pet theme, in films such as "They Came From Within," "Rabid" and "The Brood," has been "the body in revolt"; that quease-inducing horror that arises when a person's body turns against one. Here, Ginger's slow and agonizing transformation is no less shocking than Marilyn Chambers' Rose's was in "Rabid" or Samantha Eggar's Nola's was in "The Brood," and her initial period is certainly rougher than Carrie White's was in "Carrie." Yes, the film does use lycanthropy as an apt metaphor for puberty ("They don't call it the curse for nothing," the film's promotional poster proclaimed), and one that should make all teenagers feel a bit better about their own occasional cramp or change in voice! Metaphors aside, the film succeeds as an excellent horror outing, and the creature that Ginger becomes by the picture's end is a fairly nasty addition to the werewolf pantheon. The film is pretty darn serious, grim, bloody and downbeat, and what little humor it does possess is provided by the gals' dim bulb of a mother, played by Mimi Rogers. (Rogers had previously starred in one of this viewer's favorite films of the '90s, "The Rapture.") "Ginger Snaps" refuses to follow the typical outlines of more conventional horror films, and viewers hoping for a happy ending, with Ginger successfully restored and hopelessly antisocial Brigitte entering into a romantic relationship with hunky dude Sam, might be a little disappointed--no, appalled--at how things turn out. Perhaps the single best element of the entire affair is Perkins' contribution, although Isabelle surely has the flashier, showier role. It is genuinely touching what Brigitte puts herself through--including self-infection--to help her older sister, despite Ginger becoming increasingly problematic as the film proceeds. Perkins is just terrific; just look at her glower sullenly from behind her lank hair, shooting out expressions of intensity of which no one would want to be on the receiving end! Truly, the kind of sister anyone would want when the chips are down, or a bloodthirsty monster is running around loose!"Ginger Snaps" is hardly a perfect film, good as it is. Many of the characters, Perkins' and Isabelle's included, give mumbled line readings, although that might be more a reflection of how teens actually talk today than an inherent problem with the actors themselves. Still, this viewer would greatly have appreciated some English subtitles for the hard of hearing on the DVD that I just watched. Another problem: The werewolf attacks--both those of the initial creature and those of Ginger at the finale--are very hard to follow, what with the frenzied cutting and rapidity of motion involved. Still, the disorientation engendered thereby only serves to ratchet up the fright factor, so no real complaints from me. As mentioned, the film spawned two sequels, "Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed" and a prequel (!), "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning," the latter having been released straight to video. And after seeing the first installment in what has turned out to be a trilogy, I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to learn more about those morose, death-obsessed Fitzgerald sisters....