All righty. I need to be better about getting my drink on in 2025. The paltry offerings I posted in 2024 make me hang my head in shame. So, here’s to a more productive, and drunk, new year!
For this movie series review, I decided to rewatch the Ginger Snaps trilogy. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen any of these films and that, dear friends, is a crime. If you haven’t seen them, I highly recommend you head over to Shudder, Tubi, or any other streaming service where you can find them. Hell, rent ‘em if ya gotta.
Caveat: I don’t remember one thing about Ginger Snaps 2, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.
But let’s kick off 2025 with the fun escapade into a young woman going through “the change” where puberty doesn’t just smack her around, it beats the ever-living hell out of her, and throws in some lycanthropy on top just to shake shit up a bit.
SPOILERS: My editor has snuck off to Pleasure Island with Coconut Pete. It’s entirely possible I may be editor free for the rest of my life. So, I’m probably going to spoil a few plot points here.
Puppy Training
The movie sets up the main characters immediately. Ginger and Brigitte are sisters (I want to say they’re a year apart, not twins, but they do have some classes together.) They are extremely bonded to one another, even making a blood pact when they were kids. And both share that awkward, outcast kinda vibe. It doesn’t really help their case that they like to make dark, brooding short films about death and dying.
I think they’re shit is cool but what the fuck do I know?
Ginger is about to get her period, late as it is. She’s sixteen in the film AND EVERYONE CALM DOWN. Talking about a woman’s menstrual cycle shouldn’t get your panties all twisted. It’s natural and actually a major plot point here. So put your big boy hat on, sit down, and shut the fuck up. The grown-ups are talking.
Anyhoo…
Like I was saying, not only is this an important milestone for Ginger, but it’s also super awesome timing because guess what? Some kind of animal is wreaking having in their quiet suburban town, slaughtering all the animals it can find. And when Ginger and Brigitte sneak out one night, you can guess what happens when it turns out Ginger is actively bleeding.
This sets in motion the hell that is about to rain down. Yeah, that creature doing all the killing? That would be a werewolf. Ginger does survive the attack and almost immediately, the changes kick in. Her wounds begin to heal the same night and within a few days, her aggression increases, and her vague sex appeal (that, honestly, was already starting to come out) goes into overdrive.
Naturally Brigitte is freaking out about the possibilities of her sister becoming a werewolf but with the help of a local drug dealer, Sam (who accidentally ran over the werewolf that attacked Ginger), the pair do find a probable cure.
You think it’ll work?
Rolled Up Newspaper To The Nose (Please Don’t Do This To Your Pet)
When I’m watching most films with an underdog, I’m ALWAYS cheering for them. But then one gets a superpower, and they just start destroying the mean girls and dude bros at will? Gimme more of that! And I do admit, I’m a little envious of Ginger’s powerwalk down the school hallway once she starts feeling herself and the power imbued by the werewolf.
But even for this movie, things do get a little out of hand. Ginger turns on Brigitte for perceived slights; misunderstandings are heightened by the literal animalistic urges that are overtaking her body; the growing need to kill starts endangering the ones she loves.
I’m surprised more people didn’t pick up on her changes, considering they’re not waiting to kick in at the full moon. To be fair, most of her classmates pay her no mind in general but even their parents aren’t noticing some of the more subtle clues: the claws, the grey streaks in Ginger’s long red hair; the tail. Does that speak to the general ickiness most of us ladies feel in regards to our periods? Perhaps. We don’t want people to know when Flo has come to visit so we hide as much as we can or mask our discomfort with baggy clothes and pints of ice cream.
Where Watch Ginger Snaps
It certainly helps that the writer of this film is a woman, Karen Walton. Who better to capture the chaos going on in a girl’s body as she grows into womanhood? The whole idea of the film is one huge metaphor about puberty, the emotional and physical changes, along with one girl finding her own personal power before eating the shit out of people. AND I AM HERE FOR IT.
Not literally, course. This isn’t a German scheiße video. Weirdo.
I also think the character of the girls’ mom, Pamela, is written to come off as a flighty and slightly oblivious parental figure who’s into florals and cottage core. But as you watch the film, she knows something is going on with her girls, including the murder of a fellow classmate. And she flips on that mama bear protector switch without thinking twice. I adore her character as you listen to her inoffensive cuss words accent her plans to make sure nothing happens to her precious daughters.
The scene with the school nurse is also hysterically accurate. When Ginger and Brigitte are describing the massive bleeding, hair in new places, and all the pain, the nurse seems to assume they may be exaggerating to make a point. She doesn’t say that but simply reassures them it’s all natural and part of the process. She actually hands the sisters a couple of condoms. As the viewer, you know what Ginger is describing is not hyperbole but literal, and honestly, it’s one of the funnier comedic moments of the film.
Bad Dog, No Cookie For You
But as most of us know, monster movies rarely end well. Especially for the monsters. Once Ginger has gone full werewolf, Brigitte must cure her or die trying. That’s the one element that remains consistent throughout the film. Brigitte NEVER gives up on Ginger. She even infects herself with Ginger’s blood, trying to remind the human still inside Ginger that they are bonded.
The final scene is a cliffhanger, though. We don’t know if the cure worked; we don’t know if Ginger is dead. What’s the mom gonna do now when she sees the girl’s room completely trashed and covered in blood while Brigitte is lying on the still form of her lycanthrope sister?
I laughed. I cried. It became a part of me.
And that speaks to great writing (Karen Walton) and directing (John Fawcett.) The main characters are well developed and sympathetic. The story, while rooted in reality, spins a great werewolf fantasy that feels perfectly normal for the 21st century. Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle, as Brigitte and Ginger respectively, are phenomenal. Mimi Rogers, as their mom, Pamela, walks steadily on that line between embarrassing parental figure and fierce protector. Even the few side characters, like the mean girl at school, the douchebag dude bro, and the drug dealer, really flesh out the story line and help move it forward. They aren’t just cannon fodder.
The werewolf creature is pretty disturbing. It’s mostly hairless, and walks/runs on all fours. It has that Chinese Crested dog thing where the long stringy hair is limited to the head but no where else on the body. It’s kinda gross and ugly, but I love how different it is.
It’s not surprising to me that Ginger Snaps gets a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, an above average rating on IMDB, and has won nearly a dozen awards for writing, special f/x, acting, cinematography, and more! It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but honestly, I can’t fathom why. While it’s, of course, not a perfect film, it comes damn close in almost every aspect. So, it’s gonna get a top tier score from me.
If you’re in the mood for a well-written and acted teen werewolf film, check out Ginger Snaps.
Five margaritas out of five.
Ginger Snaps (2000) - Another Drunken Monkey Review - Malevolentdark
Director: John Fawcett
Date Created: 1970-01-01 00:33
2 Responses
EH fuck this movie, it’s nothing but misandry and propaganda, fucking portrays all men as perves and predators, and Brigitte even falsely accuses the fucking teacher of being a molester in a deleted scene! This movie should not of been political, just plain fantasy horror.
Spicy