Sorry it’s been a bit for me to get to the final installment of this series review. I was diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis and I needed pain meds for about 3 weeks. My doctor told me not to mix alcohol with them. I mean, I THINK that’s what he said. Honestly, it all went out my head the second I hit the bar so…. what does he know anyway?
So, we’ve finally made it to the third and final film in the Ginger Snaps trilogy. Fun fact: this movie was shot back to back with the second one.
Is it fun though…?
Anyway, let’s get on with Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning.
Warning: There will likely be spoilers. Go back and read the first paragraph for clarification. But I can’t be held responsible when I was all jacked up on tramadol and Johnny Walker.
THE CURSE BEGINS (And no, it’s not Aunt Flo)
The third film takes us back to 1815 Canada. Ginger and Bernadette (I love that their names have not changed in any way to fit with the baby naming trends of the 19th century) are traveling alone in the wilderness after their parents’ deaths. After losing their horse, and their way, an old woman appears, giving the sisters matching bird skull necklaces. How thoughtful….
She offers an odd prophecy: “Kill the boy or one sister kills the other.” Then, off she pops! Um, thanks?
Confused, naturally, the sisters continue to look for the horse and B promptly steps in a bear trap. Because of COURSE she does. Luckily for them, a hunky Native man shows up to help release Brigette and then leads the girls to a nearby trader’s fort to get them help. The all-male crew at the fort are more than leery of strangers, let alone two WIHMYN, but Wallace, the man in charge, welcomes them and offers what help he can.
Aside from the Sergeant Major being a TOTAL FUCKING MYSOGINISTIC RACIST ASSHOLE and the Pastor being a typical fire and brimstone hypocritical paragon of religion, the rest kinda leave the girls alone. Unfortunately, things don’t stay copacetic for long.
Ginger is woken one night to the sound of crying. She discovers a young boy locked up in another room and goes to comfort him. Turns out this kid looks like a wolf and a melted candle had a baby, and he attacks Ginger.
And we all know what that means, don’t we folks?
THANKS FOR NOTHING, GRANDMA
As Ginger and Brigette are not complete idiots, they know that since Ginger has been bitten, something rotten is going on here and Ginger is likely infected. And they gotta skedaddle immediately. Too bad they’re found before they can leave and while that jackhole fights to stop them, SOMETHING gets through the barely open gate and snatches one of the men. Mayhem ensues, more are injured, conspiracy theories abound, and things just start falling apart.
They are finally able to escape with the Native guy (he’s called The Hunter in the credits, btw) and go talk to the old woman who appeared to the girls before. After drinking some potion, Brigette passes out and has some visions or something. When she wakes up, the old lady has been torn to shreds and Ginger is gone.
“Oh, yeah. By the way, you were supposed to kill the boy BEFORE he bit Ginger. ‘K, byyyeeeee!
According to the Hunter, he’s been dreaming of B his whole life. He’s meant to be her protector. So now he’ll take Brigette back to the fort and wait for Ginger to come for her. Then B can kill G. And according to the old woman, “Their love and their death would decide the way of things.” If Brigette doesn’t kill Ginger, Ginger will kill Brigette and the world will suffer forever.
Will it though…?
So, in the final showdown, Ginger does indeed go back to the fort to find her sister. But she did NOT come alone. When she busts open the doors, a pack of werewolves push past her into the fort. It is the most EPIC baddie entrance evar.
Pretty sure I don’t need to tell you what happens but I will. Once Wallace realizes everything’s gone to shit, he sets the fort on fire then blows his brains out. The werewolves are running amok, killing everyone. And Brigette stabs the Hunter with the knife meant for Ginger then the girls escape out into the snow. The final scene shows Brigette resting her head in Ginger’s lap as they press their cut palms together.
“The day of reckoning. The day the curse grew stronger in the Red and Black. Sisters united in blood. Together forever.”
WELL, THAT WAS DARK AND FUN
I have to admit, I really enjoyed Ginger Snaps Back more than the second one, and maybe even more so than when I first watched it. The story made more sense; I loved the isolated setting; and it was so satisfying to see it didn’t go down that “two women in a fort full of men are in danger of being raped at every turn” trope road. Most of the characters are sympathetic, or just so awful it’s really fun to hate them. And naturally we’re cheering on Ginger and Bridgette from every angle at every moment.
At least I was.
Each of the films in the trilogy had a different director and set of writers. That could explain why each movie had such a different feel to it. And I loved that Christina Ray and Stephen Massicotte wrote Ginger more as woman coming into strength and power instead of a pubescent sexual awakening where she humps every man she comes across. Ginger even kept a sense of sympathy as she changed, unable to kill the boy who bit her. You could even see the genuine fear she felt, thinking she might actually hurt or kill Brigette, despite their strong bond. And from what I could see, this was the pair’s first movie writing job. Nice!
Director Grant Harvey is mostly known for his TV series/movies work but I think he did a great job here. Even if characters were awful, they were completely believable. His direction let them and the story shine through with NO FUCKING JUMP SCARES!
Adrian Dorval as Seamus was my favorite. I can’t really put my finger on why but he was never confrontational, never gave the sisters a hard time, just put his head down and did what needed to be done. David La Haye played Claude and while he didn’t have that many lines, there’s a very gentle and sweet scene where he shares a memory of his brother with Ginger. It had been discovered just slightly before this scene that his brother had become a werewolf and attacked the fort where he was eventually killed. Claude remembered his brother telling him a story on how to survive a werewolf attack and not become one yourself. It was very touching. He wasn’t angry or trying to blame Ginger. It was like he just needed to share this memory – maybe he even knew she was infected and was trying to help her in his own way.
Now that I’m thinking of it, there’s quite a bit of sadness running through this whole movie. The men at the fort had lost wives and children to the wolves; the men who’d gone to get supplies and never returned had been killed by the wolves, too. Behind some of their anger and fear, they all seemed so beaten down and defeated. Even the cinematography had a color palette that was washed out and faded, kind of monotone (for the most part.)
The werewolves looked more like the creatures of the second film, which I liked better than Wereginger in the first movie. And while Ginger does get that cool Bonnie Raitt white stripe in her hair, her face doesn’t go all hairy and wolfy. Her eyebrows kinda leave the chat, her eye makeup goes black, and her skin turns greyish white. She looks so bad ass, even though she’s cursed to turn into a wolf.
Is it a curse though…?
All in all, I might like Ginger Snaps Back almost as much as the first movie. I appreciate all the metaphor and symbolism and blah-ditty going on in the original film, but it’s cut with a sense of humor behind it. This third movie is all dark all the time. I’m not saying it’s without fault – there is a LOT of hyperbole and overacting going on. But mix it with the OG and they kinda make the perfect film!
Gotta give it a 4.5 out of 5 margaritas.
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004) - Drunken Monkey Review - Malevolentdark
Director: Grant Harvey
Date Created: 1970-01-01 00:33
4.5