Ginger Snaps Back aka Ginger Snaps 3 (2004)

What happens when you have a werewolf story about two sisters and one of them dies in the first film and then the other one transforms in the second? Well, you reboot the concept and take both sisters and place them in the Canadian wilderness during the winter of the 1815! In "Ginger Snaps Back", the Fitzgerald Sisters are back, trying to survive the harsh winter after their trading party never returned from the Hudson Bay. I love the time period that this film takes place and I always want to watch it as a double feature along with "Ravenous". The chemistry between actors Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle is as strong as ever and come across as two devoted sisters who only have each other. Add in the venomous distrust of a hateful reverend, a fort filled with men who are weary and tired of constant attacks by werewolf's, and a dangerous secret that could ruin everything, you end up with a powder keg situation ready to explode. And when the time comes, it does explode in a beautiful and bloody way.


Brigitte and Ginger are wandering the Canadian wilderness, travelling aimlessly after losing their way. They come across an nearly empty camp, where a wise Indian women gives them each a talisman in the form of a necklace and tells them that they must "kill the boy", otherwise one sister will kill the other. A hunter then takes them to Fort Bailey until it's safe to travel again. It is here that their troubles begin as they become the focus of suspicion from the members of the camp who have been under attack by unnatural forces. In the fort itself, Ginger is attacked by the leader's son who is a werewolf. She becomes infected and is determined to kill the boy so she won't kill Brigitte. The chaos soon spirals out of control as the leader, the reverend, the hunter and others react to the situation, leaving Brigitte to face the terror that her sister has caused.

Ginger Snaps 2 : Unleashed (2003)

In 2003 two movies inspired by “Ginger Snaps” were filmed. The first was a sequel titled “Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed” and the other was a prequel called “Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning”. At the moment I’m going to focus on the sequel and as most sequels go, it’s decent but not nearly as strong of a film as the original. First of all the title is a bit misleading because Ginger died in the first movie and is still dead. She does make a couple of appearances as a ghost/vision that talks to her sister Brigitte. The movie also tries (half-heartedly) to compare her symptoms to those of a recovery drug addict. It doesn’t work but luckily it doesn’t interfere with the movie too much. I do want to point out that I really enjoy and appreciate the creative choice in this film series to have the change into the wolf form a permanent metamorphosis. They are unable to change back and forth so the stakes are drastically raised to keep their humanity and prevent the change as long as they can.

The film begins some time after the original. Brigitte is on the run across the suburbs of Canada. She is taking doses of monkshood to keep from turning into a wolf creature like her sister Ginger had. She is seen cutting herself and keeping a detailed record on how long the cuts take to heal. The quicker they heal, she realizes, the sooner she is doomed to complete the change into the beast. The monkshood is not a cure but only slows down the process, so she decides to take a second dose in one day…which turns out to be nearly fatal. After taking the second dose, she hears the male werewolf that has been stalking her (Ginger’s ex-boyfriend from the first movie), and runs out of her apartment but suffers from shock from her OD. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a drug rehab center. The staff believes she using the monkshood to get high and her cuts are the results are her being a “cutter”. She tries to escape and fails but is able to steal a piece of glass so she can continue timing her cut/healing rate.

At the hospital she meets Tyler, an orderly who offers her monkshood in exchange for sexual favors, which Brigitte promptly turns down. She also meets a young girl called Ghost who is at the hospital with her grandmother, who had suffered 3^rd degree burns over her body. Ghost comes and goes as she pleases throughout the clinic and quickly attaches herself to Brigitte. Ghost is clever enough, as well as imaginative enough, to figure out what Brigitte is. She tries to help by sneaking Brigitte some monkshood but they are caught by Tyler. Eventually Tyler gives in and lets Brigitte have some monkshood. Soon, Brigitte and Ghost escape from the hospital and drive out to where Ghost and her grandmother lived. There they prepare to fend themselves to kill the male werewolf that has tracked Brigitte down.

Favorite part – The last 15 minutes. Once the film changes scenery from the hospital to Ghost’s house, the pace picks up and becomes much more plausible and enjoyable.

Ginger Snaps (2000)

What happens when you take the curse of a werewolf’s bite and a victim who is a teenage girl who hasn’t started puberty? You have “Ginger Snaps”, a clever and entertaining movie about that special time in a young woman’s life when her body is going through certain changes…or not. I love how this movie takes this premise and utilizes it for all it’s worth.

“Ginger Snaps” is a movie about Ginger (16) and Brigitte (15), two sisters whose  are obsessed with death. They spend their free time posing for pictures depicting horrible death-like scenes and talk about various ways that they could kill themselves. Of course their behavior makes them outcasts as their high school and they get in fights with the other girls from time to time. Late one night, the girls are out at a playground when Ginger realizes that she’s having her first period. After this realization they are attacked by a werewolf. Ginger is bitten but the werewolf is killed when as it continues to chase them into the street, being hit by a local drug dealer named Sam. Over the course of the movie, Ginger begins to experiences changes, which their mother says is all a part of becoming a woman. As Ginger tries to hide her tail and other wolf-like qualities and starts to date, Brigitte forms a friendship with Sam as they try to find a cure. Time is running out as Ginger becomes increasingly violent and deadly, steadily losing her humanity and turning into a giant wolf.

This movie is followed up with the sequel "Ginger Snaps: Unleashed" and a prequel "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning". Both films were filmed back to back in 2003 and continue to star Emily Perkins as Brigitte and Katharine Isabelle as Ginger.

Favorite moment – I really enjoyed watching the steady visual changes that Ginger goes through in the film. First a few white strands of hair appear, and then so on. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, or what’s left of it.