Ginger Snaps III: Der Anfang

Neither sequel has been nearly as good as the original, but considering how brilliant "Ginger Snaps" was, no one could reasonably expect that. Actually, my main disappointment with both sequels is that I wanted what GS had--horror, humor, hipness, irony. But anytime there's a sequel that tries to be the original, it fails because it tried to emulate the first installment. Both sequels have completely different story lines and character. The only real continuity is in the characterization and the themes. And that's a brilliant decision. I probably liked "The Beginning" better than "Unleashed," but I just finished watching the former, so I can't be objective. It is, in its own right, a really terrific film. All of the films have had their fair share of visual panache, but this one is so beautiful it reminded me of "Sleepy Hollow" at times. I almost wish they'd been released under completely different titles--I can't help but compare the sequels to the original, and they're not really sequels. They all feature the same two leading actress; they're all about werewolves; "Unleashed" even picks up after the first left off. But you could watch "Unleashed" without having seen "Ginger Snaps" and still know what's going on, and since the third starts close to 200 years before the first, you obviously don't have to see the others. They're separate films connected by actresses and themes, as I see it. Speaking of the actresses--Emily Perkins and Isabelle Katherine are, of course, beyond reproach. Their direction is wrong; they don't fit in to the milieu they're put in, but I think that's a director error. Or the director's way of maintaining the integrity of the characters we know from the first two movies. Ginger and Bridget can't exactly be Puritans, can they? Next to the drop-dead brilliant score Mike Shields composed for the original, this soundtrack doesn't stand a chance. But it works very, very well with the setting and the action. I had to watch one scene towards the end (the fire) twice only because of the music. One thing I absolutely loved, though found a bit campy--Ginger spends half the movie dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, though her hood, and the rest of her clothes, are black...It makes for some stunning cinematography, though. So basically, after "Ginger Snaps," it's a bit of a letdown. But not taking the original into account, it's an incredible film that you shouldn't miss.

Nothing special. And that's a shame.

Ginger Snaps Back is a retelling of the storyline used in the original, with a few changes here and there. I got this movie the day it came out and couldn't wait to watch it. However...

This is a period piece and while I respect the fact that the director didn't want the sisters to speak with phony accents, the dialogue really didn't match up with the time. Lines like "These people are f***ed" really took me out of the story. It actually started to remind me of watching a high school play put on by jaded teenagers.

But being the fan and overall geek that I am, I still watched the movie again with the director's commentary track. I expected it to be boring. I didn't expect it to make me angry. The running theme for the commentary was "not enough time". I really angered when I found out that the script wasn't done until there was only ten days until the first shooting day. That along with the director and writer talking about how they came up with the idea for the film was infuriating. You see, they thought it would be a "treat for the fans" to do this movie. Maybe I'm just cynical, but that sounds like a lame attempt to make some money off of a title many horror fans have come to love.

But I'm getting off topic.

Overall, I liked this film. It's good to see Canada's finest (Katharine and Emily) on screen together once again. The dream sequence felt very abstract and Argento-like, which was cool. The only real complaints that I have are the dialogue and certain subplots that didn't belong. They should've gotten Karen Walton to write this one (she wrote the original).

I give it 6/10.

Oh yeah, one more thing...

This might be nitpicking, but where was the original song? It only appeared once in Unleashed and is completely absent from this one. This is disappointing to me because I always thought of that song as the theme for the films.

What made the original Ginger Snaps a classic horror movie is the way it used the genre to explore universal themes. It offered a unique take on sibling rivalry, death, suicide, puberty, feminism, sexuality and love. Most poignantly, it gave us Ginger, a complex character with a genuine hatred of herself and everything around her.

Ginger Snaps also introduced Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins, two talented, beautiful and utterly believable actresses. So while I was a bit put off by the premise of Ginger Snaps Back, I was excited for the chance to watch the girls reprise their roles.

Ginger Snaps Back is a very watchable movie. It re-imagines the sisters in a different era, which is interesting. It's creepy. The special effects are much better than in the original. The climax is very cool. And the sisters are both perfectly portrayed. Unfortunately, when it was over, I wasn't thinking about my own mortality. I was just thinking, "Hey, cool werewolves."

I was also irritated by the dialog. Most of the time, the characters speak in stilted sentences appropriate to the era. But occasionally, Ginger drops a pithy one liner or a curse word which seems completely out of place.

The supporting cast was filled with stereotypes. The harsh minister and the sage native American hunter were especially flat.

Ginger Snaps Back gives you two things. An entertaining werewolf movie. And an excuse to watch two talented actresses portray Ginger and Brigitte. But it doesn't give you anything beyond that.

In 1815, in Canada, the sisters Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) survive to a boat sinking, where her parents die. Alone and lost in the forest, they meet an old clairvoyant Indian that foresees their fate. Later, they are guided by the Indian The Hunter (Nathaniel Arcand) to a fort, and they seek for shelter with the men of the Northern Legion Trading Company. They note that the place is under siege of "Wendigos", a sort of werewolf that has killed most of the dwellers of the place, and the survivals are very afraid. Their lives are put in danger by the deranged locals and by the surrounding beasts.

I usually hate sequels and remakes, but "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning" is a great movie and I liked it more than the cult "Ginger Snaps". The cold cinematography is very sad and beautiful. The good story try to explain the curse of the two sisters, but is completely different from "Ginger Snaps" and "Ginger Snaps: Unleashed". It uses only the characters of Ginger and Brigitte, and werewolves of course, taking place in different time and situations. The costumes of the sisters, specially the dark "Little Red Riding Hood" clothes of Ginger, are scary and complete the atmosphere imposing a sort of fear. The make-up of the werewolves is excellent. The DVD is full of Extras. Therefore, I liked this film a lot and highly recommend it to the fans of these cult characters. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Possuída – O Início" ("Possessed – The Beginning")

Ginger Snaps Back the Beginning: 5/10: The original Ginger Snaps truly deserves its cult classic label. Leads Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins created original characters that transcended both the teen angst genre as well as werewolf films needless to say. The second sequel transports both characters to the 19th century Canadian wilderness. The good news is that the girls and their relationship is exactly the same as the first film. The bad news is that the first film took place in modern suburbia and the girls' characterization simply couldn't feel more out of place. It's like coming across a valley girl in a WWI Drama.

Anachronisms aside what they really don't have from the first film is the witty banter and subtext of the story. The script is a true bare bones affair with that old Assault on Precinct 13, Rio Bravo plot. But instead of gang members our antagonists are werewolves. Now this plot can work mind you (See Dog Soldiers for a perfect werewolves trapping people movie) but with the first two Snaps films about puberty and addiction a trapped with crazy people plot line is quite a let down.

The script is lazy in other ways as well. We have a ridiculous preacher character that would have been thrown out of 17th century Salem for being too fundamentalist and we also have endless Native American (okay Native Canadian) mumbo jumbo.

There are very very few things that grate on my nerves faster in a movie than the wise Indian character with the endless intelligible incantations and feathered dream catchers. And of course they predict the future and give warnings of bad tidings and initially scare our girls but turn out to be the real good guys that everyone treats badly. Pretty generic and lazy screen writing.

Needless to say the movie is all over the map. The end is good, the werewolves look good and honestly I can watch Katharine Isabelle all day long. The plot however is a really a mess and Snaps really doesn't make much sense if you haven't seen the other two Ginger Snaps films and even less sense if you have.