Ginger Snaps : Résurrection

"Ginger Snaps" single-handedly raised my interest in lycanthropic cinema, and "Ginger Snaps Unleashed" is a remarkably strong sequel that works for many of the same reasons. Like the thoughtful horror cinema of George Romero, where deeper human issues boil under a more obvious horror surface, "Ginger Snaps" used lycanthropy as a metaphor for puberty and its impact on teenage relationships; "Unleashed" uses it as a metaphor for addiction, with Brigitte Fitzgerald (Emily Perkins--"It"), sister of the ill-fated Ginger (Katharine Isabelle), injecting herself with wolfbane to curb her increasingly wolf-like tendencies. While in a rehab clinic for troubled teens, Brigitte forges a relationship with Ghost (Tatiana Maslany), a precocious girl whose seeming innocence unravels her secret. The new writing/directing team of Megan Martin and Brett Sullivan pick up where the previous film left off, skillfully bridging the two with a bare minimum of rehashed exposition, and the end result is extremely satisfying (though the machinations of "Unleashed"'s final third made me wish the script had tied some thematic/character arcs together better). Perkins, who is becoming a real horror ingénue, plays Brigitte with sympathy and sarcastic bite, and her relationship with Maslany comes close to matching the sense of sisterly love that provided the endearing backbone of the original "Ginger Snaps." "Unleashed" is the rare sequel that does its parent proud.

This is a genuinely creepy film, with creepy plot, creepy filming and creepy story with several creepy scenes. A sequel inspired by but not a thematic continuation of the first. With most sequels you walk in expecting an extension of the first, all the things that worked in the first film delivered in the second. Seldom does the sequel collect the audacity to march off in a different direction.

This one bravely does and creates and entirely different film, a much darker one spun cleanly from the first.

Apologies to all the nay sayers but this is dead solid perfect.

A cult niche and maybe a lesson on how to do sequels ... get creative people on board to use the engine of unexpected popularity, or expected popularity, for inventive film making.

I'll own this one and the original.

Cool.

There are some films that just shouldn't have a sequel.

So, given that I firmly believe this about 'Ginger Snaps', 'Ginger Snaps Unleashed' clearly had a tough act to follow. And y'know, it didn't do too badly.

So by now we've all got the plot - Bridgit mainlining wolfsbane to not become like her sister, passes out in the snowy streets after another werewolf attack and wakes up in a rehab centre. Yada yada, this is IMDb, you can look up the plot summary earlier. But the way it develops...OK, it's no way as symbolic as the first film but it's damn logical. It all makes sense in context, right down to the *deeply* messed up ending. Which in some ways is a drawback because it's a little *too* realistic to always engage; it's a bit dull at times, just like rl. And all the characters are 2-dimensional except for Bridget, Ghost, and maybe the creepy Tyler.

But! Those three? Carry the movie. Emily Perkins is as great as she was in the first film, and Eric Johnson shows us that when it came to Smallville, *Lana* should have left on the bus to go into military. But the real find is Tatiana Maslany, who quite frankly is *terrifying* as Ghost. Which is maybe another criticism; given the ending I shouldn't have worked things out as quickly as I did, but that's not just due to Tatiana, that's also due to other clues in the film. This aside, she rocks as Ghost and it's great to see the kind of character Ghost is lead to the conclusion it does because frankly? Yeah, makes sense. And I really cannot say much more without spoiling it.

So, in conclusion. A lot of holes, not so special second time round, and too few 3 dimensional characters. But he cinematography is ace and very like the first (which makes sense given this one's director edited the first one, and John Fawcett did some unofficial second unit stuff on here too) and I think it's a film that'll grow on me. It's certainly worth a go - 7 out of 10.

Because the second film is so strongly connected to the first, the way this film ends is pretty strange considering how the overall story (from the first film) started. The ending isn't earned, nor does it connect to the overall themes presented and carried along the two films. This would have worked better as a standalone film; as a sequel, if falls a bit flat given how a character we've invested in for two movies and care about is treated in the end. So, while I'm not saying this film is bad (I don't think it is), it's not a good sequel. It's a very interesting standalone film if they hadn't leaned so heavily on the connection to the first film.

Still, the movie had great performances by Emily Perkins and Tatiana Maslany. As much as I didn't appreciate her ultimate goal, the Ghost character was well characterized, and the actress was very versatile in how she played her. A role like what Emily Perkins played (both in the first film and this one) could have EASILY been played vapidly, blandly, emotionlessly (Like Selma Blair in Hellboy or Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games), but she infused just the right amount of emotion into it. You could actually feel for her rather than just watch someone recite lines and act like a living zombie (like a LOT of mediocre albeit successful young actresses have done/do).

If there was anything that I straight-up disliked, it's one nitpick: I don't know if it was a wig or a bad bleach job, but I don't understand why they made Ghost blonde. Maybe she's meant to be "fair" (?), but her hair is very distracting the entire film. It looks terrible and not at all convincing. Seems like it's not a Ginger Snaps movie without a main character having bad hair.

Overall, it's an interesting, entertaining film, but it's docked some points for not being a good SEQUEL.

You know t's such a shame that neither of these films went wide release. Sure they needed a little touching up in some places but these films are definate quality material. A breathe of fresh air in the horror films which is recreating itself once again as a truly important genre. Both of these films are good, and borderline great. they take somewhat sillacious storylines and make them somewhat believable filled with aggreassive dark humor and independent film dread. This sequel is pretty much a direct continuation of the original. It leaves the last films heroine Bridget infected and fighting her illness with the cure found in the last film. She's beginning to change when she's taken in by a youth facility and locked up for drug abuse. What insues is unfortunatly unwelcome and senseless visits from the first films title charachter but a vast mixing pool of other cringe inducing twists including the fact that a male werewolf has found her and wants to mate. A sleezy hospital guard who trades sexual favors for drugs. An innocent little girl obsessed with comic books. I wish I could truly give away the ending to you. Because it was so well done and I just didnt see it coming. And that is what this film prides itself on unpredictability. It goes in a completely opposite direction of where you though it was going and it makes sense. All in all the film has much to be successful with believable performances, especially from the film's lead Bridget, a good storyline, suspenseful direction, a creepy score all adding up to a startling refreshing take on an otherwise dying genre. Don't be fooled this sequel has major bite!