Teen girl angst, goth and drama… Sisters’ suicide pact, everything is soooo dramatic… Death scenes staged for a school play project… That day when first period doesn’t refer to school…
For Halloween, a teen girl horror flick, a bildungsromans, a coming-of-age tale.
The cleverly titled Ginger Snaps is a 2001 horror movie for those who don’t like horror movies. It released much too soon after Columbine, which caused distribution problems at home and abroad amid fears of teen violence. A number of theatres banned it outright. The scheduled five and ten year anniversary re-releases failed to materialize, but nevertheless it developed a fan base and ‘cult’ status. I’m convinced anything labeled ‘cult’ refers to creative works with more depth that hurts critics’ limited brain cells.
The Promise
Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald are sisters, 16 and 15, in the same grade at school. Unpopular and bullied, they develop a fascination with death, morbidly filming gruesome death scenes for their school project. If they can’t manage to flee their small town when Brigitte reaches 16, they promise to die together.
Their father, Henry Fitzgerald, dotes upon his daughters, but he’s utterly clueless in the estrogen cauldron of his household. Mother Pamela is marginally better, wavering between complicit and the sole disciplinarian. At one point, she tells her husband, “Go back into your own world; this one only confuses you.”
The Plot
Halloween and the night of a full moon approaches.
Local dogs are found torn to pieces, presumably victims of the fanged Beast of Bailey Downs. The girls factor the legend into a plot against the school bully, but before they can act, Ginger is attacked by a creature and dragged into the woods…
Thus opens the story. A prim editor left the best potential tag line on the cutting room floor, but it made it into the movie’s mythos. In an unused clip, Brigitte tells her sister, “PMS is the least of your problems.”
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| Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald |
Conventional horror movies confuse time in the makeup chair with characterization. What makes Ginger Snaps special is the bond between the sisters. After months of fruitless auditions, the prospective leads happened to try out on the same day. When screenwriter Karen Walton saw the results, she said the young actresses were exactly who she was looking for. Coincidentally, the girls were born in the same hospital, attended the same schools, worked out of the same talent agency, and had appeared in separate episodes of Supernatural and The X-Files. Their chemistry was perfect.
Their parents are well-drawn and probably frighteningly close to how real teens view their folks. The school jock, Jason, makes another interesting character. He shows more moral fibre than we might expect. Rather than slut-shame the girl he just slept with, he merely tells his friends, “She rocked my world.”
When’s the last time you encountered an edgy teen drama that classy?
A mediocre sequel and a slightly more interesting direct-to-DVD prequel followed in 2004.
Thanks to Haboob for a list of where-to-view sources in time for Halloween. Enjoy the show.
Ginger Snaps (2001)
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Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning
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Ginger Snaps follows the theme of unusual movies John wrote yesterday. He'd mentioned it's a movie he enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a flick to catch!
ReplyDeleteIt exceeds the conventions of its genre, Janice. It's a good choice for Halloween night with a bowl of buttery popcorn.
ReplyDeleteUnusual is right, Leigh. Interesting column!
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. I've brought the film to the attention of friends who were teens at the time and they'd never heard of it, understandable because of Columbine fears.
ReplyDelete