Ginger Snaps

Movie Poster

Well now that it is October all my talk of horror films seems very appropriate and we begin this month of Halloween horror with another werewolf film but this one is a little different than the lupine horror films I have already talked about. There are only one of two ways you can get a teenage girl or young woman to fall in love with werewolves in film: either make them smoking hot or make them relateable by...comparing the werewolf curse to the curse we women suffer every month. Congrats to me that I probably just alienated my male readers but that's basically what the plot to Ginger Snaps comes down to if you look at it. Well that's the interpretation if you want to get technical but this movie is a new kind of edgy, black comedy look at one of the staples of horror and man is it perfect for the gorehound fans of the genre! More about that later so how do we always start?..

What's The Plot?
Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald are a pair of sisters not like the other teenage girls around them in the town of Bailey Downs, a suburban neighborhood settled up in Toronto. They have a fascination with death and the macabre, don't dress up like fashion models, smoke cigarettes and have the most attentive yet totally clueless parents. They are outcasts at school and they like to imagine how popular girl and the bane of their existence Trina Sinclair might die and of course, this leads to conflict and many trips to the guidance counselor's office. They decide to get back at Trina by setting up a scene to make it look like her prized Rottweiler has been mutilated by what is being called "The Beast of Bailey Downs" but on the way to pull their morbid prank, Ginger is attacked by what can only be described as a werewolf ironically on the night that Ginger inherits another curse, her menstrual cycle which is implied to be why she was attacked in the first place.

Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald

Brigitte's theory that it was a werewolf that attacked Ginger is cemented when her sister's wounds heal quickly, start sprouting hair and when it looks as if she is growing a tail. The changes in Ginger also seem to be causing a rift between the once close sisters as Ginger becomes more aggressive and starts pursuing boys with almost a sexual predator nature leaving Brigitte to turn to local teenage drug dealer Sam who happened to kill of the werewolf with his van the night the Fitzgerald sisters were attacked. It's getting closer to the full moon when Ginger's transformation will be complete and it's up to Sam and Brigitte to find a cure but is it already too late for Ginger to turn back?

So of course you know that's all the plot I'm about to give you and since I'm blogging about horror films and sequels you pretty much know that a few characters are probably doomed and some are going to return so that's it for plot so...

What Else Can I Say?
Emily Perkins plays Brigitte Fitzgerald and I think she is a wonderful actress. I first saw her as Beverly Marsh in the miniseries of Stephen King's IT when she was thirteen playing a ten-year old character and she did a marvelous job with drama and Ginger Snaps also proves she can handle black comedy as the snarky, brainy goth Brigitte. They make Emily look as unattractive as you can make an already very attractive actress and she handles it well as it does make her look younger since she was twenty-three playing a fifteen-year old and you almost believe it which proves that Emily Perkins can act and adapt to the role she is given with ease.

Emily Perkins - Bloody Brilliant!

Katharine Isabelle plays Ginger Fitzgerald, the fiery redhead of the siblings, and you can peg Katharine Isabelle as one of the new generation of scream queens as she was in Ginger Snaps, had a role in the TV remake of Carrie as well as a role in Disturbing Behavior and starred as Gibb in the awesomeness that is Freddy vs. Jason. She is a versatile actress as she can be the innocent victim, the sarcastic even comedic relief and the alpha bitch if you need her to be. Ginger of course is meant to be the more attractive of the sisters and since she is the one who is becoming the werewolf and we all know that being a werewolf makes you full of animal magnetism it's a no-brainer since Katharine is quite attractive even when they slap on the werewolf make-up.

Katharine Isabelle wolfed up

Since he plays an important role, let's talk about Kris Lemche who portrays Sam. I love Kris Lemche because in every role I have seen him in (okay mostly this movie and Final Destination 3) his character is a sarcastic know-it-all who borders on being a total asshole and it surprisingly works well for him in that I'm not sitting there hating his guts. It also doesn't help the fact that Kris Lemche is gorgeous with those dark looks but he has great confidence as well which is another reason I find him attractive. His character of Sam is meant to be an almost anchor for Brigitte when the rift of the Fitzgerald sisters begins as he is the only other person who knows about werewolves and takes the scenario as rational and not some big joke.

Kris Lemche as Sam

The only other actor in this film who needs some praise is Mimi Rogers who plays the almost psychotically chipper Pamela Fitzgerald, mother of Ginger and Brigitte. Now I have seen Mimi Rogers in a mixture of roles that require drama and/or comedy and know she is a great actress and I have to saw this is my favorite. Her character of Pamela is sometimes clueless trying to be the cool parent but she seems to handle her very sullen daughters and their weird hobbies quite well. I also love that she is kind of a mild bitch as she henpecks the girls' father and has no regard for his opinion in raising their daughters. Mimi Rogers is very talented and I love her being the comic relief in such a dark kind of film.

Katharine And Emily publicity still

Acting aside, Ginger Snaps is a great new kind of horror film and made at a time when the shooting in Columbine was plastered on the news and movies like this were seen as bad influences, it had a dynamic that made it different. Yes it is gory and has that undertone of comparing the werewolf curse to puberty but it is also about the bond of the Fitzgerald sisters being tested and strained in what is not just sisterhood but also how one might fell losing their best and only friend or watching a loved one go through changes that might be harmful or destructive. I know that gorehound horror fans will enjoy this film it's a given but if you want a good modern take on werewolves with some black comedy and a little substance then Ginger Snaps is definitely a film worth checking out.

Ginger Snaps Trailer (slight spoilers) 

Next Blog: The saga of The Fitzgerald Sisters is not over as we tackle Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed.

Wolf

I know what you're thinking here I go again with yet another werewolf film but this is a little different from the films I have talked about in the past. Yes based on the title a man does turn into a werewolf but that word is never really mentioned in this film and the mythology is completely different. Yes Rick Baker of An American Werewolf fame is in charge of the special effects make-up but this is a film that is a sophisticated look at the inner struggle of good and evil in all people against the primeval animal in all of us. Okay we'll get into that later but let's just look at the story first.

What's The Plot?
Will Randall is the aging editor-in-chief of a publishing house with a seemingly charmed life. His marriage is stable and he is worshiped by his employees but that all changes the night he accidentally hits a wolf in the middle of Vermont. After the wolf bites him, Will's life begins to unravel as he begins to change. First, his younger protege Stewart Swinton takes advantage of his mentor's diminishing skills and uses this to impress the publishing house's new owner Raymond Alden, who then demotes Will. The almost final blow is when Will, using his new heightened sense of smell, discovers that his wife Charlotte is having an affair with Stewart behind his back.

Stuff like this would probably destroy a normal man but Will is discovering that he is no longer a normal man as it seems the bite of the wolf has rejuvenated him. Now more aggressive, self-confident and revitalized with sexual energy, Will begins to try and outmaneuver Stewart to get his old job back and soon finds himself beginning a relationship with his boss' daughter, the headstrong yet jaded Laura. All of this seems to be a change for the better until Will starts waking up with blood on his hands and no memories of what his lupine side has done the night before which leads Will to think the worst when Charlotte is found murdered with canine DNA found on her body.

Turning to Laura, Will informs her that he is becoming a wolf and even though skeptical Laura decides to help Will try and fight the animal inside of him before it takes over completely. Is Will really turning into a wolf or is the primordial animal within him just trying to come to the surface? Could the bite of a regular wolf be changing Will or is it all just in his mind...a mind that is slowly becoming unhinged from reality?

Now most of the time when you think of werewolf films you think of a lot of blood and carnage...Wolf has no need for full out horror. It is more of a psychological level of horror although there is a little bit of blood and violent imagery but as we all know not even normal wolves are big cuddly dogs so to show that animal change Will undergoes when the wolf characteristics emerge is needed. Director Mike Nichols is no horror director and Wolf is not really a horror film to my standards it is more a psychological thriller that takes that werewolf motif and changes it to a modern age urban setting.

Will Randall is never shown to be evil and committing the things he does with intended malice just normal animal instinct that is aggressive when provoked. That said this is why this is one of my favorite performances of Jack Nicholson because it is believable and so low key compared to his normal over the top performances but Nicholson is by no means boring. As I stated in my blog post on The Witches Of Eastwick, Jack Nicholson to me is not an attractive man but he does have charm and since his character of Will is made a little more sexually energized thanks to being bitten by a wolf and exuding animal magnetism, it kind of fits here.

Speaking of The Witches Of Eastwick, Nicholson is reunited with Michelle Pfeiffer his co-star from that film in Wolf where she plays the world weary Laura Alden. They both have chemistry together obviously and work well alongside each other and of course, Michelle Pfeiffer is always an amazing actress. Her portrayal of Laura is an identifiable character for me as she is sort of withdrawn and sullen which I can sometimes be but she is also sometimes hostile and rude which I can be if pushed the wrong way I won't deny it. Even though Michelle Pfeiffer has done some comedy it's her dramatic work that I always fancy and it is why I love her here in Wolf as the dramatic actress playing a character who is headstrong and by no means just there to be a doe-eyed love interest for Jack Nicholson's character.

James Spader as Stewart Swinton is there to do what he does best: playing a character who is a smarmy, manipulative douche bag who seems to have some sort of psychological need to be well...an asshole. Now in real life I hear James Spader is a very nice guy and I guess it can be fun as an actor to play the guy everyone hates and if any actor is good at that it is Spader. Stewart is kind of the opposite of Will as he is more attractive but his aggressiveness is more manipulative and petty in nature and kind of makes him the evil counterpart and more of a villain on a human level than even Will at his most animalistic point (oops I think I just gave you a spoiler right there.)

Other actors to note are of course the charming Christopher Plummer as Laura's father and Will's boss. Not a lot of screen time but when he is on screen, Plummer's presence is always one of class and he seems to be having fun even though it may not look like he is. Also of note is a small role played by David Hyde Pierce, who plays another one of Will's proteges but with a more loyal appeal, and like always Pierce is charming and shines in the small bit of screen that he inhabits. Notice that I have said that most of the actors are charming in this film? That is why Wolf works the way it does it uses the werewolf motif in a high class way that doesn't rely on over the top horror. Mike Nichols is a respected director so it makes sense to have respectable actors doesn't it?

 Kate Nelligan plays Will's cheating wife Charlotte and even though her acting is not to be questioned, I find I don't really like her character that much. Granted she does get killed and is shown to be guilty for having an affair, Nelligan's Charlotte is kind of a cold woman who seems to have just jumped in bed with Spader's Swinton because he is younger and more attractive and only seems to turn back to her husband because the wolf in him has made him more sexually appealing in bed. It seems to me that Will is better off without her so that of course leaves poor Kate Nelligan, a great movie and stage actress, playing a character I really have no sympathy for in a role in which she plays marvelously.

 Wolf Teaser Trailer

So being a werewolf fan, I like Wolf for being different from the normal horror portrayal and the story is engaging with drama, fine acting and direction from a Hollywood master. For a horror fan, I can say that Wolf is pleasant to watch if you want a small break from gore but is still suspenseful enough to watch to get your adrenaline running. Of course, I don't blog about movies that I hate so I think that Wolf is a must see film for anyone whether you like horror or drama or you just happen to be a Jack Nicholson or Michelle Pfeiffer fan and have yet to see this movie. If you ever come across this film, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

Next Blog: I sometimes don't like to play to convention of talking about certain movies when it seems appropriate that I should. Since I love you, dear readers, so much you all deserve a little...Valentine