Rating: R
Genre:
Horror
Release Date: 09/07/2004
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DDS2.0
Run Time: 94 min
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children
Distributor/Studio: Lions Gate
Bridget (
Emily Perkins) and
Ginger (
Katharine Isabelle) are back in
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, a 19th century prequel to the first two successful entries in the
Ginger Snaps film series. The film finds the doomed sisters wandering the wilderness when they stumble across a broken down outpost whose supplies have been cut off for nearly two months. Sadly, while they've been waiting, they've also been dying -- not of starvation, but from werewolf attacks. While
Bridget recovers from an unfortunate encounter with a bear trap, the two lone women in the camp are faced with growing hostility stemmed from the fire and brimstone preacher (
Hugh Dillon from the Canadian
punk rock band
the Headstones) and a dangerous secret that lands
Ginger back in werewolf land once again. With tensions rising as the bloodthirsty creatures try to break down the fort walls, how will the group react when one of its own starts becoming the one thing that they want to keep out?
~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
After the strange disappointment that was
Ginger Snaps 2, the series semi-successfully shifted its gears with this prequel/revisit of the first film set back in the 19th century. Working more like a Grimm's Fairy Tale than a straight-up
horror flick,
Grant Harvey's directorial debut is a stunning piece to soak up, realized with an eye that his Canadian sensibilities bring to his country's gorgeous setting.
Katharine Isabelle and
Emily Perkins return to their roles admirably, although
Perkins does tend to get the short end of the character stick in this one. The pair injects small amounts of modern flair into this
period piece that act as a nice bridge between the film's universes, but are more than off-putting when certain contemporary profanities are uttered. Eventually, what makes
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning work best is the setup -- a colonial outpost besieged by werewolves. Add a little bit of bloody Indian mysticism in there and you have a tasty fright flick that's finely executed with an ensemble cast that's more than capable of handling the material. Just like most werewolf flicks (and the rest of the series), the creature effects supplied by the respected
KNB Effects team do come off as a little goofy, with the four-legged beasts resembling circus performers with stilts for front legs (probably because they are!). Thankfully, they are hidden well by some quick cuts that work well here, but tend to be a little much when thrown in for flashback reasons. Unlike previous films, the feminist slant is played down, as are most elements of the cunning use of black comedy, replaced instead by atmosphere and in-your-face creep-outs that are certainly effective, but just a tad shy of what drew fans to the original film.
~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
;)
