GINGER SNAPS BACK – THE BEGINNING

Canada, 2004, 98 minutes, Colour.
Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Nathanial Arcand, Hugh Dillon, Brendan Fletcher, Tom Mc Camus.
Directed by Grant Harvey.

Ginger Snaps Back is the third in a series of horror films. The first film, Ginger Snaps, achieved a cult status with its blend of werewolf story, two sisters and their bonding, the blend of horror and of sardonic humour. This continued in the sequel, Ginger Snaps: Unleashed. Emily Perkins as Brigitte Fitzgerald is the central character in the sequel, with her daughter, transformed into a werewolf, threatening people in an institution.

This third film is quite different. It is set in 19th century Canada in a remote traders’ fort. It is under siege by werewolves – many of them an expedition which tried to find supplies and bring them back to the fort. Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins are Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald, wandering the wilderness, encountering an Indian seer who makes a prophecy about one sister killing another. They also encounter a Native American hunter.

The people in the fort are tense because of the siege, especially with the leader and the death of his son. There is a very puritanical and severe minister who threatens the two girls.

The film emphasises the historical atmosphere and creates it very well, especially in the winter landscapes. There are suggestions of horror with the werewolves throughout the film but the horror is kept until the end. Some fans of the series complained that this lacks the ironic humour of the other films. However, as a blend of atmosphere, history, mystery and the werewolves it succeeds particularly well.

1.The impact of the original, the sequel? This film as a third? Similarities in plot, characters? Differences?

2.The setting in the 19th century? The historical background? The serious tone, the lack of humour? (The effect of the anachronistic language and swearing at times?)

3.The north, the wilderness, the trading post, the exteriors and interiors? The winter landscapes? The Indian village? The atmospheric score?

4.The title and its pun – the main touch of humour in the whole film?

5.The prologue, the expedition, the historical explanations, the werewolf attack, the transformation of the expedition?

6.The mystery of the two girls wandering in the snow, the stories they invented, not knowing the reality? Brigitte and her foot caught in the trap? Ginger and trying to help? The encounter with the Indian seer, her presence, the deserted village, the bodies and the blood, the prophecy about one sister killing another, the necklaces? The encounter with the hunter, his freeing Brigitte from the trap? Their fears, his help, taking them to the fort?

7.The fort itself, the men guarding, the role of the leader, his personality? The atmosphere of fear, wanting the expedition to return, their knowing that it would not? Doctor Murphy and his helping Brigitte? His joviality? His later confrontation with Finn? The leeches, Finn infected, his shooting him? The girls taken to their room? Settling in? The meal, the long grace and the attack of the minister? Ginger finishing the grace? The talk at the table? Tension?

8.The expedition, their turning into werewolf creatures, their attack, the deaths? The leader’s son and his transformation, Ginger discovering him in the room?

9.The sisters, their bonding, the confrontations? Their wanting to leave? The guard and his attack? The werewolves? The minister and his leading them away, locking them in the room with the werewolf? Their escape?

10.The hunter, his being humiliated by the men, as an Indian, his folklore, his visions? Character? His helping the girls? Brigitte and the sexual attraction? His visions?

11.The attack, the deaths, the boy and his being shot, falling in the well? The mutiny? The father and his confrontation, with the guard? His wandering the house, his suicide?

12.The return, the killing of the hunter? The sisters leaving, the seeing the seer? Her death? The confrontation and Brigitte making an option for Ginger?

13.The end, the mystery, their wandering – and a sufficient explanation for horror stories of two centuries later?