Ginger Snaps
At a glance...
- Directed by John Fawcett
- Released in 2000
- Runtime 108 minutes
- Watched at home
- Final feelings: truly iconic teen goth imagery!
Watched this before The Substance but am only getting to this after that monstrosity of a review (heh heh). While not directly in conversation with that film, I am surprised looking back at how many similar elements of that movie are in this one. Ginger Snaps features body-horror esque transformation of a girl that is narratively coupled to her femininity, in which the subject undergoing transformation experiences a vacillation between shame and unabashed pleasure in the effects of her transformation. It is likewise also set in a vague cookie-cutter recreation of an isolated, car dependent locale (obviously not Los Angeles, but this movie looks like it could be set in any small midwestern town or exurb). The critical difference is that Ginger's situation is contextualized with her devoted younger sister Brigitte, and the film sets the two forces against each other to show us a really unique and engaging rival-but-loving sisters story.
I think if I want to write more about the specifics of some of the conflict in this film and what it might say about the relationships girls have with each other, I will want to re-watch this. I'm still learning how to manage writing such try-hard reviews for major films while still having the energy and memory left to also do justice to these other random movies I watch in the meantime. But I just really loved this because it's honestly kinda The Thing like in its aesthetics? Ginger Snaps is extremely goopy. The appearance of the doglike monster as being exceptionally fleshy and wrinkly while also being concealed among the general public is very reminiscent, as is the slow disappearance of all the pet dogs that keep getting eaten. And the whole transformation of Ginger is done with practical effects which is a delight to watch. The film even ends on a Thing-like feeling of ambiguity, of whether or not the monstrosity will continue to spread after the fateful conclusion.
It's also not a perfect movie. I think the name is a little goofy but more importantly, the extension of the plotline with respect to the antidote for the transformation disease gets quite contrived and long-winded by the end. But it has a lot going for it both visually and narratively, and it's I think tapping into the spirit of feral womanhood unleashed upon the world in a way that doesn't cast its monster into isolated martyrdom, severed from any of the forces that contributed to her downfall. God, I just love that this film has the perfect suburban mom character who is baffled and then heartbroken and then resolved as she learns more about her daughter's misdeeds. Literally she is so perfect, maybe I just imprint onto mom characters too easily but I think it's amazing that she's trying the, "let my teen daughters sort out their problems on their own without my proactive intervention", and even though that results in a truly catastrophic outcome, it isn't played as a joke on her bad parenting. I think there's really a lot more going on here than a low-budget monster flick might lead you to assume. I could see this being a certain type of queer or trans woman's obsession and honestly, I'm here for that. This one surprised me in a very good way!