The Humourous Horror Of Ginger Snaps

There's something very twisted about the Canadian psyche and nowhere is this more apparent than in the films our country produces. Whether it's deep and extremely heavy psychological drama, bizarre and haunting allegories or gothic horror, we can't exactly do things lightly on our national celluloid. That doesn't mean we can't have fun, though. In fact, our filmmakers seem to be particularly talented at finding humour lurking in the darkest, most disturbing and generally messed-up places.

The latest film in this grand tradition is John Fawcett's Ginger Snaps. Using the curse of the werewolf as a metaphor for puberty, it's a sharp and, forgive the pun, biting take on adolescence. It's probably the best horror feature out of Canada that hasn't had the name Cronenberg attached to it, as well.

Fifteen-year-old Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and her nearly-sweet-16-year-old sister Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) are outsiders bored with their mindless existence in the suburban wasteland. They spend their time dwelling on their suicide pact and acting out morbid death scenes for school projects until the night when the late-blooming Ginger finally gets her period. On that night, the two girls take off into the woods to pull a sadistic little prank on their school's uberbitch, but things go awry when Ginger is attacked by an other-worldly creature.

Ginger's wounds heal quickly, but it's clear to Brigitte that things aren't quite right with her beloved sister. Her wardrobe has suddenly become skankalicious, hair is growing out of her scars and she's developed a little tail. As Ginger's behavior spirals out of control, Brigitte struggles to protect her sister from the consequences of her actions while working to cure her of "the curse" with no one to help her but Sam (played by Kris Lemche), the cute drug dealer with an affinity for botany.

The symbolism may be a bit overbearing at times and a small portion of the dialogue is clumsy, but Ginger Snaps is still a well-crafted film. Choosing to focus on the psychological fear of the unknown a la Blair Witch, and finding humour in morbid situations without turning to the silly irony of post-Scream slasher flicks, it not only does the genre proud, but also transcends it.

Ginger Snaps is a pitch-black comedy that can satisfy those with a lust for mindless gore as well as those looking for something headier from their movies. Mimi Rogers' performance as the girls' clueless Martha-Stewart-gone-wrong mother is worth the price of admission alone, so run to your nearest theatre and do your part to help the Snaps crew recoup their fake blood budget.