Monday, April 24, 2006
Just Watched: Ginger Snaps
As sometimes happens, the first version of this post was eaten. It was (as all lost post are), a master piece of writing, and this is just a pale recreation. But it says most of what I wanted to say.
I picked up the DVD of Ginger Snaps a while go for $5, and finally got around to watching it last night. I had been expecting fairly standard "bad" teen horror, but it turns out it was a reasonably serious attempt at a supernatural thriller.
The plot is fair standard. Take a group of misfits. Something supernaturally bad happens. The group then has to try and stop it before they (and everyone else) get killed. The quality of course is in the detail.
Using a supernatural change as a metaphor for adolescence (puberty, sex, growing up) isn't a new idea - you could argue that Buffy was entirely based on the idea - but Ginger Snaps is one of the best ways I've seen it done. Another big plus was that I found the characters real (well, in general. I'm still not sure if the mum was meant to be comic relief or just totally nuts). Although, thinking back, really only Ginger and her sister were very developed, so maybe it was just they stopped me noticing.
The other thing this movie did right was the ending. The makers obviously realised that I was there to see them deal with the monster, so I don't care about how they explain it all to the police, clean up the mess, pay for their counseling and move on. Save it for the sequel. Also, the wait-it's-not-really-dead/it-had-time-to-spawn/it-wasn't-the-real-monster "twist" is really tired.
3.5/5
I picked up the DVD of Ginger Snaps a while go for $5, and finally got around to watching it last night. I had been expecting fairly standard "bad" teen horror, but it turns out it was a reasonably serious attempt at a supernatural thriller.
The plot is fair standard. Take a group of misfits. Something supernaturally bad happens. The group then has to try and stop it before they (and everyone else) get killed. The quality of course is in the detail.
Using a supernatural change as a metaphor for adolescence (puberty, sex, growing up) isn't a new idea - you could argue that Buffy was entirely based on the idea - but Ginger Snaps is one of the best ways I've seen it done. Another big plus was that I found the characters real (well, in general. I'm still not sure if the mum was meant to be comic relief or just totally nuts). Although, thinking back, really only Ginger and her sister were very developed, so maybe it was just they stopped me noticing.
The other thing this movie did right was the ending. The makers obviously realised that I was there to see them deal with the monster, so I don't care about how they explain it all to the police, clean up the mess, pay for their counseling and move on. Save it for the sequel. Also, the wait-it's-not-really-dead/it-had-time-to-spawn/it-wasn't-the-real-monster "twist" is really tired.
3.5/5
# posted by Simon Dugard @ 1:30 pm 
