Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed

Werewolf,

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JULY 29, 2007

GENRE: WEREWOLF
SOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)

Way back in April, I watched the first Ginger Snaps, a film that started off almost unbearable but eventually turned out pretty great. Luckily the sequel, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, has no such problems. Yes, we have here a true rarity, especially in the DTV world: A sequel that improves on the original.

The movie picks up more or less where the original left off, though the mother is MIA and never mentioned. Brigitte, a.k.a. the less hot sister, is now becoming a werewolf, and worse, is haunted by the ghost of her sister. I say worse because since she is a ghost, she doesn’t slut around like she did in the original. Sigh.

And much like the first one, the film falls into the rare “feminist horror” sub-genre. In fact, it often comes off like Girl, Interrupted, albeit with an occasional werewolf attack. But it never overpowers the narrative, and the film moves along swiftly. The effects are also greatly improved (they used a mechanical/foam werewolf this time, at least I think. I don’t spot any obvious CG at any rate), so kudos!

The only thing I didn’t really dig was the lack of explaining why the hospital orderly guy had a large supply of Monkshood, which is the antidote Brigitte needed to keep from wolfing out. Does he just carry some around, just in case? The film also never bothers identifying the male wolf that comes after Brigitte. It’s SORT OF set up as a mystery (and the first film had a few male characters who may now be wolves), but it’s never resolved. Oh well. It still eats a few folks and that’s all that matters.

There is also a 3rd film, so I will check that one out before year’s end, and thus conclude the first “HMAD Franchise”! Unless I go through the Dark Harvest series quicker than any man should (which is to say, watching all of them before death)

What say you?