Ginger Snaps (2000) - Synopsis

Ginger Snaps -synopsis graphic

"The Legend of the werewolf is one of the oldest and most primal of man's superstitions. It shares with the vampire, the witch, the phantom and the warlock a history which reaches thousands of years back in time and which has terrified generation after generation of people in sophisticated cities as well as in the world's most primitive places. "
-- Basil Copper, The Werewolf in Legend, Fact and Art

Based upon an original screenplay by Karen Walton (CITY, the (1998) HEART:THE MARILYN BELL STORY ) derived from a story by her and John Fawcett, Ginger Snaps is produced by Steve Hoban (BLOOD & DONUTS (1995), CYBERWORLD (2000) ) and Karen Lee Hall (HOUSE! (1998), OUR HERO (1995)) and directed by John Fawcett (BOY'S CLUB, THE (1997)). Ginger Snaps stars Emily Perkins ("IT", "X-FILES") as Brigitte, a fifteen-year old who is faced with a horrible task to try and save her sister Ginger, played with tremendous fury by Katharine Isabelle (DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998)), from the predatory infection that is threatening to transform her into an unrecognizable monster.

Known in the Middle Ages as 'a servant of the Devil' overtaken by blood lust and uncontrollable desire, the werewolf story was believed to be true and many individuals were executed for being werewolves. Taking the myth of the werewolf and translating it into a dark tale of modem adolescence, Ginger Snaps plays upon teen-aged fears and isolation by interpreting the curse of the werewolf as a lethal, biological infection that attacks the blood and can be sexually transmitted. Herself attacked by a wild creature in the woods, Ginger goes on to pass on the 'disease' to Jason (Jesse Moss), a popular boy at school who suddenly finds Ginger irresistible. Confused and frightened by the changes happening to her body, Ginger doesn't want anyone to learn her secret. This leaves her loyal sister, Brigitte, no choice but to try and help with no assistance from anyone other than the loner Sam, played by Kris Lemche (EXISTENZ (1999), KNOCKAROUND GUYS (2001)).

Ginger and Brigitte's mother Pamela is played with delicious humor by Mimi Rogers (SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (1987), Austin Powers - International Man of Mystery (1997), "X-FILES". ) Rounding out the cast are Peter Keleghan as the hapless guidance counselor, Danielle Hampton the snotty popular girl who gets more than she bargained for when challenging Ginger, and John Bourgeois, who suffers in silence as the only male in his particularly estrogen-soaked family.

"The true lycanthrope is not only physically changed so that he comes to resemble the beast of his dementia, but his mind becomes changed so that he thinks and acts like a beast. " Basil Copper