Blood runs thicker than romance

GINGER SNAPS BACK: THE BEGINNING (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Full of growling werewolf sounds and blood-stained fury, "Ginger Snaps Back" is the prequel to the first two solid "Ginger Snaps" films that took on a puberty version of lycanthropy with black humor and two distinctly unforgettable actresses. Rather than going further with modern-day trials and tribulations of high-school female teen empowerment, this prequel is set during in the Canadian wilderness during the 19th century. I have a deep affection for tales that take place in the middle of nowhere and this horror tale is ripe for such a setting. Unfortunately, the filmmakers pile on too much gore and too little substance, forgoing any real humor that added immeasurably to the first two entries.

Two sisters named Ginger and Brigette (Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins who virtually reprise their roles almost identically to their present-day counterparts) arrive at some trading outpost where there are immiment threats of werewolves in the foggy woods. The stock characters of this trading outpost and the surrounding woods (misogynistic priest, misogynistic soldier, a caring Native American armed to the teeth with knives, a shaman, a cynical doctor, and the caring commanding officer whose own son is turning into a werewolf) are thinly veiled at best, leaving little more than cardboard cutouts of real flesh-and-blood people. Most of the characters harass and are physically violent to the sisters, especially after Ginger gets bitten by a werewolf. The film thrives on the physical punishment they face particularly from the holier-than-thou priest, who has got to be the meanest priest I've seen in the movies in quite some time. Buckets of blood seem to be poured onto these girls, and Perkins' Brigitte (hint of being virginal) faces more punches and slaps and is thrown around like a Raggedy Ann doll. At least Ginger seems to have a romantic moment with the Native American until their mouths get bloodied. Blood runs thicker than romance in this movie.

"Ginger Snaps Back" would have benefitted from focusing on the sisters' survival in the woods and being welcomed by the Native Americans, plus seeking deeper meaning and depth with the commanding officer (the most interesting of the trading outpost lot). The film is beautifully made with striking shots of the Canadian wilderness and, as a werewolf tale, it is certainly set up to be a classic tale of lycanthropy and sisterly bondage. Isabelle and Perkins have the chemistry and the adoration for each other that has been built up nicely since the original film. They are just simply stuck in an interminably tedious frontier western that has little up its sleeve beyond anachronistic dialogue, bloody violence and a bittersweet ending.