In Canada, a popular collection of werewolf films that attracted the attention of Americans was the Ginger Snaps Trilogy. The movies centered on the relationship between two sisters , one of which turns into a werewolf when she undergoes puberty. This article highlights the plots of three movies that follow the life and events surrounding a girl that gets bit by something in the woods, and then starts to act very differently.
“Ginger Snaps” (2000)
The first installment of the Ginger Snaps Trilogy was released in 2000, which reveals goth girl Ginger Fitzgerald (played by Katharine Isabelle) gets bit by something while walking through the woods. It is the night of a full moon and Ginger has experienced her first period. Ginger starts to undergo ‘odd’ changes, which threaten to sever the bond between Ginger and her sister, Brigette (played by Emily Perkins). The movie is filled with dark humor as the underlying theme of the film illustrates a link between puberty and becoming a werewolf.
Ginger’s character is 16 years old and tough, while her younger sister is a bit morbid , she enjoys staging and photographing scenes of death. They’ve also made a pact that they will someday die together. After a couple of days pass from being bitten, Ginger’s body starts to drastically change. Her temperament also shifts. Brigitte believes a local drug dealer can help with a cure, and she tries frantically to find a way to break her sister free before Halloween and another full moon arrives. The movie also features veteran actress Mimi Rogers.
“Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed” (2004)
The second film released in the Ginger Snaps Trilogy was referred to as ‘Unleashed,’ where Ginger is barely seen and the focus is more on Brigette. She has been sent to a rehab facility because she is addicted to wolfsbane (or monkshood), which prevents her from turning into a werewolf. While on the run, she attempts to not follow in the footsteps of her sister by taking wolfsbane. When the police find her collapsed, they assume that monkshood is an illegal drug and she is shipped off to rehab. She no longer has access to the one thing that will keep her from turning into a werewolf. She finds an ally in a quiet patient that helps her change the curse. She must do all of this before the next full moon arrives. “It only dies if you do” was a tagline used to promote this second installment in the Ginger Snaps trilogy.
“Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning” (2004)
The last installment of the Ginger Snaps Trilogy actually shows both sisters, Brigitte and Ginger, during the days of the 1800s. The sisters are hiding out in a frontier fort that has been taken over by werewolves. They gain help from an Indian hunter that decides to assist the girls, but one of them has been bitten by a werewolf. The two girls find that they can only rely on themselves.
