John’s Horror Corner: Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004)

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MY CALL:  A worthy sequel for Ginger Snaps fans.  Not nearly as good, but certainly not bad.  IF YOU LIKE THIS WATCH:  Ginger Snaps (2000).  MORE WEREOLF MOVIES:  Much Ginger Snaps is a metaphor for puberty, An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) serves as a coming of manhood from college man-childhood.  But it’s more of a positive journey.  If you’re in the market for another great werewolf movie that has a sense of humor, then see An American Werewolf in London (1981)–hands down the best werewolf movie ever made!  Second best might be The Howling (1981), which takes itself quite seriously.  Another fun one is Cursed (2005), which is loaded with clichés and honors many past horror flicks.  If you want another utterly ridiculous werewolf movie, then move on to Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985) and Howling 3: The Marsupials (1987).  But skip Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988), Howling V: The Rebirth (1989), Howling VI: The Freaks (1991) and The Howling: Reborn (2011).

Remember in Ginger Snaps when Brigitte cuts her hand to “share” Ginger’s fate?

Since the death of her sister Ginger (Katharine Isabelle; Freddy vs Jason, Ginger Snaps, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days), Brigitte (Emily Perkins; Ginger Snaps) has been suppressing her lycanthropy with wolf’s bane injections like a drug addict while resisting Ginger’s taunts haunting her psyche.  However, she’s developing a resistance to her herbal remedy and she’s dosing increasingly more often.  Then, at about the most inconvenient time, Brigitte is placed in a mental hospital suspected of drug addiction by the tracks on her arm.

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During group therapy we find some humor as we hear Brigitte’s melodramatic self-prognosis and meet her new catty roommates.  But we’ll find far less humor overall in this sequel than the original. Overhearing some hospital staff discussing Brigitte’s strange addiction to wolf’s bane, a young girl nicknamed Ghost with a werewolf comic book and a while imagination begins to suspect Brigitte’s secret.

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Without her wolf’s bane, Brigitte begins to heal more rapidly and slowly transform.  But more of a problem than keeping up with her wolf’s bane dosage is another, fully transformed werewolf seeking out Brigitte.  Supporting Brigitte through all of this–werewolves and wolf’s bane and mental hospital escapes–Ghost becomes much like a little sister.

http://laraandthereelboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/cult-classics-ginger-snaps-discussion-part-2-of-3/

This is a reasonable sequel that continues Brigitte’s story with a very different angle from part one–and none of the puberty/womanhood metaphor.  It’s not nearly as good as the original, but it’s a worthy, entertaining sequel.  The effects haven’t really graduated from the low budget of part one, maybe even a step back, but the gore is still effective.

http://paranoiastrikesdeep.blogspot.com/2011/10/ginger-snaps-twice.html

http://laraandthereelboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/cult-classics-ginger-snaps-discussion-part-2-of-3/

The werewolf looks more different than “better” compared to part one. However, Brigitte’s transformation is far less interesting and punctuated than Ginger’s was.  At one point Brigitte looks more like a D-movie ghoul or zombie than someone on her way to wolfdom. That make up was done poorly and represents the most major fault of the movie.  There is also no actual transformation scene–which, itself, is another fault of the movie.  But it does play well with the ending.

http://paranoiastrikesdeep.blogspot.com/2011/10/ginger-snaps-twice.html

Perhaps the most interesting part of the movie was Ghost’s character development.  She has her own dark secret and it becomes rather important in the third act and ending of the story.

If you enjoyed Ginger Snaps then I’d say watch this.  It’s not nearly as good but it’s certainly not at all bad.