I havn't submitted a review in quite some time, mainly because there hasn't been much worth reviewing strongly one way or the other lately. I rented "Ginger Snaps" the other day on reccomendation of a horror movie fan friend of mine. I did this with a little trepidation, as that it seems to be packaged and marketed a little strangely, and I have been disappointed by fabulous marketing and dull movies lately. (Freddy vs Jason)

"Ginger Snaps" is the best werewolf movie I've ever seen. I had almost forgotten how good a character driven horror movie can be. The closest thing I can compare it to is "The Fly", as that it is not really about the monster per se so much as it is about a loved one turning into something bad and you a powerless to stop it. This works on the figurative level (being young teenage gals, menstruation plays a huge factor with plot development in this story...but not on an exploitative level) and literally (the werewolf...duh). It is a credit to fantastic writing that Mimi Rogers, who plays the two main characters mother, though secondary, delivers one line that turns her subtly into the the most chilling and evil character in the picture. (and don't worry this gives NOTHING away)

The creature FX are not the best by far, but by the time we see the creature the FX have become secondary to the character development. It figures this is an independant film from Canada. I understand that there is a sequel to this and a prequel in production. This is one of those rare films where I enjoyed it so much that I tend to avoid sequels, like any continuation of the story retroactively hurts the original story. This has only happened to a handfull of movies with me: Blair Witch and Phantasm come to mind. Get past the bad packaging and treat yourself to this small scary treasure...

-'the fuzz'