Ginger Snaps (2001)
86%RT Audience Score: 78%
Awards & Nominations: 10 wins & 9 nominations
The strong female cast and biting satire of teenage life makes Ginger Snaps far more memorable than your average werewolf movie — or teen flick
If you’re looking for a horror movie that’s both feminist and funny, then Ginger Snaps is the perfect film for you. This movie reinvents the werewolf myth and turns it into a hilarious exploration of pubescent angst and humiliation. Sure, the werewolf makeup might not be the best, but who cares when you have such a smart and resourceful narrative? Ginger Snaps is a coming-of-age story that will make you laugh, cringe, and maybe even howl at the moon.
Production Company(ies)
Break Thru Films,
Distributor
UNAPIX Entertainment
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2001
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 48m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 21, 2000 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 22, 2005
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers, Jesse Moss, Danielle Hampton, directed by John Fawcett, written by John Fawcett, Karen Walton, Karen Walton, horror, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Leah Pickett, Scott Tobias, Derek Elley, Tom Charity, Ray Conlogue, Peter Howell, Trace Thurman, Anton Bitel, Mike McGranaghan, Eleanor McKeown, Alan Jones, David Sterritt, produced by Karen Lee Hall, Steven Hoban, MPAA rating, werewolf movie, feminist narrative, satire, teenage life, strong female cast, puberty, transformation, suburban town, attack, wounds, supernatural curse, menstruation, blood, gore, wolf effects, transformation makeup work, creative, horror-comedy, tonally problems, lifeless performances, open plot holes
Worldwide gross: $2,554
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,304
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,150
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 469
US/Canada gross: $2,554
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,304
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,832
US/Canada opening weekend: $1,430
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $2,410
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,846
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $5,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $8,426,442
Production budget ranking: 1,731
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $4,537,639
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$12,959,777
ROI to date (est.): -100%
ROI ranking: 2,024
Katharine Isabelle – Ginger
Kris Lemche – Sam
Mimi Rogers – Pamela
Jesse Moss – Jason
Danielle Hampton – Trina
Director(s)
John Fawcett
Writer(s)
John Fawcett, Karen Walton, Karen Walton
Producer(s)
Karen Lee Hall, Steven Hoban
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
10 wins & 9 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (57) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (6)
The sharp feminist narrative makes up for the admirable but underwhelming werewolf makeup and other practical effects.
September 25, 2018
Leah Pickett
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
A smart, resourceful, and wickedly funny teen-horror film that reinvents the werewolf myth as a potent metaphor for pubescent angst and humiliation.
October 7, 2013
Scott Tobias
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
A quietly subversive my-sister-is-turning-into-a-werewolf movie that doesn’t wimp out at the end.
September 24, 2007
Derek Elley
Variety
TOP CRITIC
This isn’t just a good horror movie, it’s a good movie. Period.
June 24, 2006
Tom Charity
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The ideas are thin, and the scene-by-scene execution of them is bumbling.
March 19, 2002 | Rating: 1.5/4
Ray Conlogue
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
A superbly realized take on the perils of being different in a world that demands conformity.
November 23, 2001 | Rating: 4/5
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
A coming-of-age-via-werewolf-transformation tale with a lot more on its mind than just blood and gore.
December 29, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Trace Thurman
Horror Queers Podcast
This small-town coming-of-ager regenders the werewolf myth as a hilariously icky exploration of the monstrous feminine.
January 23, 2017
Anton Bitel
VODzilla.co
An uncommonly intelligent fright film, one that unnerves you at a very deep, primal level.
August 5, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat
A witty and intelligent exploration of what it means to become and live as a woman in middle-class suburbia.
October 7, 2013
Eleanor McKeown
Electric Sheep
In this highly sophisticated and disturbing Canadian horror movie, director John Fawcett transcends the banality of the werewolf formula with verve, well-paced action and genuine terror.
October 7, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Alan Jones
Radio Times
John Fawcett has directed “Ginger Snaps” with terrific flair, punctuating ominous moods with bursts of pitch-dark humor.
October 7, 2013
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor…
Plot
Is becoming a woman analogous, in some deep psychological way, to becoming a werewolf? Ginger is 16, edgy, tough, and, with her younger sister, into staging and photographing scenes of death. They’ve made a pact about dying together. In early October, on the night she has her first period, which is also the night of a full moon, a werewolf bites Ginger. Within a few days, some serious changes happen to her body and her temperament. Her sister Brigitte, 15, tries to find a cure with the help of Sam, a local doper. As Brigitte races against the clock, Halloween and another full moon approach, Ginger gets scarier, and it isn’t just local dogs that begin to die.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Katharine Isabelle delivers a standout performance as Ginger in Ginger Snaps.
John-Fawcett.jpg
