Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)

ridiculous rating

Good idea lost in the noise

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I have already given my feelings about GS:unleashed, and how the charm of the first film was crippled by establishing that once bitten you're dead, there is no cure. So a prequel about their predecessors(past lives?) wasn't very interesting to me. I waited about four years before checking this one out and despite decent acting and great sets/costumes, it was still a bleak and unsatisfying story. I did like the addition of the leeches into the mythos, but that still didn't change things. Brendan Fletcher was the only real standout in this movie. Hopefully there won't be any further sequels, prequels, remakes, etc.

~Spoiler~ Shot back-to-back with Unleashed, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning is my least favorite of the series. But it's still not a bad flick. This is a prequel that takes place in an early 1800's trader's fort that is besieged by "Wendigos". The prequel idea was probably the best way to get Ginger back into the series (even though she's not the reason I enjoy these movies). Both Isabelle and Perkins (who is the reason I enjoy these movies) are completely at home in these characters now. Strong character actors like JR Bourne, Nathaniel Arcand, and Brendan Fletcher (who got killed in the last Ginger Snaps movie as well) also help set the scene. It may be my least favorite, but this one looks the best. Second unit director for the original Ginger Snaps, Grant Harvey, is at the helm and really gets good use out of the Canadian wilderness. The setting really is unbelievable. Fort Edmonton Park (recently seen in a Fear Itself episode) is a fantastic place for a period horror film. The last film also best showcases the KNB werewolves. This is the only Ginger Snaps film to show the werewolves full on. Hopefully this is the last film in the series, because overall it was a fine little trilogy.

Trying to be clever with a double meaning title, somebody named this horror movie after a cookie, which suggested that it would be a horror satire. It isn't. Better than average for a Sci-Fi channel offering, the movie actually is pretty adept at telling its story, which finds some new slants on the werewolf theme.The acting is above par from this cast of unknowns, who all make the story interesting and believable. The scripting gives both logical foundation for what happens later, yet darts into some surprising directions you might not expect. Although there's a pretty high body count, and the identities of who's going to get it are usually obvious, the story is unique enough to make that problem not matter much.There are several subplots that are weaved together rather professionally, and the relationship of the sisters and how it relates to the everything else that is happening is told well and acted out well. The story is ripe with legends and character interaction that keep things moving along at a brisk pace for the most part.Minor problems: the clichéd cleric guy who spouts out "Witch! Witch!" accusations; a very poorly written character, and the soldier boy bullies at the fort; also a cop-out cliché to set up some unnecessary conflicts. People who find themselves in a life-and-death situation pull together, not apart, as depicted here.Low budget, but usually good. A pretty decent flick for fans of werewolf and zombie movies.

After the success of the superior werewolf thriller "Ginger Snaps", it seems Lions Gate rushed to churn out two sequels in the shortest amount of time possible, those being the frightening "Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed" and the disappointing "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning". Where "Unleashed" was a bit of letdown compared to its predecessor, it made sense and it followed the storyline well and even managed to wrangle up a boatload of genuine scares. Then there's "Ginger Snaps Back", the weakest and wholly unnecessary entry into the series. It should have stopped with "Unleashed" but the writers have decided to give our doomed heroines Brigitte and Ginger one last go around.This time Ginger and Brigitte (a major plus is that Katharine Isabelle reprises her role as Ginger whereas she was missing in the second film save for a few scenes) are wandering around in the Canadian wilderness after being stranded in the early 1800's. For some reason it's a prequel that has nothing to do with the story that was developed in the first two films, so what's the point besides some cheap werewolf scares? When they come across a wrecked Indian camp that depicts carnage and brutal murder, they hastily make way to find shelter. That's when they find a strange fort in the middle of nowhere that some soldiers reside in, and that's where the nightmare begins. At night, a pack of vicious werewolves continually attacks the fort outside the thick log walls, and by day things take a nasty turn for Ginger when she is bitten... again. It's all apparently a foreshadowing of the events in the first film but none of it is needed. There's no tension or intrigue where there was in the first and second, plus any trace of black humor that made the first film so ingenious is not apparent anywhere. The editing and cinematography seem rushed and at times I found the film almost incoherent. A huge disappointment that further ruins the integrity of the first. They should leave Ginger and Brigitte alone now.