Ginger Snaps Back

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Ginger Snaps Back

Ginger Snaps Back DVD cover
Directed by Grant Harvey
Produced by Paula Devonshire
Grant Harvey
Steven Hoban
Noah Segal
Mark Smith
Written by Stephen Massicotte
Christina Ray
Starring Katharine Isabelle
Emily Perkins
Music by Alex Khaskin
Cinematography Michael Marshall
Editing by Ken Filewych
Distributed by Lions Gate Films
Release date(s) 2004
Running time 94 min.
Country Flag of Canada Canada
Language English
Preceded by Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning is the prequel to Ginger Snaps and Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed. The final part of the Ginger Snaps trilogy takes place in 19th century Canada, following the exploits of the antecedents of the Fitzgerald sisters of the two previous movies: Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins), who are identical to their modern-day counterparts in all respects.

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[edit] Plot summary

Fort Bailey, a trading fort in the western Canadian wilderness. Each spring a party of thirty six men from the fort travelled to Hudson's Bay in boats laden with pelts. The men returned in Autumn with provisions to see the fort through the harsh winter. In 1815 the party never returned. With the men two months overdue, the freshly orphaned Fitzgerald sisters (their parents having drowned), stranded in the wilderness, are brought to the fort by a resident Indian Hunter. The men there are suspicious of them, but, reluctantly, the sisters are permitted to stay.

[edit] Treatment

Almost two hundred years before the attack on Ginger at Bailey Downs in Ginger Snaps, orphaned sisters Brigitte and Ginger find themselves lost in the cold Canadian wilderness. The sisters encounter an Indian Seer who warns them of impending danger, one that would ultimately end in the death of one of them at the hands of the other unless they 'kill the boy'. The horse they are travelling by bolts, and, chasing the horse, Brigitte is caught in a trap set by an Indian hunter. The hunter arrives, and releases her, then leads the sisters silently to Fort Bailey, a trading fort of the Northern Legion, where they take refuge.

It becomes apparent the fort has been under siege by werewolves for some time. Consequently, it is undermanned and short of supplies; its only occupants being Chief Factor Wallace Rowlands, Sergeant James, Reverend Gilbert, Doctor Murphy, Cormac, Claude, Finn, Owen, Seamus, and Milo, his half-Indian son. The sisters are taken to Doc Murphy, who inspects Brigitte’s leg wound. Murphy applies a leech, surreptitiously testing to see if a werewolf bit her. As nothing untoward happens to her, Wallace quietly uncocks his pistol and welcomes the sisters to the fort.

The sisters find they have few friends within the fort, and are treated with suspicion. Finn takes them to the bedroom previously occupied by Wallace's wife. He explains how both she and her son Geoffrey are now dead. The sisters are given fresh clothes and asked to attend dinner with the men. During the night Ginger is awakened by a voice and goes to investigate. Wandering the corridors she eventually finds the source of the voice, and enters a small, unlit room; reaching out to a deformed boy, who turns and bites her as he makes good his escape. Wallace later goes to the room with a pistol and food for the boy; he finds the door open and Ginger’s bird necklace on the floor.

Ginger and Brigitte try to leave the fort, but James confronts them, punching Ginger in the mouth. During the fracas, werewolves attack. Owen is dragged through the gate and killed as they fight them off. Ordered to their room, the sisters are redirected by Gilbert to an allegedly safe building. He locks them in, and leaves, knowing a werewolf is in there with them. The sisters flee up the stairs, chased by the werewolf, but are saved by the hunter, who shoots the werewolf dead with his bow and arrow. As the men drag the werewolf out into the parade square, they discover it has a glass eye, and a tattoo, and it is in fact Claude’s brother, from the boat crew, turned.

The sisters arrive at Murphy's surgery, with Ginger looking very ill, as Murphy forces Finn at gunpoint, to put a leech on his chest (after finding him cutting them up). Finn, bitten during the siege, reluctantly does so, instantly screaming in agony. As he begins to transform Murphy shoots him dead, then turns to the sisters to ask, "What can I do for you ladies?" Understandably, they make their excuses and leave.

The sisters now know the boy who bit Ginger is in fact Wallace's son, Geoffrey, whom the rest of the fort believe dead, but was bitten by a werewolf, and is slowly transforming. As Ginger sleeps, he sneaks into the bedroom, waking her. She knows she must kill the boy to lift the curse, but, in her weakened state, she fails to grab him, and he snatches a lock of her hair as he runs off. Soon after, hearing a noise in the attic, Seamus investigates and is savaged by an unseen Geoffrey. The men find his mutilated body with the lock of Ginger’s hair beside it. Each draws his own conclusions. Gilbert, Claude, and Cormac drag Ginger from her bed, carrying her off struggling, whilst James holds Brigitte captive until Wallace arrives to find him sexually taunting Brigitte. Dismissing James, he turns to Brigitte, who makes it clear they know about Geoffrey. In exchange for their silence about his son's condition, and existence, he agrees to save Ginger from the men.

In Murphy’s surgery, Wallace and Brigitte find Ginger strapped to the examination table and held at gunpoint by Gilbert, as Murphy with a leech in his hand. Wallace demands they release Ginger. Murphy ignores the order, and approaches Ginger with the leech. Without hesitation, Wallace shoots him dead. Fearing the same fate, the other men dismiss. Ginger, increasingly sick from the bite, determines to follow the Seer's advice and "kill the boy", in order to lift the curse. Trapping Geoffrey at his mother's grave, Ginger holds a knife to this throat, but her courage leaves her. The men emerge nearby, and he bolts from her grasp, only for the men to see. Ginger weeps in Brigitte's arms, knowing her last chance of a cure is fast deserting her as the men capture Geoffrey. Wallace arrives, exerting his authority, and unexpectedly kills the boy himself. Wallace declares ther sisters protection at an end, and Ginger is forced to leave, Brigitte deciding to go with her.

Cast out, the sisters are led by Milo toward the Hunter's cave; but Ginger is overcome with the infection, and kills Milo before they get there. Arriving at the cave, the Hunter reveals the sisters coming had long been prophesied and that the "red and the black" would decide the destiny of the werewolf bloodline. The Seer is in the cave, and after a trance-like state is induced upon Brigitte, her 'destiny' is revealed to her: that she must now kill Ginger before she transforms fully into a werewolf, thus fulfilling the prophecy. As Brigitte emerges from the trance she finds the Seer is dead, and the Hunter tells her Ginger killed the Seer. The Hunter leads Brigitte back to the fort, saying Ginger will return.

Back at the fort, Brigitte is taken prisoner, bound and locked in a room. Gilbert goes to her, telling her to beg forgiveness to save her soul. Brigitte curses, spitting in his face. Gilbert drags her out onto the parade square, and prepares to burn her alive. He is interrupted by Wallace who runs Gilbert through with his sword before setting him on fire. Ginger, feigning injury, has James bend to listen to her, before reaching out to slash his throat. As he falls to the ground bleeding to death, Ginger opens the gates and ushers in the werewolves who immediately attack and kill Claude and Cormac. The Hunter and Wallace put up a brave fight, but Wallace is soon bitten. As a final gesture, Wallace goes around the fort setting it alight, before turning his pistol upon himself.

As the battle reaches its climax, the Hunter urges Brigitte to kill her sister; instead, Brigitte kills the Hunter. The intense final battle ends with only Ginger and Brigitte alive, outside in the cold and snow as the fort burns in the background, and Ginger is slowly transforming.

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links