Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Now Brigitte is trying to control the transformations, desperately shooting up injections of wolfsbane. She has also been cutting herself each daily, keeping track of how long it takes to heal because that tells her how close she is to the change (she heals faster the closer it gets). Knowing that the full moon brings on the change would just make things too easy for her. But Brigitte has bigger problems because she is being stalked by a growling four-legged figure who wants a little lycanthropic loving. She survives an attack but ends up in a drug treatment ward for young female addicts. Assumed to be a suicide risk because of all the cuts, the staff is not sure what to make about the monkshood; after all, it is not a stimulate, but basically plant food.

The point of "Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed" is to find out what happened to poor Brigitte. The opening reminds us about what is going on, but if you have not seen the original there is no reason to watch this one because it is the first film that makes us care about what Brigitte can do to avoid Ginger's fate. At one point the memory of Ginger tells her sister that it is not use to fight what is in her. Brigitte insists that she is strong and Ginger's ghost can only laugh and note, "That's not how I remember you the first fifteen years of your life." But Brigitte snaps back, "It's how I remember the last fifteen minutes of yours." Unfortunately, there are some things even worse than what she can imagine will happen (the obvious options represented by Ginger and the prowling wolf beast). As was the case with the first film, Perkins' performance anchors the film from going off into the realms of camp. She is the only one who knows what is going on and does not make the standard mistake of such people in horror films of assuming anybody is going to believe her.

But the big twist in this film is that there is somebody who is more than willing to believe there is a werewolf on the ward. A young girl named "Ghost" (Tatiana Maslany) reads enough comic books about monsters and such to know more than a little bit about werewolves. Ghost is there because the building houses not only the detox center but a ward for long term care patients. Ghost's grandmother was severely burned in a fire and until Brigitte showed up the heavily bandaged old lady was all she really had in the world. Of course, Ghost is strange enough that the other girls pick on her and without conscious thought Brigitte finds herself in a sort of sibling relationship, except this time she is the older and wiser one.

The key members of the staff are Alice (Janet Kidder), the counselor who thinks she has been through what Brigitte is experiencing and can therefore help, Tyler (Eric Johnson), the guard who is only interesting in trading the drugs the addicts crave for sex, and Dr. Brookner (Patricia Idlette), who thinks Brigitte's fears about turning into a werewolf probably means she is a lesbian. The rest of the girls are minor figures, with only Beth-ann (Pascale Hutton) singled out simply because somebody from the cast needs to be reduced to food halfway through the movie.

There are less special effects that the first film, which means the gore level is reduced somewhat. The best sequences involve more imagination than graphic violence anyhow. The film is directed by Brett Sullivan, who was the editor on the original. What carries this film are the relationship between Brigitte and Ghost, especially since the younger girl insists on providing a spooky narration to even the most mundane events, and the fact that you get a surprise ending. Sometimes fate has a wicked sense of humor and there are worst things than being annoying.

"Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed" was shot back-to-back with "Ginger Snaps Back," which is set back in 19th-century Canada as Ginger and Brigitte take refuge in a Traders Fort that is attacked by savage werewolves. Although they are helped by an enigmatic Indian hunter, once again one of the girls will be bitten by a werewolf and the sisters will again find they have no one to count on but each other. The final film in the "Ginger Snaps" trilogy will be directed by Grant Harvey ("Friday's Tired") from a script by Stephen Massicotte and Christina Ray. Too bad I can not plan on just watching it next week.