Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed
Encyclopedia
Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed(released as Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed on DVD) is a 2003 Canadian horror
sequel
to Ginger Snaps, written by Megan Martin and directed by Brett Sullivan
. A prequel, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning
, was filmed back-to-back with Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed and was released in 2004.
) uses an extract of monkshood to fight the effects of the lycanthropy
that transformed her sister into a werewolf
.
The opening credits play over Brigitte shaving all over her body, cutting her arm with a scalpel, then injecting herself with a dose of monkshood, then cutting to Brigitte in a library, where the librarian Jeremy (Brendan Fletcher
) clumsily hits on her. When she goes to check out her books, her library card has too many fines owing, and she walks out, leaving the books behind.
Back in her motel room, she inspects her latest cut and records the time and state of healing on a page filled with similar entries. Ginger (Katharine Isabelle
), her late sister, appears to her as an apparition, saying that she is healing faster and the monkshood is not a cure, it only slows the transformation.
Brigitte shoots a deadly second dose of monkshood, and immediately after, Brigitte senses the presence of the male werewolf that has been stalking her, whose identity is unknown. She hastily packs and opens the door to find Jeremy with her library books. However, the additional dose has pushed her into toxic shock. Jeremy gets her in his car and is about to drive her to hospital, when the driver side window is smashed, and the werewolf drags him from the car. Brigitte stumbles down the street and collapses in the snow.
She wakes up in a combination rehab clinic for drug abusing girls and chronic care patient facility, located in the only operational section of a large, old hospital. She attempts, but fails to escape. When delivered to the clinic's director Alice (Janet Kidder
), she pleads to be released, but is refused. She does, however, manage to palm a piece of glass so she can continue to measure her healing rate. Tyler (Eric Johnson
), a worker at the clinic, visits Brigitte at night and offers her some monkshood in exchange for sexual favors. She refuses and he tells her he will not give her the monkshood until she accepts his terms.
As Brigitte's healing begins to accelerate, so does her rate of transformation. Ginger continues to appear, taunting Brigitte as she experiences growing cravings for sex, and to kill, as did Ginger previously. During a group therapy session Brigitte daydreams about being instructed to lie on the floor and masturbate, however it is unclear if the masturbation was a fantasy, since the part about imagining death and blood is clearly in Brigitte's mind. Suddenly jolted back to reality by a vision of Ginger, she draws her hand to her face to reveal her palm covered in hair. Later, and very depressed, she takes her shard of glass and holds it to her throat while looking into the bathroom mirror. However, she does not kill herself.
During this time, Brigitte is shadowed by a girl called Ghost (Tatiana Maslany
), the granddaughter of Barbara, a severe burn victim who is a patient there. Ghost eavesdrops on Alice in the staff lounge that Brigitte injects Monkshood. Curious about it, Ghost goes through her clandestinely hidden comic book collection and realizes Brigitte's secret. Ghost slips Brigitte a comic book
containing the werewolf story. She begins to question her about lycanthropy, and notices Brigitte's ears have begun to grow pointy, Brigitte takes the glass, telling Ginger that she will not die, and cuts off the pointed part of her ear, flushing it down the toilet. Shortly after, Ghost tries to slip monkshood to Brigitte, but is foiled by Tyler. The following night, in despair at her rate of transformation, Brigitte allows Tyler to inject her.
By now, it is apparent the werewolf has found her again. After Ghost's dog is found dead and mutilated, Brigitte asks her where the corpse was found, and is told that it was found in the disused crematorium section of the hospital. Upon learning this, Brigitte says she must get out. Ghost offers to show her an escape route, but insists she be taken with Brigitte.
Brigitte escapes to the disused crematorium, in the basement, by crawling through air vents following Ghost's trail marks. There, Brigitte meets Beth-Ann (Pascale Hutton
) who is high on drugs that she just received in exchange for sex with Tyler. Beth-Ann is killed and dragged away by the werewolf. Shortly after, Ghost arrives and says the escape route is where Beth-Ann was dragged away to. Brigitte and Ghost proceed, but are separated as the werewolf attacks. Clashing with the beast, Brigitte's leg is broken by the werewolf, but her transformation is so advanced, she heals immediately, and makes her escape after burning the beast in the crematorium.
Ghost drives them to a gas station in the clinic car, where Brigitte tends to her wounds. They then drive to Barbara's house and sleep. Ghost explains how Barbara got burned, she tells Brigitte that Barbara fell asleep with her bedtime cigarette. The next day, after Brigitte starts eating a deer caught in an explosion from a trap set up by Ghost, they arrange for Tyler to bring monkshood to the gas station, but when Brigitte wanders inside she discovers the attendant has been slain. While she was away, Tyler had arrived and taken Ghost's car. Brigitte dashes back and drives off. Back at the house, Brigitte's body once more begins to reject the monkshood and Tyler worriedly calls Alice.
Ghost tricks Brigitte into thinking Tyler abused her. Brigitte locks Tyler outside, and he is killed by the werewolf. Alice arrives, and is attacked by Ghost, wielding Barbara's hunting rifle. Brigitte figures out that Barbara didn't smoke, she aggressively keeps Ghost against a wall and argues with her, realizing it is likely Tyler didn't abuse Ghost and that Barbara was burnt by Ghost, but is stopped by Alice holding the rifle point-blank to the base of her skull. Alice begins to take Ghost, but is advised not to go outside. The werewolf then howls and breaks a nearby window, and Alice takes Ghost to the attic with her to seek refuge from Brigitte and the werewolf. Brigitte's transformation is almost complete, when the werewolf enters the house. She lures him into a room, and, when Ghost distracts the werewolf by dropping a heavy curling stone, Brigitte stabs him. The werewolf bites her on the arm. They struggle and after she repeatedly bashed its head with a curling stone, they fall into the basement, which has been turned into a pit of death using a set of mattress springs holding a wide variety of sharp objects. Ghost hits Alice with a hammer and sits at the top of the steps to peer into the basement, gun in hand. Brigitte crawls up the stairs, her face half transformed, begging Ghost to kill her. Instead, Ghost locks her in the basement.
Ghost is shown illustrating a comic page of herself as a powerful warrior with a werewolf pet. Ghost narrates that Brigitte is getting stronger in the basement and is waiting to be unleashed on Ghost's enemies. As the film ends, Ghost is getting ready to welcome home Barbara.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Ginger Snaps, written by Megan Martin and directed by Brett Sullivan
Brett Sullivan
Brett Sullivan is a London based Australian filmmaker. Born in Sydney, Australia, 1971, he was one of the early adopters of computer graphics, writing a book at age 19, 'Desktop Video' and subsequently lecturing on emerging technologies at NSW University, Sydney University and The Australian Film...
. A prequel, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning
Ginger Snaps Back
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning is the prequel to Ginger Snaps and Ginger Snaps II: 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 and Brigitte , who...
, was filmed back-to-back with Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed and was released in 2004.
Plot
Set after the events of the original film, Brigitte Fitzgerald (Emily PerkinsEmily Perkins
Emily Jean Perkins is a Canadian actress, known best for her co-starring role as Brigitte Fitzgerald in the movie Ginger Snaps and its two sequels, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. Since the late 1980s she has appeared in various films and television series.-Life...
) uses an extract of monkshood to fight the effects of the lycanthropy
Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy is the professed ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a werewolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos : λύκος, lykos + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos...
that transformed her sister into a werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
.
The opening credits play over Brigitte shaving all over her body, cutting her arm with a scalpel, then injecting herself with a dose of monkshood, then cutting to Brigitte in a library, where the librarian Jeremy (Brendan Fletcher
Brendan Fletcher
Brendan Fletcher is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Fletcher was born in Comox Valley, British Columbia and went to junior high school at Lake Trail in Courtenay, British Columbia....
) clumsily hits on her. When she goes to check out her books, her library card has too many fines owing, and she walks out, leaving the books behind.
Back in her motel room, she inspects her latest cut and records the time and state of healing on a page filled with similar entries. Ginger (Katharine Isabelle
Katharine Isabelle
Katherine Isobel Murray , better known by her screen name Katharine Isabelle, is a Canadian actress, best known for her portrayal of Ginger in Ginger Snaps, and as Gibb in Freddy vs. Jason.-Biography:...
), her late sister, appears to her as an apparition, saying that she is healing faster and the monkshood is not a cure, it only slows the transformation.
Brigitte shoots a deadly second dose of monkshood, and immediately after, Brigitte senses the presence of the male werewolf that has been stalking her, whose identity is unknown. She hastily packs and opens the door to find Jeremy with her library books. However, the additional dose has pushed her into toxic shock. Jeremy gets her in his car and is about to drive her to hospital, when the driver side window is smashed, and the werewolf drags him from the car. Brigitte stumbles down the street and collapses in the snow.
She wakes up in a combination rehab clinic for drug abusing girls and chronic care patient facility, located in the only operational section of a large, old hospital. She attempts, but fails to escape. When delivered to the clinic's director Alice (Janet Kidder
Janet Kidder
Janet Kidder is a Canadian actress.Janet Kidder is the niece of actress Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the Superman movies. They both appeared in Walk on By, an episode of La Femme Nikita, as the younger and older Roberta, Nikita's mother. Janet's participation was in brief flashback...
), she pleads to be released, but is refused. She does, however, manage to palm a piece of glass so she can continue to measure her healing rate. Tyler (Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson (actor)
Eric Johann Johnson is a Canadian actor best known for playing the role of Whitney Fordman on the television series Smallville...
), a worker at the clinic, visits Brigitte at night and offers her some monkshood in exchange for sexual favors. She refuses and he tells her he will not give her the monkshood until she accepts his terms.
As Brigitte's healing begins to accelerate, so does her rate of transformation. Ginger continues to appear, taunting Brigitte as she experiences growing cravings for sex, and to kill, as did Ginger previously. During a group therapy session Brigitte daydreams about being instructed to lie on the floor and masturbate, however it is unclear if the masturbation was a fantasy, since the part about imagining death and blood is clearly in Brigitte's mind. Suddenly jolted back to reality by a vision of Ginger, she draws her hand to her face to reveal her palm covered in hair. Later, and very depressed, she takes her shard of glass and holds it to her throat while looking into the bathroom mirror. However, she does not kill herself.
During this time, Brigitte is shadowed by a girl called Ghost (Tatiana Maslany
Tatiana Maslany
-Acting career:Maslany is one of the stars of the Canadian TV series 2030 CE and is best known in her role as the character Ghost in Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed...
), the granddaughter of Barbara, a severe burn victim who is a patient there. Ghost eavesdrops on Alice in the staff lounge that Brigitte injects Monkshood. Curious about it, Ghost goes through her clandestinely hidden comic book collection and realizes Brigitte's secret. Ghost slips Brigitte a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
containing the werewolf story. She begins to question her about lycanthropy, and notices Brigitte's ears have begun to grow pointy, Brigitte takes the glass, telling Ginger that she will not die, and cuts off the pointed part of her ear, flushing it down the toilet. Shortly after, Ghost tries to slip monkshood to Brigitte, but is foiled by Tyler. The following night, in despair at her rate of transformation, Brigitte allows Tyler to inject her.
By now, it is apparent the werewolf has found her again. After Ghost's dog is found dead and mutilated, Brigitte asks her where the corpse was found, and is told that it was found in the disused crematorium section of the hospital. Upon learning this, Brigitte says she must get out. Ghost offers to show her an escape route, but insists she be taken with Brigitte.
Brigitte escapes to the disused crematorium, in the basement, by crawling through air vents following Ghost's trail marks. There, Brigitte meets Beth-Ann (Pascale Hutton
Pascale Hutton
Pascale Hutton is a Canadian actress. She was born in Creston, British Columbia. Hutton attended the conservatory acting program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.- Filmography :- Television :...
) who is high on drugs that she just received in exchange for sex with Tyler. Beth-Ann is killed and dragged away by the werewolf. Shortly after, Ghost arrives and says the escape route is where Beth-Ann was dragged away to. Brigitte and Ghost proceed, but are separated as the werewolf attacks. Clashing with the beast, Brigitte's leg is broken by the werewolf, but her transformation is so advanced, she heals immediately, and makes her escape after burning the beast in the crematorium.
Ghost drives them to a gas station in the clinic car, where Brigitte tends to her wounds. They then drive to Barbara's house and sleep. Ghost explains how Barbara got burned, she tells Brigitte that Barbara fell asleep with her bedtime cigarette. The next day, after Brigitte starts eating a deer caught in an explosion from a trap set up by Ghost, they arrange for Tyler to bring monkshood to the gas station, but when Brigitte wanders inside she discovers the attendant has been slain. While she was away, Tyler had arrived and taken Ghost's car. Brigitte dashes back and drives off. Back at the house, Brigitte's body once more begins to reject the monkshood and Tyler worriedly calls Alice.
Ghost tricks Brigitte into thinking Tyler abused her. Brigitte locks Tyler outside, and he is killed by the werewolf. Alice arrives, and is attacked by Ghost, wielding Barbara's hunting rifle. Brigitte figures out that Barbara didn't smoke, she aggressively keeps Ghost against a wall and argues with her, realizing it is likely Tyler didn't abuse Ghost and that Barbara was burnt by Ghost, but is stopped by Alice holding the rifle point-blank to the base of her skull. Alice begins to take Ghost, but is advised not to go outside. The werewolf then howls and breaks a nearby window, and Alice takes Ghost to the attic with her to seek refuge from Brigitte and the werewolf. Brigitte's transformation is almost complete, when the werewolf enters the house. She lures him into a room, and, when Ghost distracts the werewolf by dropping a heavy curling stone, Brigitte stabs him. The werewolf bites her on the arm. They struggle and after she repeatedly bashed its head with a curling stone, they fall into the basement, which has been turned into a pit of death using a set of mattress springs holding a wide variety of sharp objects. Ghost hits Alice with a hammer and sits at the top of the steps to peer into the basement, gun in hand. Brigitte crawls up the stairs, her face half transformed, begging Ghost to kill her. Instead, Ghost locks her in the basement.
Ghost is shown illustrating a comic page of herself as a powerful warrior with a werewolf pet. Ghost narrates that Brigitte is getting stronger in the basement and is waiting to be unleashed on Ghost's enemies. As the film ends, Ghost is getting ready to welcome home Barbara.
Cast
- Emily PerkinsEmily PerkinsEmily Jean Perkins is a Canadian actress, known best for her co-starring role as Brigitte Fitzgerald in the movie Ginger Snaps and its two sequels, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. Since the late 1980s she has appeared in various films and television series.-Life...
as Brigitte Fitzgerald - Tatiana MaslanyTatiana Maslany-Acting career:Maslany is one of the stars of the Canadian TV series 2030 CE and is best known in her role as the character Ghost in Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed...
as Ghost - Eric JohnsonEric Johnson (actor)Eric Johann Johnson is a Canadian actor best known for playing the role of Whitney Fordman on the television series Smallville...
as Tyler - Janet KidderJanet KidderJanet Kidder is a Canadian actress.Janet Kidder is the niece of actress Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the Superman movies. They both appeared in Walk on By, an episode of La Femme Nikita, as the younger and older Roberta, Nikita's mother. Janet's participation was in brief flashback...
as Alice Severson - Brendan FletcherBrendan FletcherBrendan Fletcher is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Fletcher was born in Comox Valley, British Columbia and went to junior high school at Lake Trail in Courtenay, British Columbia....
as Jeremy - Katharine IsabelleKatharine IsabelleKatherine Isobel Murray , better known by her screen name Katharine Isabelle, is a Canadian actress, best known for her portrayal of Ginger in Ginger Snaps, and as Gibb in Freddy vs. Jason.-Biography:...
as Ginger Fitzgerald - Susan Adam as Barbara
- Chris Fassbender as Luke
- Pascale HuttonPascale HuttonPascale Hutton is a Canadian actress. She was born in Creston, British Columbia. Hutton attended the conservatory acting program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.- Filmography :- Television :...
as Beth-Ann - Michelle BeaudoinMichelle BeaudoinMichelle Beaudoin is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Jenny Kelley in the ABC sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.-Early life:Beaudoin was born in Edmonton, Alberta, the daughter of Maurice and Lorraine Beaudoin....
as Winnie - David McNallyDavid McNallyDavid McNally may refer to:* David McNally , Canadian film director* David McNally , Chief Executive of Norwich City F.C.* David McNally , Canadian political scientist* Dave McNally , US baseball player...
as Marcus - Patricia IdlettePatricia IdlettePatricia Idlette is an actress known for her role as Kiffany, a waitress, in Showtime's Dead Like Me. She also played a small roles in Ginger Snaps 2 and Battlestar Galactica, as one of the counsellors working at Brigitte's rehab centre and a nurse taking a mammogram for Dana in the Showtime...
as Dr. Brookner