Editorials

In ‘Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning,’ Men Are the Real Monsters

Uterus Horror is a subgenre of films that focuses on the experience of growing up with a female gender expression. These films capture the act of becoming an adult and coming into your sexuality, using horror to emphasize and/or act as a metaphor for those experiences. Columnist Molly Henery, who named and defined the subgenre, tackles a new film each month and analyzes how it fits into this bloody new corner of horror.

December 28th, 2023 | By Molly Henery

It’s been more than three and half years since this column began. In that time, I’ve discussed the way Ginger Snaps used lycanthropy to show the horrors of going through puberty, then how Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed explored concepts of identity and sexuality. Now, the time has come to complete the trilogy. That’s right, this month’s Uterus Horror film is none other than Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. 

Released in 2004, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning is a unique prequel entry into the franchise. Written by Christina Ray and Stephen Massicotte and directed by Grant Harvey, the film transports audiences back to the Canadian wilderness of 1815. Despite it taking place in a different century than the earlier films, Ginger Snaps Back still stars Emily Perkins as Brigitte and Katharine Isabelle as Ginger. The implication is that these two sisters are ancestors of their modern namesakes. Origins aside, most fans were happy to see this phenomenal duo return to play essentially the same characters, just in a very different time. 

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This entry into the franchise opens with the Fitzgerald sisters traveling, lost and alone, deep in the remote snow-covered forests of Canada. They encounter an indigenous man – simply referred to as “Hunter” (Nathaniel Arcand) – who leads them to a nearby fort. At first, Brigitte and Ginger think they have found salvation, but one look around the outpost paints a very different picture. The front gates are scored with blood and claw marks, and only a handful of men remain at the fort, all of them exhausted and suspicious. It’s immediately clear many of the men don’t want the sisters there, particularly a misogynistic soldier named James (JR Bourne) and the unhinged Reverend Gilbert (Hugh Dillon). Wallace Rowlands (Tom McCamus), the commander of the fort, seems to be the only one on the sisters’ side as he offers them food, shelter, and protection within his walls. Unfortunately, his protection can’t stop the danger that infiltrates the fort.

On Brigitte and Ginger’s first night at the outpost, Ginger follows the sounds of a child crying. She discovers a young boy – Rowland’s supposedly deceased son – locked in a secret part of the fort. When she goes to comfort him, the boy turns and reveals his horrifically deformed face. He bites Ginger before running off. Ginger and Brigitte try to flee in the early hours of the morning, but the fort is attacked by monstrous beasts. In the aftermath of the attack, it’s discovered that one of the dead creatures has a tattoo that belonged to one of the men’s brothers. The men then realize the party they had sent to get more provisions for the winter – the party that never returned – has transformed into lycanthropes. Ginger also realizes the boy who bit her was transforming, which means she is now infected as well. 

As the men are picked off by the creatures, and tensions rise, the sisters choose to flee the fort. The hunter leads the sisters to an indigenous elder for guidance. They learn of an ancient prophecy foretelling the arrival of the sisters; they are “the red and the black,” and their fates are tied to the lycanthrope curse. It also says one sister must kill the other. Brigitte goes into a trance state for answers, and all of her visions tell her she must kill her sister to stop the curse from spreading. When she awakens, the elder is dead, and her sister is gone. The hunter brings Brigitte back to the fort, where the men take her prisoner. Reverend Gilbert plans to burn Birgitte at the stake while the others prepare for Ginger’s arrival. 

Chaos ensues as Rowland kills Reverend Gilbert to save Brigitte. Ginger arrives to find her sister. After she slashes James’ throat, Ginger opens the gates, letting in the pack of werewolves at her command. Death and carnage take over the camp as the hunter keeps Brigitte safe so she can kill Ginger. When the time comes, Brigitte kills the hunter instead of her sister. Ginger and Brigitte flee as the last of the men are killed, and the fort burns to the ground. Brigitte says, “I’m cold,” to which Ginger replies, “I’m not.” The sisters take each other’s hands, each with a cut on their palms, so Ginger’s blood can infect Brigitte. Together, they strengthen the lycanthropic curse.

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning uses the werewolf siblings we know and love to show what it was like to be a woman during this time period. It’s no secret Ginger and Brigitte do not fit the standard for women at the time. They are young and traveling alone, and James even mentions Ginger must have a habit of speaking out of turn after noticing her black eye. They are two independent young women in a world dominated by men who don’t take kindly to strong women. Even the best of these men don’t see the sisters as equals. Most of the men are simply indifferent or distrustful of the women.

James is obviously misogynistic, looking down on the sisters and seeing them as simply objects who shouldn’t speak or have opinions. He very clearly enjoys inflicting pain on women as well. Reverend Gilbert is no better; his religion warps his mind to view all women as sinners just for existing. Even the “good” men don’t see the sisters as real people. Rowland is only trying to keep the peace while protecting his son, and the hunter only cares about Brigitte because he’s using her to end the curse. As with most Uterus Horror, the depiction of sexism is exaggerated for the sake of horror and the time period, and yet it doesn’t feel that far off from today’s worldview. 

Of all the horrors the Fitzgerald sisters face in Ginger Snaps Back, nothing is as dangerous as men. They brave the cold and the wilderness without hesitation. Even werewolves seem like a minor threat compared to the twisted and evil minds of men. All Brigitte and Ginger have in this world is each other. Throughout the film, they prove over and over they will always choose each other above all else. When Ginger is bitten by the boy, they both prepare to flee. When Rowland learns the truth and says Brigitte can stay, but Ginger must leave, both sisters go together. When Brigitte is taken prisoner and used as bait, Ginger goes to save her, knowing the risk. When Brigitte is told she must kill her sister to end the curse, she still chooses Ginger. 

Mirroring the “together forever” pact made in the first film, the final moments of Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning show Brigitte willingly choosing to infect herself. It’s both an act of love as well as an act of survival. In a world run by men, the only way for women to survive and escape their rule is with claws and teeth. What was a curse to the men at the fort is a gift to the Fitzgerald sisters. Now, they have all the power they need to survive in the wilderness on their own. What’s more, they have no reason to fear any longer. Now, Brigitte and Ginger will be the ones to strike fear in the hearts of men.