Lunatic's Pick For Top 10 Best Horror Films

So October is finally upon us and here I am filling out my promise to give you 20 good solid horror movie recommendations based on 10 films that I hold dear to my heart as favorites, and 10 that as a connoisseur of film find to be the most shining examples of the genre.  This is going to be tough as finding where both of these fall on the scale is like asking to pick which leg I’d leg to have severed first, but I shall try.  So let’s start this one with number 10 on the best list!

Number 10:

Ginger Snaps

I’ve covered this ground a bit already in my review of it’s threequel Ginger Snaps Back:  The Beginning, but I still have more to say about this film.  It’s an amazing work of horror fiction.  Just to save you from going back at my previous review, allow me to first give you the skinny on the plot.  Ginger Fitzgerald (Katherine Isabelle) and her sister Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are very close.  They have a bond as sisters that has lasted through their whole lives, which has partly lead them to being the weirdos of their high school.  Ginger and Brigitte are typical goth girls and frequently stage death scenes for photography projects, and both are bordering on nihilism when the film starts.  Then one full moon while they are trying to pull a prank on one of the preppy kids, Ginger has her first period (yes, this actually is important.)  and is promptly attacked by a werewolf.  As Ginger begins to turn, slowly her relationship with Brigitte crumbles as she goes out more and begins to give into more of her baser, more animalistic urges and it’s up to Brigitte to find a cure before the next full moon.
The first thing that should be said is despite a couple performances here and there, this movie is solidly cast with the standouts being the two sisters and their mother (played by Mimi Rogers).  Isabelle and Perkins have such a great chemistry with each other that it really sells the bond that the two sisters are supposed to have.  In fact some of the most gut wrenching moments of the movie are them arguing because they were shown as so believably close before things went sour, and that’s before Ginger grows a tail.
Speaking of which, the films makeup effects are superb slowing showing Ginger’s gradual transformation with subtle augmentations until the film’s climax where things get real and the final form of Ginger’s inner beast is revealed with a creative and haunting design giving this particular werewolf a nice individual look.
All this is backed up by the fact that the movie is working with a screenplay that really wants to use the werewolf as metaphor for puberty angle to its fullest.  At its core the film is more about the growing divide between the two sisters and using those great makeup effects to visually show how different the girls have become.
If this film has any shortcomings, it’s that some of the goth aspect of the girls feels a little haphazardly crammed in for the sake of appeal to potential demographics, and I do feel like pointing those out is more nitpicking than anything.  They are obsessed with death and all that but it never feels intrusive.  And also I do feel that certain aspects of the movie feel a bit rushed, especially during the third act where the movie really is in a hurry to get to the final transformation.
However I still maintain that this film should be recognized by taking a risk to make the horror of the piece come from something that is more thematic than just “oh this is supposed to be scary” kind that wears out it’s welcome far too soon.  It’s a solid movie with a well done story and great acting with some great scares and make up effects.  What more could you ask for?  I also said before that it has a very very good sequel Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed.  Give them both a watch this halloween.

Ginger Snaps rating:

4.5 mysterious animal attacks out of 5.