Every Ginger Snaps Movie, Ranked Worst to Best

2000’s cult teen werewolf classic Ginger Snaps went on to spawn a short franchise, and here’s how all three films stack up, worst to best. Horror history is full of werewolf movies, but sadly, few of them manage to rise above the pack and howl at the top of the genre’s mountain. One of the best – outside of the usual classics like The Wolf Man, The Howling, and An American Werewolf in London – is Ginger Snaps, a Canadian production directed and co-written by John Fawcett.

Ginger Snaps stars genre favorites Katharine Isabelle (Freddy vs. Jason, Hannibal) and Emily Perkins (Stephen King’s IT, Supernatural) as sisters Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald, goth girls obsessed with death, and content to only socialize with each other. That is until Ginger gets attacked and bitten by a werewolf, which in accordance with standard werewolf lore, dooms her to become a murderous beast herself. What follows is a truly inspired look at the change into a werewolf through the lens of a girl’s journey into womanhood.

Thanks mostly to positive word of mouth after its release on home video, Ginger Snaps quickly drew a following, leading to enough popularity that both a sequel and prequel were made. Are they worth braving a full moon to watch? It’s time to find out.

3. Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)

While a prequel to the Ginger Snaps movies set in 1815 at first sounds like an intriguing idea, Ginger Snaps Back doesn’t end up living up to the promise of its premise. What ensues is basically a retelling of the first Ginger Snaps, but with a period setting, which isn’t really sold much thanks to an obviously low budget. Stars Isabelle and Perkins are still interesting to watch, but aren’t really given anything new to do, and lots of boredom is on the menu.

2. Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004)

Ginger Snaps 2 is a decent sequel, but is hampered a bit by the fact that Ginger died in the first film, limiting Katharine Isabelle to appearing in visions and hallucinations. Emily Perkins admirably takes over as protagonist, with Brigitte having been bitten by her sister before she died, and now desperately fighting her own werewolf transformation. In a fun bit of retroactive recognition, Tatiana Maslany appears in the early role of Ghost, who befriends Brigitte during her forced stay at a rehab facility.

1. Ginger Snaps (2000)

As is usual for horror franchises, in this case, the original Ginger Snaps is easily the best entry. This may be partly attributable to John Fawcett’s direction, as he abdicated the role on both the sequels, instead choosing only to executive produce. It also helps that this movie has a noticeably higher budget than its follow-ups, and generally looks better in general. Isabelle and Perkins’ chemistry as sisters is also never better than it is here.

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