Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004)

Follow-up to the 2001 sleeper gem sails through even darker waters, with addiction and need popping up as motifs. Like the first, it's a parable cloaked as a horror film -- this time, it's about the things we do to escape the pain of our realities. (If the first film, in tackling puberty, is really about fear about change and an uncertain future, this then must represent the life after the changes -- coming to terms with oneself and dealing with things that come back to haunt us.) Acting is fairly variable, but Emily Perkins is fabulous in the lead role. (Katherine Isabelle pops up in some bits, and although she's extraneous I think she's hot and talented so I'm not gonna complain.) Direction is quite accomplished, with a nice haunted quality about many of the visuals -- God, I wish I'd been able to see this on a large screen. Seems to lose its way a bit in the second act when Bridgette and Ghost run off together, but the film's only setting us up for the nasty finale. Less humorous, harder to shake off... all in all, a worthy sequel.

Grade: B+