Wolves

Ginger and Brigette of the Ginger Snaps trilogy of Canadian werewolf films.

When I started using Netflix a couple years ago, I ordered almost exclusively vampire and werewolf movies because it was early October. I wanted a month of Halloween flicks. I pretty much watched their library of the applicable films...at least what they had at the time. They've added about three times the volume since. People like me must be embarrassingly common! And profitable.

Now. We are approaching Halloween again. As such, I must recommend that you all invest in some werewolf flicks via your preferred movie source. My recommendations:

1. Ginger Snaps. This teen werewolf flick from Canada is just outstanding. You will love Brigette and Ginger, the association between puberty and lycanthropy, and, of course, as you all survived high school you'll root for the (reluctant?) revenge. Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed is alright, but perhaps a little too rich in its drug metaphors. Still, Brigette is a peach, so worth watching as the star of that one. The third in the series, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, is visually sharp and the story is fun. It takes place in a fort in the Canadian wilderness. I recommend all three, with 1, 3 and 2 being the order of interest.

2. Dog Soldiers. The title of this one alone is both reason to rent it and avoid it. It's as hideously titled as the appropriately short-lived series Space Hospital. (Appropriately short-lived both for its moronic sci-fi ER format and its launch on UPN. Good god.) I like this one for its hilariously doomed action pic setup, its gorgeous Scottish accents (especially with the primary woman character, whose accent is not nearly as hypnotizing as Kelly MacDonald's, but it's still good), and the fact that the werewolves have pubic hair.

3. The Company of Wolves. Unfortunately, I don't recall much of this other than I enjoyed it. It's a Neil Jordan film. (He made The Crying Game, The Quiet American, and End of the Affair. He's good.) It's a Red Riding Hood retelling. And JB Fletcher herself (Angela Landsbury) appears!

Your Halloween recommendations, even those sans wolf, are welcomed.
-cK