Watcher
30-01-2002, 01:33 AM
<I><B>MAGNA PACIFIC </I></b>
<center><b>
<h2>GINGER SNAPS </h2>
Release Date: OUT NOW!.
MAGNA PACIFIC
Rating: MA15+
RRP: $29.95 </b>
<I>(shop around as this title has been heavily
discounted in some places)</I></center>
<UL><B>SPECIAL FEATURES AND SPECS</b></center>
<LI>Trailer
<LI>English language in Dolby Digital 5.1
<LI>Aspect: 1.77:1 widescreen.
<LI>Running Time: 103 Mins.</UL>
<center><b>CAST</b></center>
Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Mimi Rogers and Kris Lemche
Directed by...John Fawcett
<center><B>FROM THE BACK COVER</b></center>
<I>'The Craft' meets 'The Howling' in this edgy, modern werewolf tale in which a teenage girl must choose between saving herself and joining her sister in an otherworldly life.
Plagued by adolescent woes of biology, high school, dating and parents, the Fitzgerald sisters, Ginger and Brigitte are looking for something to stir up their mundane existence.
They get more than they bargained for however, when Ginger is attacked by a snarling, rabid beast that causes a tremendous "change" in her.
The terrifying force quickly takes hold of Ginger's body and mind, threatening to destroy the sisters' special bond and the lives of those around them.
Brigitte races to devise a potion to exorcise Ginger's demon as Ginger rapidlytransforms into a ferocious She-Wolf, out for blood.
At the eleventh hour of Ginger's metamorphosis, the creature inside her takes over and turns on Brigitte. What will triumph in this life and death struggle between a sister's love and the allure of the supernatural?</I>
<b>Stylish, Sexy, Surprising.</b>
<center><b>AUDIO/VISUAL</b></center>
GINGER SNAPS has Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and is mostly well done, but is let down at times by some mild distortion which I'll come to in a minute.
As far as the way speakers were used, this is a real winner. The audio is shared very well amongst the speakers and offers a broad listening area with nice directional sounds from the front, sides and rear of the room. The more dramatic scenes are where this stands out the most.
Watch this in the dark as the audio definitely creates atmosphere and in some of the darker and more scarier scenes you may get the feeling of being immersed in the movie with some very unnerving sounds with a little bit of tension thrown in.
Speech was always easy to understand and had no problems with being in sync.
Unfortunately, the audio quality is occasionally let down by what I'd describe as mild, tinny echoing which is noticeable and had me looking to the other person in the room to see if they noticed it. It's unfortunate that this small problem occurs as the majority of the audio sounds really good. Don't let my mentioning this put you off as although it is disappointing, this small distraction shouldn't put you off watching and hopefully enjoying this DVD.
Ginger Snaps is in an aspect of 1.77:1 widescreen.
On offer here is a pretty good quality transfer overall. It is mostly free from any noticeable blemishes or marks and the small ones that are present aren't really worth worrying about.
Colours look very nice and are rich and bold in their appearance, but are also soft where intended.
Flesh tones have a natural look to them and present no problems.
Blacks and shadow detail are both fine which is a relief with a movie with so many dark scenes.
This is a good looking transfer and it easily gets the thumbs up from me in the visual department.
<center><B>EXTRA FEATURES</b></center>
Trailer - This is a short but very enticing trailer which runs for 1.46 minutes. The scenes chosen to appear in the trailer sell themovie very well but do tend to give away a lot of the storyline so it would be best to save this feature until after you have watched the film.
The trailer is presented in widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.
<center><B>OVERALL</b></center>
I am going to say here and now that GINGER SNAPS really surprised me with the quality of the acting and the storyline. I was expecting this movie to be an average B Grade horror flick when in reality it is much more than that.
This is a movie that you can't help but being drawn in by and you are soon absorbed into the story as it plays out before you.
Without giving too much away I can honestly say that anyone who enjoys a good horror movie should get a kick out of this and have a howling good time.
The girls who play the two sisters are outstanding in their performances and the movie itself is highly entertaining too.
The DVD itself is very light on extra features, with only a Trailer being offered and the audio unfortunately does suffer a little in places, but the quality of the video transfer isn't bad at all and makes up for the minor audio problems.
Renting is probably the best option for most people here, but I'm sure that there will be others such as myself who will be pleasantly surprised by GINGER SNAPS and will be more than
willing to add it to their collection. At the time of writing this review, Ginger Snaps could be found for well under the RRP of $29.95 which I already considered to be good value.
Do get hold of this one horror fans.<TABLE WIDTH="90%" ALIGN="center" BORDER="1">
<tr><td><B>VIDEO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>9/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>AUDIO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>8/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>EXTRAS</b> </td><td><B>1/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>9/10 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>8/10 </b></td></tr></table>
Thanks for reading.....
<center><b>
<h2>GINGER SNAPS </h2>
Release Date: OUT NOW!.
MAGNA PACIFIC
Rating: MA15+
RRP: $29.95 </b>
<I>(shop around as this title has been heavily
discounted in some places)</I></center>
<UL><B>SPECIAL FEATURES AND SPECS</b></center>
<LI>Trailer
<LI>English language in Dolby Digital 5.1
<LI>Aspect: 1.77:1 widescreen.
<LI>Running Time: 103 Mins.</UL>
<center><b>CAST</b></center>
Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Mimi Rogers and Kris Lemche
Directed by...John Fawcett
<center><B>FROM THE BACK COVER</b></center>
<I>'The Craft' meets 'The Howling' in this edgy, modern werewolf tale in which a teenage girl must choose between saving herself and joining her sister in an otherworldly life.
Plagued by adolescent woes of biology, high school, dating and parents, the Fitzgerald sisters, Ginger and Brigitte are looking for something to stir up their mundane existence.
They get more than they bargained for however, when Ginger is attacked by a snarling, rabid beast that causes a tremendous "change" in her.
The terrifying force quickly takes hold of Ginger's body and mind, threatening to destroy the sisters' special bond and the lives of those around them.
Brigitte races to devise a potion to exorcise Ginger's demon as Ginger rapidlytransforms into a ferocious She-Wolf, out for blood.
At the eleventh hour of Ginger's metamorphosis, the creature inside her takes over and turns on Brigitte. What will triumph in this life and death struggle between a sister's love and the allure of the supernatural?</I>
<b>Stylish, Sexy, Surprising.</b>
<center><b>AUDIO/VISUAL</b></center>
GINGER SNAPS has Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and is mostly well done, but is let down at times by some mild distortion which I'll come to in a minute.
As far as the way speakers were used, this is a real winner. The audio is shared very well amongst the speakers and offers a broad listening area with nice directional sounds from the front, sides and rear of the room. The more dramatic scenes are where this stands out the most.
Watch this in the dark as the audio definitely creates atmosphere and in some of the darker and more scarier scenes you may get the feeling of being immersed in the movie with some very unnerving sounds with a little bit of tension thrown in.
Speech was always easy to understand and had no problems with being in sync.
Unfortunately, the audio quality is occasionally let down by what I'd describe as mild, tinny echoing which is noticeable and had me looking to the other person in the room to see if they noticed it. It's unfortunate that this small problem occurs as the majority of the audio sounds really good. Don't let my mentioning this put you off as although it is disappointing, this small distraction shouldn't put you off watching and hopefully enjoying this DVD.
Ginger Snaps is in an aspect of 1.77:1 widescreen.
On offer here is a pretty good quality transfer overall. It is mostly free from any noticeable blemishes or marks and the small ones that are present aren't really worth worrying about.
Colours look very nice and are rich and bold in their appearance, but are also soft where intended.
Flesh tones have a natural look to them and present no problems.
Blacks and shadow detail are both fine which is a relief with a movie with so many dark scenes.
This is a good looking transfer and it easily gets the thumbs up from me in the visual department.
<center><B>EXTRA FEATURES</b></center>
Trailer - This is a short but very enticing trailer which runs for 1.46 minutes. The scenes chosen to appear in the trailer sell themovie very well but do tend to give away a lot of the storyline so it would be best to save this feature until after you have watched the film.
The trailer is presented in widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.
<center><B>OVERALL</b></center>
I am going to say here and now that GINGER SNAPS really surprised me with the quality of the acting and the storyline. I was expecting this movie to be an average B Grade horror flick when in reality it is much more than that.
This is a movie that you can't help but being drawn in by and you are soon absorbed into the story as it plays out before you.
Without giving too much away I can honestly say that anyone who enjoys a good horror movie should get a kick out of this and have a howling good time.
The girls who play the two sisters are outstanding in their performances and the movie itself is highly entertaining too.
The DVD itself is very light on extra features, with only a Trailer being offered and the audio unfortunately does suffer a little in places, but the quality of the video transfer isn't bad at all and makes up for the minor audio problems.
Renting is probably the best option for most people here, but I'm sure that there will be others such as myself who will be pleasantly surprised by GINGER SNAPS and will be more than
willing to add it to their collection. At the time of writing this review, Ginger Snaps could be found for well under the RRP of $29.95 which I already considered to be good value.
Do get hold of this one horror fans.<TABLE WIDTH="90%" ALIGN="center" BORDER="1">
<tr><td><B>VIDEO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>9/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>AUDIO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>8/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>EXTRAS</b> </td><td><B>1/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>9/10 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>8/10 </b></td></tr></table>
Thanks for reading.....