The metaphorical linking of werewolves and menstruation seems so obvious and natural that it’s astonishing in retrospect that I’ve never seen it before, similar to the linking of vampirism and Catholicism in Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass. From a bumpy start that feels very ‘90s, GINGER SNAPS very effectively hides its low budget with some dynamic filmmaking, committed performances from Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins, and a great script with some deep thematic resonance around menstruation, womanhood, sisterhood, and the patriarchal social treatment of young women discovering their sexual hungers. The very smooth werewolf creature gave me the ick in a way that a traditionally hirsute werewolf never has.