by MATTHEW HAYS

Though there is incessant hand-wringing about the dire state of Canada's English-language film biz, one truth about our admittedly small industry is often overlooked: Canucks have made a slew of good to great horror movies. If you look at Telefilm's list of breadwinners, you get the picture. Horror movies are often done on the cheap and require no big-name stars and even benefit from a lack of production values. Sounds like a Canadian movie to me.

With Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, it appears we have a bona fide franchise on our hands. Ginger, killed by her sister Brigitte at the outset of the first film, now appears in ghost form. Brigitte, meanwhile, is on the lam from the werewolf, trying to dodge him while also shooting up with the antidote to keep her own werewolf hormones at bay.

Captured early in the film by the authorities, it's assumed Brigitte is a junkie and she's stuffed into an institution for troubled girls, the Happier Times Care Centre. The setting makes way for superb opportunities for the movie: tainted teen girl characters are introduced, many of them juvenile delinquents, some of them simply delusional.

I soon found myself rooting for our heroine, who's haplessly tormented by the monster inside her. And unlike the first film, which suffered a serious downturn in its final 20 minutes, this sequel keeps the action moving along very well until its final climax.

When GS2 jumps through hoops, it does so self-consciously enough that the horror clichés become funny rather than dreary. There's the obligatory escape from the complex through the ventilation system (damn, when are they going to plug those up), as well as fights that take place in abandoned parts of the institution (shut down, we're told, due to government funding cuts).

And there's even a split-second nod to our national identity's attachment to the genre: during one werewolf attack, we see a windshield that's adorned with a maple-leaf flag get drenched with blood. It's a nice touch in a silly bit of Canadian grade-A cheese. Bring on Ginger Snaps 3!

Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed opens Friday, April 2
at the Cinéma du Parc

>> Movie Listings