THE GINGERDEAD MAN (2005)

Not since the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man has humankind had such reason to fear dessert. But now a new menace has stepped forth from the fiery ovens of hell, a new breed of psycho killer mixed with tasty sweet ginger biscuit. Welcome to the revenge filled world of The Gingerdead Man, the latest puppet monster movie from filmmaker Charles Band and his Full Moon Features. Having been in development for many years and having changed its main protagonist from a completely silly computer generated character to fully physical puppet and suit, it almost seemed like The Gingerdead Man had already past its sell by date way before it hit the video stores. One thing is for sure, Gary Busey makes some very odd career choices.
On paper, this movie sounds a real blast with its mix of good old fashioned horror and silly comedy elements thanks to its completely bizarre main character and the equally off-the-wall voice of the Gingerdead Man, Gary Busey. The film kicks off with Busey’s character, the criminally insane Millard Findlemeyer, holding up a small dinner. Wide eyed and crazed Millard murders the father and brother of innocent young Sarah Leigh (Robin Sydney), somehow surviving the bullet intended for her. Long after Sarah’s testimony sends Millard to the electric chair, she owns and works in Betty's Bakery, her own shop which she runs with her alcoholic mom Betty (Margaret Blye). Bitter over the death of her son, Millard’s mother sprinkles his ashes into a batch of gingerbread mix and delivers it to the bakery. When the mix is accidentally contaminated with human blood (don’t ask!), it brings the mix to life in the form of a deadly little Gingerbread man possessed by the spirit of the evil Millard Findlemeyer, hungry for fresh blood and revenge.

Having watched the trailer for this film towards the backend of 2005, I was pretty excited by the funny yet surreal nature of the film. Being a big fan of puppet based 80’s horror such as Basket Case, Gremlins and Critters, I was hoping that The Gingerdead Man might just spark the same feeling I got when I was a kid watching these early creatures kicking the ass of stupid humans. Undoubtedly Charles Band and his merry men have created a fun concept which works to a degree, but it comes over so haphazard that it’s almost impossible to find a groove from which to enjoy it. The humour is weak, the screenplay is all over the place and all the fun stuff you expect our cheeky biscuit man to do never fully transpires. OK, so we get a few chopped off fingers and a pretty effective knife through the head but you certainly can’t claim this as a frightening horror film, there’s simply no build up in atmosphere or tension to warrant even the slightest twitch of the rear end. Obviously most of the comedy is carried by the cookie concept and some of the one-liners he delivers aren’t too bad. I found my self tittering when Julia (Daniela Melgoza) falls victim to the Gingerdead Man and ends up encased in a jacket of trifle complete with cheeky cherry nipples. However, after the initial amusement of our born again killer, this is the only other comedy highlight for the rest of the film.
The film is incredibly short and employs a rather cheap technique in order to extend the end credits in an attempt to string out the film to an acceptable length. Despite the official running time of 71 minutes (including opening and closing credits), the feature proper only covers about 55 of them which, even for a low budget effort, is extremely tight. Having sat through this brief feature, I emerged thinking just what a wasted opportunity this was. I was completely sold on the ridiculous concept and ready for a little mindless enjoyment, instead I felt a little cheated by the lack of imagination put into the production. If you’re going to hook the audience on the concept of a living killer cookie, then why not go truly crazy and conjure up something that will actually stick in people’s minds. Imagine if Lloyd Kaufman and his Troma team got hold of this film, that’s the sort of crazy I’m talking about.

Top marks go to Full Moon for their very eye catching DVD packaging which proudly displays the dreaded Gingerdead Man complete with blooded knife and a few teasing film stills on the rear. The main extra on the disk is an 18 minute Behind the Scenes feature which starts with the beleaguered history of The Gingerdead Man from its CGI beginnings through to John Carl Buechler monstrous creation. Narrated by Charles Band and accompanied by various cast and crew, this is actually a solid peep at the rear end of the production which is equally as entertaining as the main feature. Next up is a 5 minute blooper reel containing a couple of funny moments between cast members who struggle to dish out one of the films more memorable lines. To round off the main features, Charles Band address his fans with a 3 minute update on some of his future projects. We also get a whole bunch of trailers from other Full Moon/Wizard Entertainment features including Doll Graveyard, Decadent Evil and Monsters Gone Wild!