Review #292: The Gingerdead Man (2005)

October 2024 Horror Origins Review #9 - The Gingerdead Man (2005)

Watch it here on Tubi!

Sometimes it's very easy to see the thought process that eventually became a movie; this is probably one of the easiest examples. The first step was when someone thought, "Gingerbread man... what if it was a gingerdead man?" And then the second step was when someone found out they could get Gary Busey to be in their movie.

That's it. That's the entire process. The whole rest of the movie is the logical conclusion of those two steps. The Gingerdead Man is one of those movies where it almost seems too obvious, too perfect of a combination to exist. Regardless of the quality of the rest of the picture, it's such an easy poster child of a "Bad Horror Movie"- if someone asks you for an example of a bad movie you like, you can just say "The Gingerdead Man, starring Gary Busey" and no additional words are necessary. The entire plot begins to unfold in their minds, because again, it's so perfect and obvious.

I don't really remember much about my first viewing of The Gingerdead Man; I just remember it was during the phase where we would get whatever bad movies we could find and watch them with friends. We own a small statue of the eponymous villain that I think we got as a gift from one of those friends; he sits on our kitchen windowsill.

Anyway, on to the plot!

The film begins with a (very weird and disjointed) scene of Gary Busey ("Millard Findlemeyer") robbing a diner. He kills an old man and his teenage son, but then fails to kill (or intentionally misses? I honestly don't know, like I said this scene is very weird) the daughter, Sarah Leigh. We then fast forward some amount of time and Sarah is working in her family's bakery, which is across the street from another, newer, better bakery. Millard Findlemeyer has just been executed (somehow Sarah's testimony is what sent him to the electric chair) and a point is made of mentioning that he was cremated and his ashes given to his mother. A shadowy figure drops off a container of "gingerbread seasoning", so Sarah of course starts making a gingerbread man- but whoops! Her wrestling-obsessed coworker, Brick Fields, accidentally cuts his arm and bleeds into the gingerbread seasoning (and Sarah either doesn't notice or doesn't care). I think you see where this is going- after some magic lightning shenanigans the blood-activated gingerbread dough (likely containing the ashes of a dead murderer) has come to life and wreaks havoc on this family bakery.

It should be pretty obvious both to the watcher and even to you reading this right now that this movie doesn't take itself too seriously. It's clearly a low-budget movie (as should be expected from a Charles Band film) but the cast and crew are clearly having fun making it. The story is silly and nonsensical, but there's surprisingly a lot of heart in the interactions between the characters; much of the movie is spent on a feud between Sarah and the daughter of the rival bakery owner, Lorna Dean, as well as a love triangle with Lorna's boyfriend Amos Cadbury. None of the actors are great, but considering what they're given to work with I was shocked at how invested I got in the budding romance between Sarah and Amos as they worked together to defend themselves against an animate pastry. (Also, it's silly of course, but I liked how nearly every character's name is a food joke. What can I say? I'm a simple man.)

The special effects aren't perfect and the sets are kind of ridiculous (I'll never understand how a struggling family bakery gets by with a kitchen so large), but this movie is a fun romp with a lot of gags and a couple reasonably good twists here and there. It should also be mentioned that it spawned two direct sequels and a crossover with the Evil Bong series. (To my knowledge, Gary Busey does not return for any of the follow-ups, but lead actress Robin Sydney apparently plays her character Sarah Leigh in several of the related movies!) Also, if you have Amazon Prime, there's a version of it to watch on there with Elvira providing occasional jokes and commentary!

While this movie is undeniably bad, it's also incredibly easy to love because of how silly and self-explanatory it is. I wouldn't fault someone for not liking it but I would be incredibly confused by anyone who heard the title and didn't immediately think, "Hmm, maybe I need to see that."

Overall Rating: 6/10 Walk-In Ovens

Nostalgic Rating: 8/10 Walk-In Freezers (That Double As Walk-In Ovens If You Change The Light Bulb)

Runaway Stars: When Lorna makes her first appearance in this movie, she's snuck inside to sabotage the business by making it look like they have a rat problem. This "rat problem" takes the form of an adorable pet rat that is present in a few scenes, and in the Special Thanks section of the credits, he's credited as Chucky the Rat!