The Gingerdead Man Blu Ray Review (Full Moon Features)

The Gingerdead Man is a 2005 horror comedy produced and directed by Charles Band (Crash and Burn, Cutter’s Club, Head of the Family, Hideous!, Doll Graveyard, Puppet Master franchise, Evil Bong franchise, Trancers franchise, Blood Dolls, Quadrant, and Death Streamer). It was written by William Butler (Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver, Creepshow, Return of the Living Dead franchise, Furnace, Madhouse, Demonic Toys franchise, Baby Oopsie franchise, and The Resonator franchise) under the alias Silvia St. Croix and Domonic Muir (Critters, Puppet Master franchise, Evil Bong franchise, Doll Graveyard, Decadent Evil franchise, Island of Fire, The Haunted Casino, and Unlucky Charms) under the alias August White. It was followed up by Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust, Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver, and Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong. In a quiet, small-town diner a deranged patron Millard Findlemeyer (played by: Gary Busey from Lethal Weapon, Point Break, Under Siege, The Buddy Holly Story, Predator 2, The Firm, Surviving the Game, and Silver Bullet), opens fire on the Leigh family, killing all but the daughter Sara Leigh (played by: Robin Sydney from Evil Bong franchise, American Muscle, Trophy Heads, Wicked Lake, The Lost, Big Bad Wolf, ER, and Killjoy’s Psycho Circus). During the trial, Sara’s testimony sends Millard to the electric chair and his ashes are sent to his mother. In a vow of vengeance, Millard’s mother (played by: E. Dee Biddlecome from El Chupacabra) mixes her son’s ashes with a secret gingerbread cookie mix which makes its way into Sara Leigh’s bakery. When one of the bakery employees Brick Fields (played by: Jonathan Chase from Gamer, Eagle Eye, Superhero Movie, Shameless, Backwoods, and Tom Holland’s Twisted Tales) cuts his arm and accidentally bleeds into the mixture. An old curse spawns a 12′ walking, talking, killing gingerbread cookie who wreaks havoc on anything standing in his way!!!! The Gingerdead Man is one of the better Full Moon Features productions since they left their partnership with Paramount Pictures back in the day. The Gingerdead Man takes a page from Child’s Play but it replaces the doll with a cookie. Director Charles Band has put together several different sub-genres over his career. He’s been known for small killers which includes dolls, toys, leprechauns, and bongs. This mixes horror comedy with slasher. The legendary Gary Busey shows up as serial killer Millard Findlemeyer. He’s not in it much in human form, he’s mainly the voice behind the small killer cookie. It’s a fun villain that just looks ridiculous but it adds to this low budget charm. Busey isn’t afraid to be over the top or a live action cartoon here. He’s really good in this, I don’t think he gets the appreciation that he deserves for this unique role. This casting proved to be a great investment for Full Moon because his appearance has been used many other times in additional projects. Scream Queen Robin Sydney makes her Full Moon debut as the unlucky Sara Leigh. She’s really good as the survivor of her family trauma. She’s just trying to move on the best that she can after all of this. Her business is keeping her busy but someone from her past wants his brutal revenge. She has to go against this supernatural monster that resembles a gingerbread cookie. The rest of the supporting cast includes Jonathan Chase, E. Dee Biddlecome, Ryan Locke (Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust), Alexia Aleman (Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust), Margaret Blye (Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust), Dani Melgoza (Ghostown), Newell Alexander (Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust), James Snyder (Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust), Larry Cedar (Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust), Kyle Lupo (Dexter), Debra Mayer (Blood Dolls), and Kaycee Shank (Speck). One of the most impressive aspects of The Gingerdead Man is the special fx from legendary artist John Carl Buechler (Hatchet, Re-Animator franchise, From Beyond, Friday the 13th: The New Blood, A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Halloween franchise, Ghoulies franchise, The Fear, Dolls, Troll, Seedpeople, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity, and The Garbage Pail Kids Movie). The work that he managed to do over the years without much funding is truly amazing and it really shows his talents. Full Moon mainly keeps it at a single location with only a few characters so it’s a rather simple setup. It works for something like this. It’s a shorter feature but it could have had a better flow and pace to it leading up to it’s tension filled finale. There’s some filler while in the bakery trying to figure out what’s really going on. It still keeps the attention of the viewer with it’s wacky concept. The script and dialogue is campy as it can be. It’s almost a parody and spoof on the slasher sub-genre. I think too many people took this way too seriously and that’s the wrong approach for The Gingerdead Man. The audience should turn off their brains and just enjoy this wild no budget ride. Maybe add some marijuana or alcohol to increase it’s entertainment value more. I’m not ashamed to admit it, I personally love this horror franchise!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Full Moon Features! This 1080p (1.78:1) unrated transfer is from a newer restoration from the original elements. The Gingerdead Man was made fast and cheap so it’s never going to look like a million bucks but it’s the best it’s ever looked so far on home video so it’s definitely an upgrade compared to it’s past versions. It has an English: Dolby Digital 2.0 track on the disc. It has the robbery and original crime so it stands out more during that plus some of the killings. As always with Full Moon, the scores are very important so that gets lots of focus when it comes to this department. It has English SDH subtitles. It has the 18 minute “Behind the Scenes”. It features Charles Band, Robin Sydney, Dani Melgoza, Margaret Blye, John Carl Buechler, Gary Busey, Jonathan Chase, Ryan Locke, and Alexia Aleman. It’s a fun inside look into this micro budget production. It highlights some of the special fx and designs for it. It has a 5 minute “Blooper Reel” with some additional laughs and mistakes from the set. It has the “Original Trailer” for The Gingerdead Man. It has a few Full Moon related “Trailers”. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!