Monday, December 14, 2009

The Gingerdead Man Review

Holiday Horror 2009

The Gingerdead Man

Man, how fall can an actor fall? Think Cuba Gooding Jr. has fallen from grace? Nope. Consider the mighty fall that has landed Gary Busey in this role, and only major star of Gingerdead Man. Yes, I said it, Gingerdead Man not Gingerbread Man…so terrible, yet so good, right? We’ll see; another holiday horror film to add to our reviews for the month is now going to feature the first of two films revolving around the clever title. You thought Jack Frost was bad? Wait until you get a load of this, and of course starring none other than everyone’s favorite psycho, Gary EFFING BUSEY!

First things first, we’ll talk film grain. This might be above average in regards to straight to dvd fare, but it’s obviously a low budget film. With a name like that, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. However, the editing is not half bad, it really is above average in regards to the budget and style this film pushes. The music is genuinely creepy at times, and at other times it’s mis-qued. The film quality almost feels like it’s sincerely trying to go for serious horror, the way the story is laid out from beginning to the ultimate set up.

The second thing I noticed about this film is the transitional stages between background set up to serious development. Meaning, we started the film with a serious armed robbery, and then moved forward to a mediocre horror scope.

The gingerdead man is convoluted, and the effects are so laughable, it’s beyond repair. Seriously, some blood went down into some flour, and while a baker’s assistant started to bake a gingerbread man, an accidental electrical surge due to a fight between rivals, the bread comes alive! Voiced by Gary Busey, the gingerdead man comes alive, and it has a taste for blood!

Here's a trailer for The Gingerdead Man:



The Gingerdead Man is not a scary movie. This film is an interesting piece of horror comedy, but it plays itself off as serious. Unlike "Child's Play" and other films, this film starts with the comedy early on. It tries hard to be serious until the actual villain shows up to terrorize the characters.

The gore effects are kind of cool. I don't have much problems with the way they are presented. However, the actual gingerdead man is just too hilarious to take seriously. While Chucky and Freddy and even Jason seemed somewhat menacing, this little baked good has nothing really going for it, other than Gary Busey's psycho voice.

In the end, The Gingerdead Man sucks. It has some moments, but it honestly feels like I'm watching an old episode of "Goosebumps" from R.L Stine rather than a serious hardcore horror film. This plot is ridiculous, and the story unfolds too slow for comfort, and when the dust settles, it really is a movie about a killer cookie! Come on! I don't recommend The Gingerdead man, it's just not that good. However, in keeping with our holiday horror theme, this one is definitely worth pulling out during the holidays. It's good for a good laugh, but not necessarily a good, creepy, scare. This thing will become a cult classic as time goes on, it just hasn't hit that stride just yet.

This thing might not be the greatest of all the horror movie reviews this holiday, but it's still in the genre. That's the funny thing about holiday horror films, they seem to take a comedic turn more often than not. There are so few good movies that feature the hoidays, and well, here's another one. This film isn't necessarily a "christmas" or "holiday" horror movie, but it has the whole gingerbread notion that shows up during the holidays, so I threw it in the same genre. Wouldn't you? I have more fun with holiday horror movies coming through the pipe in the near future, so stick around.



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