Gary Busey Started Off "The Gingerdead Man"

Every horror movie fan loves those cheesy flicks that they can have a bowl of popcorn with and wait either for the joke or the scares. One company that I was drawn to that put out movies such as these was Full Moon Productions. They owned franchise properties such as "Puppet Master," "Trancers," "Subspecies," "Demonic Toys" and "Dollman." Recently while scanning through the movies streaming on Tubi, I came across an entire section dedicated to films produced by Full Moon.

One of the movies I chose to watch was "The Gingerdead Man," which produced a few sequels in itself. It peaked my interest that this 2005 release starred Gary Busey, even though he only appears briefly at the beginning and then ends up voicing the gingerbread man cookie puppet that creates havoc throughout the rest of the film. Charles Band, the director, had stated on PopHorror.com that Busey accepted $25,000 to do the role. This is way after already having appeared in films such as "The Buddy Holly Story," "Silver Bullet," "Lethal Weapon," "Under Siege" and "The Firm."

Busey portrays a killer, Millard Findlemeyer, who receives a death sentence for his crimes after murdering many members of a family in a diner. I am not sure if Tubi cut any of the scenes from the movie because some parts were confusing, such as when a mysterious figure drops off an unmarked package of gingerbread cookie mixture at the back door of a bakery owned by family members of those killed at the diner next door. One of the employees then accidentally cuts himself which leads to some of his blood dripping into the mixture.

Trying to get the bakery shut down, the daughter of a businessman who is trying to force the family to sell their shop enters the establishment with a rat which causes a fight while the cookies are being baked in the oven. An entanglement ensues where controls are hit that creates an electrical surge and the rest is history. A cookie is created with the soul of Findlemeyer inside it. Biting into the cookie eventually leads the evil entity to switch to a human host.

Robin Sydney, whom has appeared in numerous Full Moon Productions, stars in the film, alongside Ryan Locke, Jonathan Chase, Margaret Blye, Larry Cedar, Alexia Aleman and Daniela Melgoza. While it isn't one of the best of the Full Moon catalogue, it is very entertaining. In true horror movie fashion, the story ends with a hint of a possible sequel. Busey only appears in this first installment, though!