Review of Gingerdead Man 2: The Passion of the Crust (2008) by James F — 10 Nov 2010

The other weekend, if you made any purchase on Full Moon's website you got a free copy of Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust. I wasn't a fan of the original, and was prepared to pass on this one. But since it was free, and now that I owned a copy, I figured what harm could come from giving this sequel a chance? I'm actually happy I did give this film a chance, because it was a lot better than the first film and one of the few recent Full Moon movies that I felt captured the essence of what I loved about this studio when I was younger.

The best thing about Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust is that it didn't take itself too seriously. The first film was somewhat comedic, but overall I felt the film didn't have fun with its stupid premise of a murderous cookie. Here in this sequel, the film knows that it is a ridiculous idea and has fun with that. Not all of the humor is sidesplitting funny, but the majority of it worked and really helped this film not become another Full Moon dud.

Also, the film kind of spoofs the studio that produced it. Full Moon is known for their low production values and/or their silly storylines, but that is what made them so great in the past. The film centers around a studio much like Full Moon, that produces similar movies. In the opening credits, you get to see some of the posters to their films (with such glorious titles like Space Spankers and Hamburger Time Traveler). And there was even a cameo by David Decoteau, who is a regular director at Full Moon, who lampoons himself and the things he is known for... like how a lot of his films contain a lot of homoerotic undertones.

The Gingerdead Man in this film isn't voiced by Gary Busey like in the original, but rather special effects and make-up artist John Vulich. Vulich was a much better voice actor than Busey, and made the Gingerdead Man a much livelier character this time around. While the effects used to create the character are still limited, they are much better this time around. Plus, the murders he commits are far more memorable, and at times kind of raunchy, than in the first film. It's weird that a character that I felt was completely stupid the first time around is one that I actually enjoyed watching in what I thought was going to be a terrible sequel.

This film is trash, but it is entertaining trash. Lately, Full Moon films have lost the life that they use to have in the past and I haven't liked most, if any, of their newer films. So it was a wonderful surprise to see that not only did this film defy my expectations, it gave me hope that maybe this studio has the ability to get back on track to being the once great studio they use to be.