🍪 Gingerdead Man 2 Review: Pun on Top of Pun on Top of Pun
My Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆ 3.4/5
A broke movie studio.
A box of pastries from Waco, Texas.
A killer cookie with a fresh voice and a new target.
And more bad puns than a church bake sale.
Welcome to our Gingerdead Man 2 Review. After the first movie, I honestly did not expect to come back for seconds. But I had to know what kept this crumbly little franchise alive. Turns out, the answer is jokes. Lots and lots of jokes.
Like every Kilroy review, this Gingerdead Man 2 Review is spoiler free. I will stick to the premise from the official synopsis. Who gets frosted and how it all ends stays in the cookie jar.
Gingerdead Man 2 Review: The Cookie Goes Hollywood
The full title is Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust. If that title made you groan and grin at the same time, you already know what kind of movie this is.
This sequel is pun on top of pun. It is fast paced and stupid, but silly in a fun way. The movie never stops to catch its breath, and it never asks you to take anything seriously.
Sometimes it is almost too fast. The jokes come so quickly that one does not have time to land before the next pun arrives. But if you want something light and fast where you do not have to think, there is a lot to enjoy here.
Some of the one liners hit. Some miss. Enough of them hit that I had a good time.
Why I Came Back for Seconds
Let me be upfront. I did not love the first film. You can read my review of the first Gingerdead Man for all the gory details.
That movie had bad acting, a predictable plot, and a title that tricked me into thinking it was a Christmas movie. The only real bright spot was the cookie himself and his funny lines.
So why did I watch the sequel? Curiosity, mostly. A movie that flawed somehow launched a whole franchise. I wanted to see what kept the oven running.
The answer surprised me. Gingerdead Man 2 leans into the silliness and turns the whole thing into a comedy. It is a big step up from the first batch.
The Story Setup
Kelvin Cheatum is trying to save his late father’s low budget movie studio from going broke. Cheatum Studios is famous for cheesy cult films, and Kelvin wants to make worthy follow ups to its classic franchises.
The studio is busy with projects like Hamburger Time Traveler Detective and the ninth entry in its killer puppet series, Tiny Terrors. Things are not going well. Puppets break, tempers flare, and an angry online critic is calling for boycotts.
In the middle of all this chaos, a young fan named Tommy arrives for a studio tour with his caseworker, Heather Crocker.
Meanwhile, a box of pastries arrives from Waco, Texas. Hidden inside is the Gingerdead Man. He escapes, finds a spellbook, and gets an idea about trading his cookie body for a human one.
That is the setup from the synopsis. The rest of this batch, you will have to taste for yourself.
The Cast of Gingerdead Man 2
Here is who shows up on the Cheatum Studios lot.
John Vulich voices the Gingerdead Man. He was a three time Emmy winning makeup effects artist known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
K-von Moezzi plays Kelvin Cheatum, the studio’s struggling heir. He is a stand up comedian.
Kelsey Sanders plays Heather Crocker.
Joseph Porter plays Tommy Hines.
Frank Nicotero plays Marty, the studio’s operations manager.
Jon Southwell plays Jake Jackson, a stuntman.
Jacob Witkin plays Sir Ian Cavanaugh, a distinguished actor tricked into starring in Tiny Terrors 9.
Michelle Bauer plays Polly Bonderhoof, a former scream queen now working craft services. Horror fans know her from Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl O Rama.
Bruce Dent plays Ricki Johnson, a makeup artist.
Emily Button plays Wendy Heinz.
Parker Young plays Cornelius Entemann, a young actor.
Kenneth J. Hall plays Lord Astroth. He wrote the original Puppet Master.
A Movie About Making Bad Movies
Here is the smartest thing about Gingerdead Man 2. It is a low budget movie that makes fun of low budget movies.
Cheatum Studios is basically a stand in for Full Moon Features itself. The broken puppets, the cheap sets, the overworked crew, and the cult franchises all poke fun at the very company that made this film.
Tiny Terrors is an obvious wink at Full Moon’s own Puppet Master series. The studio’s money troubles and angry online critics feel like inside jokes from people who have lived through it.
That self aware attitude makes the cheapness part of the fun. When the sets look flimsy, it feels like the point. When the puppets look silly, the movie is laughing right along with you.
For a collector who has spent years around B movies, this is a fun peek behind the curtain. It is a love letter and a roast at the same time.
William Butler Gets His Shot
Remember William Butler? He wrote the original idea for The Gingerdead Man. Full Moon rewrote his script so heavily that almost nothing of his version survived in the first film.
After Butler directed Furnace in 2007, Charles Band asked him to come back and direct the sequel. Butler agreed on one condition. He could do whatever he wanted, as long as it fit the budget.
You can feel that freedom on screen. This film has a personality the first one never found.
Butler directed under a fake name, Silvia St. Croix. The name is a nod to the 1992 musical Ruthless! He used it partly out of embarrassment and partly because of a contract with Disney, which employed him at the time.
Butler shares the writing credit with Muffy Bolding and Aaron Strongoni. Charles Band produced, and his brother Richard Band wrote the music.
A Pun Every Few Seconds
The puns are the heart and soul of this movie. They come from every direction.
The title spoofs a famous religious epic. Cheatum Studios sounds like exactly what it is. The cookie trades insults and wisecracks at a dizzying pace. Even the background details are packed with silly jokes.
Some of the one liners are genuinely clever. Others are so groan worthy that you laugh because they are so bad. Either way, the movie never runs out of material.
This is the kind of humor you either love or roll your eyes at. I found myself doing both, sometimes in the same minute.
Almost Too Fast
Here is my main gripe, and it is a strange one. The movie is almost too fast for its own good.
Good comedy needs a beat. A joke needs a second to land before the next one comes along. Gingerdead Man 2 rarely gives you that second.
Pun follows pun follows pun. A good line can get buried under the next gag before you even finish chuckling. Some jokes that could have been big laughs end up as quick smiles instead.
If the movie had slowed down just a little, I think more of the humor would have stuck. As it is, you might want to rewind once or twice to catch what you missed.
Spot the Cameos
Horror fans will have fun spotting familiar faces around the studio lot.
Director David DeCoteau shows up as himself. So does makeup effects legend Greg Nicotero, who later became famous for The Walking Dead.
Filmmaker Adam Green, the man behind the Hatchet movies, appears as a character called Toothless McHomeless.
Michelle Bauer’s casting is a cameo of its own. She was one of the big scream queens of 1980s video store horror. Her character, a former scream queen turned craft services worker, is a sly nod to her own career.
These little appearances add to the inside joke feel. The movie is made by horror people, for horror people.
The Credits Are Half the Fun
Do not skip the end credits. They are one of the funniest parts of the movie.
Many characters get last names that are never spoken in the film. Most of them are food company puns. Crocker, Hines, Heinz, Entemann, Nestle, Pillsbury, and Cinabonus all show up.
The credits also list Edgar Allan Poe as “Scary Writer Dude.” John Vulich is billed simply as “Himself.” One crew member is credited as “Still Owes Silvia Twenty Bucks.”
That is the spirit of the whole movie. Every corner is stuffed with a gag, even the parts most people never read.
Chasing Controversy
The subtitle Passion of the Crust was not an accident. The filmmakers wanted people to get upset.
The edgier content was cranked up on purpose. The team hoped it would stir up angry online buzz and free publicity.
The plan mostly backfired. Instead of getting mad, a lot of viewers just found it funny. Full Moon even sold an alternate DVD cover through its website, playing up the joke.
The movie was originally titled Gingerdead Man 2: Bakery of Blood. I think they made the right call. Passion of the Crust tells you exactly what kind of humor to expect.
A New Voice for the Cookie
Gary Busey did not return for the sequel. John Vulich took over the voice of the Gingerdead Man.
Vulich was a respected makeup effects artist, which makes his casting another inside joke. He spent his career creating monsters, and here he gets to be one.
He does a good job. His cookie is nasty, quick, and full of attitude. He fits the faster, sillier tone of this movie better than Busey might have.
A Video Store Shelf Treasure
Gingerdead Man 2 came out on DVD in 2008. It was made for the home video crowd, just like most Full Moon films.
For collectors, the Gingerdead Man series got a Blu-ray box set in 2024. It includes the trilogy, the Evil Bong crossover, and The Gingerweed Man.
Here at the shop in Shenandoah, I have watched plenty of folks dig through the horror bins for the weird stuff. Full Moon titles have a loyal following. These are the movies people rented on Friday nights and still talk about decades later.
Out here in Southwest Iowa, a long winter night calls for something silly. Gingerdead Man 2 fits that bill. Pop some popcorn, turn your brain off, and let the puns fly.
Where It Stumbles
A 3.4 means this one has real flaws.
The pace is almost too fast. Jokes pile up so quickly that many never get a chance to land.
It is stupid, and it knows it. That is part of the charm, but it will not work for everyone. If puns make you cringe, this movie will feel like a very long dad joke.
Not every one liner hits. For every great gag, there are a couple that fall flat.
The acting is still pretty broad. It suits the comedy better than it did in the first film, but nobody is winning awards here.
Still, the movie knows exactly what it wants to be, and it commits all the way.
Is Gingerdead Man 2 Worth Watching?
If you want something light and fast where you do not have to think, yes. This is a perfect brain off movie.
If you love Full Moon and B movie culture, absolutely. The inside jokes and cameos make it a treat.
If you sat through the first Gingerdead Man and wondered why anyone made a sequel, give this one a shot. It is a big improvement.
If you hate puns, run. This movie is wall to wall puns.
If you want real scares, look elsewhere. This is a comedy first and a horror movie a distant second.
The Kilroy Verdict on Gingerdead Man 2
Gingerdead Man 2 surprised me. After the stale first batch, I expected more of the same. Instead, I got a goofy, self aware comedy that pokes fun at the very movies it comes from.
But if you want something light, quick, and easy, this cookie delivers. Enough of the one liners hit to make it worth your time.
Final Thoughts 3.4/5
This one earns a 3.4 out of 5 from Kilroy. Wrapping up this Gingerdead Man 2 Review, it is pun on top of pun, fast paced and stupid, but silly in a fun way. It is almost too fast, but if you want something light where you do not have to think, enough one liners hit to earn this rating.
“Gingerdead Man 2 piles pun upon pun into a gleefully silly, fast baked romp.”
ML Lamp, Kilroy Was Here Shop
This time around, the cookie did not crumble. It just got a little extra crunchy.
