The Gingerdead Man (2005)

Interesting facts

The Gingerdead Man is a 2005 American comedy slasher film directed by Charles Band. Gary Busey stars as the titular Gingerdead Man, created from a mix of gingerbread spice mix and the ashes of deceased serial killer Millard Findlemeyer, who terrorizes a small-town bakery. The film also stars Robin Sydney, Jonathan Chase, Alexia Aleman, Margaret Blye, James Snyder, and Larry Cedar.

Production

The Gingerdead Man originated from a rejected pitch for a Mad TV sketch. Writer William Butler had proposed an idea involving a gingerbread cookie coming to life and killing a family during Christmas time; however, a sketch involving a woman fighting the Snuggle bear mascot had aired around that time and the idea was considered too similar.

Ultimately, Full Moon was unable to use Butler's script, as the estimated production cost was around three million dollars. Band and Butler later reached a deal where Full Moon bought the script and rewrote it in order to lower the budget. The script was rewritten by Domonic Muir under the pseudonym August White.

In Butler's original version, The Gingerdead Man was intended to be a fully CGI character, resembling the Pillsbury Doughboy; however, with the rewrite, the design was changed to more closely resemble an actual gingerbread man cookie. The character was achieved with practical hand and rod puppets, as well as a full-body suit, created by John Carl Buechler.

In an interview with PopHorror.com, Band reportedly offered Gary Busey $25,000 to star in the film, expecting him to turn it down but he accepted. Busey filmed his scenes as Millard Findlemeyer in two days. This reportedly upset him when he learned he was only booked for such a small amount of time, as he misunderstood and assumed he was supposed to appear in person throughout the entire film and the two days was the entire filming schedule.

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