Set on a movie studio lot, Silvia St. Croix's comedy-horror sequel Gingerdead Man 2: The Passion of the Crust attempts to intertwine movie business satire with good old-fashioned horror movie stabbings and gore via producer Charles Band's ever-present puppet creations. The result is less than enthralling.
Kelvin (the questionably credited "K-von") hopes to keep his late father's movie studio afloat by making a sequel to one of his dad's trashy movies, some stupid thing about witchcraft and puppets coming to life (natch). All is proceeding as planned until an assistant revives the psychotic cookie known as the Gingerdead Man (voiced by John Vulich, taking over for Gary Busey). Imbued with an executed serial killer's soul, the knife-wielding dessert slashes his way through the cast and crew, until the on-set body count rivals that of Kelvin's movie. There is also a subplot about Kelvin giving a terminally ill boy (Joseph Porter) a tour of the studio, part of the boy's "End of the Rainbow" wish.
Gingerdead Man 2: The Passion of the Crust had the potential to be a horror fan's dream, what with its constant referencing of horror staples and filmmakers and a cadre of industry veterans either playing themselves or a version of themselves, often poking fun at their image as well. For example, infamous direct-to-video horror movie director David DeCoteau appears as the director of one of the studio's films. Tommy, the terminally ill boy, yells out, "Hey, that's David DeCoteau. He's known for horror movies with homo-erotic undertones." Cut to the filming of a scene of scantily-clad men spanking one another and a woman captive. Fairly funny stuff given the director's reputation. Also appearing are SFX veteran Gregory Nicotero and his brother Frank, special effects wizard John Carl Buechler, writer and make-up artist Kenneth J. Hall, KNB Effects guru Michael Deak, and Adam Green, the director of such films as "Hatchet" and "Spiral."
Unfortunately, the appearance of said horror industry veterans does nothing to stop a stupid script and lethargic direction from derailing any sense of fun you're likely to get out of the film. The film's idea of humor is to have the title character incessantly yell out corny one-liners. Take the scene in which he is stalking an effeminate hairstylist. He says before attacking, "Time for a slice of fruitcake" and proceeds to shove an electrical device right up the guy's butt while yelling, "You like it up the..." well, you know. The enterprise isn't helped by lackadaisical pacing that makes the barely over an hour film seem twice as long. There's only so much discussion of the ins and outs of puppetry that I can take. Director St. Croix either had a mandate to focus on the puppets or she loves them almost as much as Mr. Band. I'm guessing it's the former and this is just a gig on the way to bigger and better things for St. Croix.
Burdened with leaden pacing and juvenile humor, Gingerdead Man 2: The Passion of the Crust is one stale cookie of a film.
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