Horror Movie Review: Ice Cream Man (1995)

A cult-classic, Ice Cream Man is one of those campy horrors from a bygone era. One of the movies that made Clint Howard a respected and household name for horror fans. Very silly but very entertaining, this is a film that must be on any self respecting horror fans watch list.

The movie opens with a black and white scene of a young boy witnessing the murder of the local ice cream man. Naturally the kid is mentally scarred by this event and spends the next 20+ years inside a mental institution.

Finally released, The now adult man named Gregory Tudor (Clint Howard) returns home to the small town and takes up the role of the local ice cream man. Creepy as hell and psychotic, Gregory goes about delivering ice-cream to the townspeople whole murdering others and using their bodies as ingredients for his ice-cream.

His innocent and quiet demeanour is just a front and a group of local kids see through it. Will they be able to stop the Ice Cream Man from making them the next frozen treat he serves up?

While the movie isn’t quite as entertaining as it could have been, it’s still a lot of fun to watch. Thanks to the cheese-factor. From the story to the performances and the effects, this is a movie with the 80s at its heart even though it came out in 1995.

Clint Howard is as wonderful as he always is and the constant up close camera angles really add to his disturbed demeanour. He is the highlight, well that and the effects which we can’t understate, are so much fun.

It has a strong start, a strong finish and some good scenes in between but isn’t the best paced. There are quite a lot of slow and filler scenes. The movie plays its hand very early on in regards to showing us that Gregory isn’t quite alright but later it tries to make him a more sympathetic character. Sure, he’s a product of a damaged childhood but that doesn’t excuse what he does in this film!

If you’ve not had a treat from the Ice Cream Man yet, you might want to listen out for his jingle. It sure will be mighty tasty!