Ice Cream Man (1995) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Norman Apstein
Producers: Paul Norman
Writers: Sven Davison, David Dobkin
Date Released: May 9, 1995
Cast:
Clint Howard as Gregory Tudor
Justin Isfeld as Johnny Spodak
Anndi McAfee as Heather Langley
JoJo Adams as Tuna Cassera
Mikey LeBeau as Small Paul
Zachary Benjamin as Roger Smith
Olivia Hussey as Nurse Wharton
Jan-Michael Vincent as Detective Gifford
Lee Majors II as Detective Maldwyn
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The story is about a boy who witnessed his favorite ice cream vendor die in front of him. He grew up to take his place and sell ice cream to children. The only problem is that he had suffered in the hands of the Wishing Well Insane Asylum and he adds crazy ingredients to his ice cream such as insects, chopped up body parts, and blood from his victims. When children started disappearing, he was suspected to be the killer. It is up to the three kids to rescue their friend and prove that the ice cream man is the one responsible.
Gore Factor
Though it appears to be a children’s horror movie, it did not limit the showcase of blood and gore. The opening murder scene and the introduction to the ice cream man’s pest-infested tubs were just the beginning. There were a lot of bloody scenes in the movie but the most notable ones include the dog in the grinder, the chewy eyeball in the detective’s ice cream, the dad’s head on a giant cone, and the police heads used as puppets on ice cream scoopers.
The Grave Review
This is an insane horror movie for children. It’s the perfect scare for naughty kids but could be a bad publicity for ice cream vendors.
Clint Howard was cast perfectly as Gregory. He exhibited a masterful portrayal of an evil ice cream man. He was really creepy and definitely insane. The kids were okay but overly dramatic at times.
The only problem was the lack of explanation to Gregory’s flashbacks during his time at the asylum and what happened to Nurse Wharton. There were also unnecessary characters such as the parents and their scenes which were totally irrelevant to the story. The chase scene with the detectives at the insane asylum was too long to prove a small point. These fillers only made the movie fail in terms of transition which was already cringe-worthy with the fade-in and fade-out cuts to scenes.
Speaking of fillers, it was also a bit weird that the boy playing Tuna was wearing padded outfits to make him look fat. They should have gotten a real fat kid to play the part because faking it makes his scenes distracting and feel less legitimate.
If there is a thing to love about this movie, it is how it exposed children to horror and gore. There were people getting killed in front of them, seeing blood and chopped bodies everywhere, and the trauma of hearing the ice cream truck on the streets. The death of the ice cream man came full circle because he was lured by the picture of the Ice Cream King into the ice cream mixer. What he loved eventually killed him.
The ending calls for a sequel because Small Paul went into therapy while showing signs of insanity and is experiencing attachment to the ice cream mixer. Knowing that Gregory sort of trained him during his abduction, the legacy of the Ice Cream Man lives within him.
Overall, this movie is perfect for family viewing and if you want to introduce kids to slasher horror.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Ice Cream Man (1995) three out of five graves.
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