By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
"ICE CREAM MAN" DELIVERS A BIG SCOOP OF TWISTED SLASHER FUN
Few sounds bring a bigger smile to a child's face than the cheerful jingle drifting through the neighborhood from an approaching ice cream truck. It's the soundtrack to carefree summer afternoons, sticky fingers, and sweet memories.
But in the new slasher movie
"Ice Cream Man," that familiar melody signals something far more sinister, turning one of childhood's happiest traditions into the stuff of nightmares.
Director/writer
Eli Roth, best known for unapologetically gruesome thrillers like "Hostel" and "Thanksgiving," is back in his blood-soaked comfort zone with "Ice Cream Man."
This gleefully over-the-top horror film--which Roth also stars in--is tailor-made for die-hard slasher fans, and I must admit, it's my guilty pleasure of the summer. I enjoyed every twisted, blood-splattered minute of it.
The film takes place in a seemingly perfect small town filled with baseball-loving kids and friendly neighbors who all know each other. Life is peaceful—until an ice cream truck driven by a thin, unsettling man with a strange smile rolls into town. Played wonderfully by Ari Millen ("Unspoken"), the ice cream man looks the part with his crisp white paper hat, matching pants, and apron. But behind that cheerful uniform is something deeply disturbing.
The truck carries all the classic treats, waffle cones, ice cream sandwiches, and other frozen favorites, but it also features oddly designed and strangely named desserts that immediately raise suspicion.
Jared (a terrific Charlie Zeltzer, TV's "Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go") senses something is wrong from the moment the ice cream man gives him an unsettling stare. Luckily for Jared, he is lactose intolerant and avoids the deadly treats. Unfortunately, many of the other children in town are not so lucky.
When they eat the ice-cream it's not long before they turn into pint-sized maniacal killers who gruesomely murder their parents by sawing off their heads, beating and torturing their teachers (Rodrigo Fernandes-Stoll, "Tight Lettuce" and Steffi DiDomenicantonio, TV's "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds"), the school principal (Darrin Baker, TV's "Sheriff Country"), and really anyone in a position of authority.
These kids are so demented that they even use the decapitated heads of their victims to play tetherball and their innards for games of jump rope.
But what is in the ice cream that's making these kids such stone-cold killers? The answer comes with a surprising twist involving a priest (Benjamin Byron Davis, "Borderlands") and a connection to Jared's grandfather.
With the town descending further into madness, Jared, his sister Lizzie (Sarah Abbott, "Spirit in the Blood"), and her sometimes unreliable landscaper boyfriend Chris (Dylan Hawco, TV's "Heartland") must fight to save what remains of their community and put an end to the nightmare.
Adding to the film's appeal is Roth himself, who plays the father of Jared and Lizzie. Karen Cliche ("Thanksgiving") stars as their mother and adds to the mayhem unfolding around them.
"Ice Cream Man" is not a movie for everyone, and it certainly won't win over mainstream audiences looking for a traditional, elevated horror experience. Instead, it aims squarely at a specific niche audience, one that intimately understands and appreciates Roth's signature blend of camp, excess, and boundary-pushing gore.
For viewers with a taste for pitch-black humor and nostalgic slasher sensibilities, this insane summer indulgence delivers exactly what it promises: a messy, outrageous treat that wears its warped intentions proudly.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 5:17 p.m. and 6:47 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.
Watch This Trailer For
"ICE CREAM MAN"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), The American Film Institute (AFI), and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
