"Masters of Horror" We All Scream for Ice Cream (2007)

Director:

Tom Holland

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator)
David J. Schow (teleplay)

TV Series:

"Masters of Horror" (2005)

Original Air Date:

12 January 2007 (Season 2, Episode 10)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Years ago, they pulled a disastrous childhood prank on the neighborhood ice cream delivery man that got him killed...

Plot Keywords:

Ice Cream | Prank | Revenge | Childhood Friend | Bully

Cast

William Forsythe	...	Buster
Colin Cunningham	...	Virgil
Tim Henry	...	Papa Joe
Ingrid Tesch	...	Angela
Spencer Achtymichuk	...	Young Layne
Brett Kelly	...	Young Joe
Samuel Patrick Chu	...	Young Virgil
Cainan Wiebe	...	Young Toot
Lee Tergesen	...	Layne
Brent Sheppard	...	Kent
Maxwell Neck	...	Kenny
Laura Drummond	...	Darlene
Quinn Lord	...	Toby
Lyle St. Goddard	...	Toot
Brendan Saul	...	Petey

Runtime:

57 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-MA | Australia:MA (2007) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16

Company:

Starz Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: After Buster is hit by the ice cream truck, the number of quarters in his hand changes dramatically between shots.

Movie Connections:

References The Wild Bunch (1969)

Revenge is Sweet … and comes in all fruity flavors!

On paper, "We All Scream for Ice Cream" looks like a fantastic & ideal addition to the "Masters of Horror" concept. It's directed by Tom Holland, who deserves a listing among the master horror directors based on his "Fright Night" and "Child's Play", the premise offers possibilities for scares (a lot of people are petrified of clowns) as well as for laughs (death by gooey melting) and it stars no other than William Forsythe ("The Devil's Rejects") in the unconventional role of mentally disabled clown. Unfortunately Holland's installment isn't as great as it could – and should – have been, but still it's a more than entertaining enough way to spend an hour of your time. Layne Baxter returns to his hometown and learns that all members of his childhood posse are dying off in mysterious circumstances. Only their clothes are found, lying in a puddle of gooey substance, and this shortly after their offspring devoured figure-shaped ice cream coins handed out by an eerie clown. When his own children wait hypnotized on the sidewalk at midnight, Layne has no choice but to reveal his hideous childhood secret. He and his clique accidentally killed the friendly but mentally retarded ice cream clown Buster when a harmless prank ran out of hand, and it seems like he reincarnated as a purely evil avenger. The main shortcomings of "We All Scream for Ice Cream" are – surprisingly enough – the lack of humor and a painfully monotonous execution. The first couple of times you see the uncanny ice cream truck and hear the titular rhyme off screen, it's definitely creepy, but the same ritual is repeated so many times it loses all of its scary impact near the end. Buster's method of killing, albeit quite nasty to behold, rapidly gets repetitive as well. Instead of showing the same stuff over and over again, perhaps the screenplay could have focused on explaining how Buster returned from the dead and how come a retarded clown knows so much about the art of voodoo, but I guess that was too complex. Enough with the criticism now, as the scene with the guy melting in his improvised bathtub is quite awesome and the dialogs during that sequence even hint at pedophilia. William Forsyth is very impressive as Buster and even his most devoted fans will have to look twice before recognizing him underneath all that clown's make up.