Macabre…ish Horror Review: We All Scream for Ice Cream

 

 

 

We All Scream for Ice Cream, 2007/ 57 min

 

Kent (Brent Sheppard) asks his son not to eat ice cream but is ignored, after the ice cream is eaten, Kent dissolves, melting into a giant pool and it looks like melted ice cream.

 

At Kent’s funeral, his childhood friends, known as The West End Bunch, are there and one of them, Layne (Lee Tergeson), spots someone lurking in the trees.

 

Later, Layne, visits an old friend, Toot (Cainan Wiebe), at the local pub. Toot says Kent had a closed casket because nothing was left but his clothes. The childhood friends think Kent’s death is directly related to Layne’s return to town. Not that Layne killed him but that he’s triggered bad luck.

 

And that night, a creepy and mysterious ice cream truck with a terrifying clown inside, lurks.

 

Layne keeps thinking about being a kid and the old ice cream truck driver, Buster Dawkins (William Forsythe). When Layne’s wife, Angela (Ingrid Tesch), notices he’s distant, she enquires and he explains. When they were kids, the local bully, Virgil (Samuel Patrick Chu) pulled off Busters clown nose.  And where his nose should be is just a burnt stump. The sight startled Virgil so much he leapt backward and wet himself. He recovered by beating up the kids who laughed.

 

On the way home, a very drunk Toot, also dissolves into a pool that looks like melted ice cream, leaving nothing but his clothes in the puddle. Just like Kent. Layne gets the call and arrives at the scene.

 

Later that night, Layne’s son, Toby (Quinn Lord), sleep walks for the second time. This time singing the old ice cream song and holding a quarter. Layne also happens to see, his daughter, Marylyn (Alexia Fast) sleep walking outside toward that lurking ice cream truck, he runs outside and grabs her.

 

Angela wakes up and wants to know what he left out of Buster’s story. So Layne tells her, Virgil wanted them to set up Buster for a prank. The prank: pulling the brake on his truck so it rolls down the hill.

 

They make fun of Buster’s stutter and refers to him with the r slur because he’s considered slow. Virgil convinces the other kids to push him down and as Buster is picking up the scattered quarters, he’s run over by his own truck.

 

After the story, Layne tries to convince Angela to take the kids and go to her mother’s but she refuses. Layne wants to find Virgil (Colin Cunningham) and he does. He’s still a nasty and rude individual and he seems to understand what’s going on but believes himself immune.

 

Layne explains to him that The West End Bunch are dropping like flies. Virgil says he saw a child eating ice cream while he himself was lurking in the park and he says Buster is back for vengeance. The kids eat the ice cream and their parents die.

 

Virgil thinks he’s in the clear because he has no kids or so he thinks.  At the same moment, a little girl is lured to Buster’s truck and he tells her she can get revenge if she eats the ice cream and she does. Turns out, Virgil, the man who openly brags about rape, had offspring after all.

 

While Layne is talking to Virgil, who’s sitting in his hot tub, he starts feeling odd and is soon melting. Layne tries to help him but he can’t get a grip Virgil’s arm, it comes apart in Layne’s hand. Layne watches helplessly as Virgil’s solids turn into liquids and transforms his hot tub into a boiling cauldron of human stew. As Virgil’s skeleton tries to climb out, thick, melted remains spill over the side of the tub.

 

The only other member of their group, other than Layne, that is alive, is Papa Joe (Tim Henry). He’s convinced of this crazy story but decides he’s not afraid to die. Layne thinks they only need to survive tonight so he prepares.

 

After Angela is successfully convinced to drive the four hours to her mother’s house, on the way, the ice cream truck materializes behind her. And the kids, Toby and Marylyn, immediately jump out of the car but Angela is locked in.

 

Meanwhile, Papa Joe’s son get’s Buster’s ice cream, resulting in Joe dissolving as he drives down the road.

 

Then Buster arrives at Layne’s house with a bucket of Joe and Layne’s kids in tow. He throws ice cream at the kids and as they fight over it, Layne fights Buster. Buster finally succumbs to one of Layne’s traps.

 

This is a Masters of Horror episode directed by Tom Holland who is the director of Child’s Play, Fright Night, The Langoliers and Thinner. This is Season 2, episode 10 of the Masters of Horror series.