User reviews

Here's a film that will chill you to the bone, or maybe just leave you cold. Ice Cream Man is two scoops of scary fun from the good old days when R-rated movies were marketed to children. When kids hear this ice cream truck coming, they run...for their lives! It may not be the cream of the crop but could leave you frozen with fear.

Ron Howard's brother plays an overtly creepy Ice Cream Man. From behind the barred windows of his ice cream truck, he doles out ice cream from bloody, pest ridden tubs and commits the occasional murder. Soon his antics attract the attention of the neighborhood kids as well as two police detectives played by Jean Michael Vincent and Lee Majors II. Will the ice cream man's dreams of having a shop of his own melt away under the heat of his own un-cone-trollable killing sprees?

Clint Howard is well cast as a murderous creep. He inhabits the role the way a hand inhabits a mitten. Similar in style to Peewee's Big Adventure and Serial Mom: upright and proper suburban facades concealing abnormality, the way my t-shirt hides a dark underbelly. Violent scenes are few and not very explicit. If anything it's worth watching just to see Clint Howard hamming it up.

85 Minutes Campy Horror 4.5/10 flavors of slow-churned, creamy murder

Technically speaking, this movie sucks...lol. However, it's also hilarious. Whether or not it's intentionally funny I don't know. Horrible in every aspect, it also is the only movie I know of that has 1) a fat kid being played by a slim actor in a (very obvious) fat suit, 2) an attractive 30-something actress playing a character who's supposed to be in her late 60's, and 3) the most compliments for plastic yard daisies ever. Don't take this film seriously, just watch it for laughs....a great party movie.

Ice Cream Man is ultimately cheesy but so funny! Is this movie actually supposed to be scarey? Clint Howard is the godfather of B- movies and he is so funny in this movie. What makes him so funny is that he's trying to be a scarey guy and he totally isn't. There is nothing scarey about Clint Howard, only humorous. So, for all of you fellow B-movie lovers, go check out Ice Cream Man. You will not be disappointed!

You can see that if the flick ain't directed by his brother, this is the best he can do. And sad to say, his best just doesn't cut it. "Ice Cream Man" is a very bizarre horror film, that's a real blast to watch if you're in the right mood. In the wrong mood, it has been known to cause people to lash out violently at loved ones, so please, watch with caution.

Clint Howard stars (Does anything really star Clint Howard though?) as the "evil" "psychotic" "bizarre" (Yes all in quotes, he's not quite any of these, but he's getting close) ice cream man, who tortures the local children with bomb pops that are really melty and ice cream that has chopped up humans and dogs in them. Ick.

Anyway, the plot's really just an excuse to show of the...well, the...um, well it's a plot. Oh wait, I know! It's an excuse to show off all the loser actor cameos! There's Jan Michael Vincent and Lee Majors II (The sequel?) as cops tracking the elusive man o' ice cream. And even Doug Lleyweln appears as a supermarket clerk.

Even better than that, are some of the bizarre goofs in the film. I really like the fact that for some reason, instead of hiring a fat actor to play the unhappy "fat" kid of the group, they just make this one kid wearing padding under his clothes. And the entire premise that anyone would by scoops of ice cream from a ice cream man. Who buys ice cream scoops from the ice cream man? Then there's the entire psychiatric ward scene, in which Jan Michael Vincent's acting ranges from mildly interested, to bored beyond the state of consciousness. These are the cops who also scour the Ice Cream Man's place for clues but manage to complete gloss over the ice cream truck (where, of course, the various bodies and such are kept). Oh well, better luck next time troops.

Howard himself overacts like he's making sure people two towns over can see and hear him. It's all just plain dumb. And fairly fun to laugh at in the fine tradition of The Pumaman or Gymkata. You'll have a GOOD laugh with the right sense of HUMOR. I love that one.

As a child, Gregory Tudor (Clint Howard) had witnessed his beloved ice cream truck driver getting gunned down. He grows up to be a very warped individual, not helped by his stay in one of the wackiest ever mental institutions in a movie. Now he himself is an ice cream man. He's determined to spread cheer to children, but there's no shortage of unappreciative tots and sleazy adults to be punished and potentially turned into ingredients for his frozen treats.

Most anybody would agree that this is a crap movie, but the filmmakers know it and just have fun with their premise. The result is a goofy 84 minute diversion, more a dark comedy than a true out-and-out horror film. It successfully goes for the gross out on a few occasions, especially when the camera prowls around the interior of the ice cream truck and shows roaches and rats crawling around in the ice cream. There's some gore, but not a large amount (director Paul Norman and company were originally going for a PG-13 rating), and sex appeal in the form of Wanda (Andrea Evans), though no nudity or sex.

Clearly, some fun was had with the casting decisions. Howard has one of the nuttiest lead roles of his acting career, and he makes the most of it, speaking in an affected growl that's a real hoot. Other familiar faces include Sandahl Bergman ("Conan the Barbarian" '82) and David Naughton ("An American Werewolf in London") as a married couple, Jan-Michael Vincent ('Airwolf') as an investigating detective, Olivia Hussey ("Black Christmas" '74) as a kooky nurse turned landlady, David Warner ("The Omen" '76) as the local reverend, and Doug Llewelyn ('The People's Court') as a store manager. The kids (Justin Isfeld as Johnny, Anndi McAfee as Heather, JoJo Adams as "Tuna", Mikey LeBeau as "Small Paul", Zachary Benjamin as Roger) are all quite appealing.

The highlight (or low point, depending on ones' tastes and sensibilities) is seeing a bored and very unconcerned Vincent unhurriedly walk away from a gaggle of encroaching but not very threatening mental inmates.

Five out of 10.

Even after 25 years, This movie is Watchable and also interesting.

Clint Howard is no stranger to 80s exploitation and low budget horror. "Ice Cream Man" (directed by Norman Apstein) could have be his 90s shining comeback stone, an uncut gem (stirring away from 80s slasher tropes) as an unintentional contribution to meta-horror genre: to be or not be ice creamed. Or it's an influence from 70s/80s exploitation forerunners of cannibal and edible horror: "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Motel Hell" and of course Larry Cohen's "The Stuff". Although it's subplot is a resemblance of 70s "Don't Look in the Basement" story.

This film over the years has acquired an underground fanatic but Cult-Horror host persona, Joe Bob Briggs rejuvenates it within Middle America's "counter-cultural" mainstream. Film initially debuted in 1995 on VHS home entertainment then Briggs helped to bring it back as a black comedy slasher (but it's more like a R-rated Goosebumps story) in the 2000s.

Howard is the main star and villainous he is as deranged Gregory Tudor! A young man suffered a childhood trauma the leads him to be a psychotic hot mess. This storyline revolves a ice cream parlor-like factory (now operated by Tudor) in a suburban area with terror to churn.

Other known horror/cult genre stars play small, almost comedic roles from Olivia Hussey ("Black Christmas" fame), David Warner ("Time After Time" cult status) and the infamous David Naughton ("An American Werewolf in London").

If you are a Gen Zer (or leftover of Millennial mutations) you may want to catch this film and see what the fuss 90s physical media culture was all about! Films like this were a dime a dozen at then suburban/small town Bockbuster/Hollywood Video rental outlets!

A supposed sequel (with Howard backing it up) is still a brewing even after a 2014 failed crowdfunding effort. Howard also can be remembered as a possessed Satanic computer nerd in the 80s "Evilspeak", an unforgettable performance!

A friend and I were down and needed a good 80s horror movie to perk us up. Ice Cream Man appeared to fulfill our needs down at the video store, esp. since our store only carried the version that lacked the blood on the outer box.

This movie was exactly what we expected, but better, a cheesey, histarically 80s horror movie with our favorite washed up stars, including Rebecca from Passions and the Proffesor from Teanage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.

The only scary part of the movie was what we found out about it on imdb.com : 1) The movie was made in '95 although the entire thing is right out of the 80s, just look at what they are all wearing and the size of thier hair.

2) The director Paul Norman has directed over 100 films, with Ice Cream Man being the only film that was not pornographic.

All in all this is a great movie if you need a laugh, you will get more than one.

Basically that... I mean is Anyone honestly expecting Oscar quality stuff here? Seriously...?

I thought this movie was truly a lot of fun. It has just the right Creepiness you would expect, but not going way OTT with graphic cruelty like so many today.

And, I mean, isn't Howard absolutely Perfect for this part, probably his greatest role ever! :D I thought he was fantastic as the Ice Cream Man.

So, this is your typical but I feel really well done 'Fun' Horror film. Yes, low budget and such, but to me this shows how a person can really make a great, totally entertaining Horror movie without a bunch of what I feel is Fun-Robbing explicit violence, especially in this case involving children. And, have a resulting film that is really a Lot of fun and very entertaining. This movie is Clearly not trying genuinely to Scare or Horrify you.

Is it 'The Shining' or 'Silence Of The Lambs'...? No, of course not. But, for what it is and for what you totally will expect from it, it is honestly one of those super fun, totally great Horror movies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My Particular Way Of Rating:

5 - Flawed, but with some entertainment value.

6. A decently passable story maybe worth a watch.

7. A solid film, well made, effective, and entertaining.

And, obviously, you can probably figure out what above and below these would mean... : )C'mon, this is a Blast! You get exactly what you are expecting to get... : )

I bought this movie at a thrift store. Months before, my friend told me about it when we were talking about dumb movies we've seen. Once I spotted the cassette, I knew I had to have it. I watched it that night. I could tell it was going to be very cheesy and cheaply done. . . That's what drew me to it. I popped it in and I laughed the whole way through. I recognized Gregory (The Ice Cream Man), but I didn't recognize his name and I couldn't remember where I saw him. Later, while watching the Andy Griffith Show, Clint Howard (Ice Cream Man) was featured as an extra since he is Ron Howard (Opie Taylor)'s brother. I saw the credits and I gasped. I turned to my mom, who was also watching the show, and said, "That's the Ice Cream Man!!" She, too, gasped. This movie is great, but only for laughs and criticalness. It is the perfect example of a cheesy horror flick. If you feel like laughing as well as poking fun at low-budget movies, rent this video.

This has to be one of the funniest movies of all time. I can't imagine them making anything worse then this. Just from the opening scene you can tell that this movie will be worth every cent you used to rent it at the video store. It starts with an ice cream man unknowingly getting loaded with bullets (remember that there are vigilante groups everywhere trying to get rid of ice cream men). The greatest scene must be when the girl comes home to her minister father and him telling her that "the angel Gabrielle is speaking through your mother again". Every time I think about that scene I can't help but laugh. Trust me this movie is worth everything you spend on it.

This is one of those movies you find when you stay up too late and only have basic cable. It's hard to believe this movie was made in '95, considering it looks like something out of the late 80s. Plucky youngsters with varied home problems face a demented ice cream man who's on a mission to make the best flavor ever: Soylent Cream!!!

This movie is extremely demented and is only scary in how creepy and absolutely, ridiculously gross it is. Actually, the really scary thing about this movie is the nature of the problems these kids face at home. The fact that these kids have no escape from their silent suburban sufferings makes any random loony loose in the neighborhood seem like a walk in the park.

The most laughable part of this movie is the fact that the stereotypical "fat kid" is so obviously a slim pre-teen with a mountain of padding under his baggy sweatshirts. I guess that either a) they hadn't invented/ couldn't afford a fat suit, b) the casting director was too lazy to find a pudgy child star or c) we are honestly supposed to believe that this child is starving and has an enormously distended belly.

So if you're up at 2 am and need something ridiculous and disgusting to rip on with your intoxicated friends, go ahead and take a look. Personally, I'd rather be sleeping.

I didn't exactly go into this movie with high expectations. In fact, it was actually a back up choice of a movie m I was watching that didn't have subtitles. Anyways, it was a very stupid but somewhat funny (mostly unintentionally) "horror" with tons of silly stupidity and not a lot of gore. The scariest thing in the movie, however, was how Clint Howard handled ice cream... his dirty, hairy, ungloved mits digging inside the tubs. That was enough to spark nightmares.

F

What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said about the seventh circle of Hell?It has no redeeming qualities with the exception of being so mind-shatteringly awful that it actual goes all the way around to being funny.The acting is sub-par,if par is below "dead mouse" on the acting scale.The main character,Gregory Tudor,has the most grating,annoying voice in cinematic history.And what about the plot,you ask?This movie doesn't just have plot twists,it has plot knots.The majority of your viewing experience will be spent asking anyone present if they can understand what's going on.This movie blows.

Who's gonna deliver the ice cream? The Ice Cream Man will, a psycho ice cream man that is. A wonderfully cheesy flick with a stellar performance from Clint Howard as the Ice Cream Man. Check it out. Perfect movie night flick to watch with your friends and a big pale of everclear. This is laugh your ass off material people.

After reading other reviews on this site, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to critique this movie because it didn't sound bad enough. However, 2 minutes into the movie, we knew we were in for another flop. No summer is complete without ice cream, but this movie served up a melted, sour, broken-bottomed ice cream cone (you know, the kind that leaves you sticky and dirty and looking for a wet-nap). The biggest problem with this movie was the plot. What was it? It appeared to be a psychotic ice cream man driving around the neighborhood. That's it. Nothing else happens. First of all, what are the qualifications for becoming an ice-cream man in this crap town? 1. Spend several years in the most ridiculous mental hospital known to man. This hospital was plagued with clowns, graffiti, fake plastic sunflowers, and oversized syringes to the head. 2. Have extremely poor hygiene and a mutant face to scare the kids away. 3. Make sure your truck is stocked with severed body parts, roaches, and don't forget the eye whites!

The actors in this movie are pure B-Movie caliber. Mixed in with a bunch of unknowns is, who other than....a trailer-trash version of Macaulay Culkin!! Even his bratty charm couldn't save this kick in the pants. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for any of the murders in this movie. The whole concept of the movie reeked! Who would kill an ice cream man in a drive-by shooting? Gangsters? Fiends? Vanna White? Who? We are still struggling with this question.

Whoever was in charge of the wardrobe for this movie should be immediately blacklisted from Hollywood. Did they honestly think a pillow under a kid's shirt would make the audience believe that he was really fat? Did they forget about the arms, face, legs, and all other body parts? Second of all, this movie was made in 1995, yet the wardrobe seemed to be picked from a lame 80's movie, evidenced by the big brother's white, crotch-hugging high-water pants.

While we were watching this shotty production, we both developed severe cases of ADD. We found ourselves leaving the room to walk around aimlessly. At many points it the movie, we found that staring at a blank wall behind the T.V. set was more entertaining than the actual movie. We were stunned that this movie didn't make it to the Bottom 100. Afterwards, we took the tape out of the VCR and left it on the black top to melt like a sub-standard ice cream cone.

I was born in '94, and I will tell you that the old Sci-Fi channel played this once, and I caught glimpses of it, and fell in love with the whole thing. I used to see the VHS floating around in a store that's long gone, called Warehouse Music (a place my mother and I loved dearly). I never got to see the entire film, until this passed week. I happened to find it on YouTube, where someone had uploaded the thing, a few years ago, and it was such a fun ride.

Say what you will about Clint Howard, but I've always liked him. I don't care if it's his absolutely insane character here or his wannabe-type character from "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"-the guy ALWAYS makes his role fun. This is just the best example of that.

The film is gory, silly, cooky, and fun, but it's also VERY low-budget, and happens to be a slasher, which tends to be formulaic. And, yes, this film is formulaic, but it's excellent. If you're going to make a killer out of an ice cream man, this is the way to do it. It's very much like a Gingerdead Man type of film, so if you're into Full Moon Productions' work, you MUST see this flick!

There's just too many memorable moments and one-liners to pass this up!

"Ice Cream Man" knows exactly what it is, and it takes pride in that. There's absolutely ridiculous moments involving policemen characters that suck, but the creativity with this film makes it all worth sitting through.

I just really wish the asylum sequence was cut short. Seems like it goes on way too long. Everything else flows perfectly, however!

Seriously, try this out, if you haven't! I plan on buying this, at some point!

A conversation about how Jan-Michael Vincent is a lush led me to foolishly re-visit this mid-90s DTV entry. A kid is traumatized when he sees an Ice Cream man gunned down in the 1950s and he grows up to be a psycho Ice Cream man (Clint Howard). Something happens and people disappear and end up in the ice cream. Blah, blah, blah.

Director Norman Apstein (credited as Paul Norman) made a career of doing porn before this and went right back to it afterward. That is what you get for having all murders happen off screen. And for casting a skinny kid as a fat kid and making him wear a fat suit. Just cast a fat kid! Also, there is a scene where Vincent stoically reacts to a group of escaped loonies surrounding him. He was either totally drunk and was frightened for his life or the filmmakers captured his "Have I really sunk this low?" shame full on. Despite being low budget trash, this did line up a few good names including David Naughton, Olivia Hussey, David Warner and THE PEOPLE COURT's own Doug Llewelyn. How you can make a boring slasher with that cast is beyond me.

Yes, this movie was complete crap. But I'm not sure if it was meant to be crap or not. But I sho did love it. Probably the funniest movie of all time, for these reasons:

1. It has a fat kid named Tuna in it...and he's actually not fat in real life, but they made him wear some sort of fat suit. As if they couldn't find some kid who was actually fat! Brilliant.

2. The Miami Vice police duo. One has the stoic presence you could only see in Don Johnson while the other is always confused. A great rag-tag team, lemme tell ya!

3. The scene where the police team (not Don Johnson and confused guy) go through the ice cream man's ice cream "factory" and break all of the stuff and then leave, not finding any evidence though it would be easy to find at least one eyeball somewhere.

4. Fake sunflowers.

5. The mental institution scene. The police must investigate. So they go to the mental institution where everyone is insanely happy. Of course, the head guy there starts dancing while the police are being attacked by all of the loonies. The best part comes when they're both leaving the place and Don Johnson seems not at all scared or worried but casually pushes or slugs the crazies that are bugging him. The other guy, on the other hand, at least tries to look scared. They sure could have used more extras, by the way. The massive uprising looked pretty weak. But oh, was it funny!

6. The head in the ice cream cone. Talk about genius.

I've seen a lot of horror movies starring teenagers being stalked and diced by (insert your own monster/serial killer here). However, in 'Ice Cream Man' the teens are, er, much younger - as in roughly 12-13. This makes the whole movie come across as more of a 'Goonies-like' rip-off, only with some brutal killing thrown in for good measure. This all gave it a generally weird feel.

So, an ice cream man is a blatant freak (and I'm amazed that no one can figure out he's a nut-job just by looking at him!) and the produce inside his van is infested with bugs and vermin. This, in my opinion was probably the more 'horrific' part of the film. I've eaten a lot of ice cream in my time and to think that any of it had the 'extras' in it we see here.

However, it's only the kids who realise he's a Jason Vorhees in making and take it upon themselves the prove he's even gone as far as to kidnap one of their friends. The young actors - well... they do the job. It's always hard to put too much pressure on young actors who haven't had much experience with carrying a major film, but they're respectable enough in their performances.

It's the ice cream man who you'll remember when the credits roll. He looks the part of your on-screen weirdo and every other adult actor needs a nod, as they all seem to be enjoying chewing up the scenery and making every moment of screen time memorable.

If there's one thing that stood out to me (besides the titular character himself) it was the odd direction here and there. There are some weird edits and scenes just end abruptly while others have - seemingly random - close ups of actors' mouths or something, thrown in for no real reason.

It does feel like if you took out all the gore (and the gore is nice, but nothing that special, besides being practical effects) you'd be left with a film that wasn't any more frightening than your average 'Scooby Doo' cartoon, but they seem to have turned it into a horror aimed at adults, but starring kids. It's certainly weird, so if you're in the mood for something like this then it may just entertain you.

Ron Howard is no oil painting, but compared to his brother Clint, he's George Clooney. Still, Clint's 'unique' looks make him perfect for off-beat creepy characters like Gregory Tudor, the titular ice cream man of this goofy black comedy/horror.

As a child, Gregory witnesses the gangland shooting of ice cream man Butch Brickle, during which the young lad takes a bullet to the skull, all of which sees him receiving prolonged psychiatric treatment at the Wishing Well Hospital. When he is released, all growed up, Gregory (Howard) moves into Brickle's old ice cream parlour (which he rents from his elderly nurse, played by a totally mis-cast Olivia Hussey), and operates an ice cream truck. Gregory is desperate to keep the local children happy with his frozen treats, but his psychotic side leads him to kill.

Snarling his dialogue while pulling pulling faces that would give his own mother nightmares, Clint sure makes an impression as Gregory, so it's a shame that the film as a whole really isn't that good. There are flashes of ghoulish greatness, such as when the ice cream man serves David Naughton's severed head in an oversized cone, or uses a pair of cops' bloody noggins as puppets, but there's also a lot of padding (and I'm not just talking about a particularly obvious fat-suit; you'll know it when you see it), most of it involving the gang of youngsters who, unable to convince the adults of Gregory's behaviour, take it upon themselves to find proof.

The film does improve with a lively final act, but the film's more drawn-out and occasionally pointless moments make it tough going at times, the most baffling being a 'lunatics have taken over the asylum' scene featuring Lee Majors' son and a strangely uninvolved Jan Michael Vincent that goes on for ages. That reminds me, this film features an impressive cast of has-beens, never-weres and should-have-known-betters, Naughton, Majors, Vincent and Hussey joined by Sandahl Bergman (Conan The Barbarian, She, Hell Come To Frogtown) and David Warner (The Omen, TRON, Titanic).