PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Summer is winding down. However, the heat is still on! Horror also never stops. Recently, I got the chance to sit down and watch Uncork’d Entertainment’s latest feature, The Ice Cream Truck. Was this film a delicious treat that I would want to take a bite out of again and again? Or did it leave a bad taste in my mouth? Let’s discuss!
https://youtu.be/cakTOMEPr74
The Ice Cream Truck was written and directed by Megan Freels Johnston. It stars Deanna Russo (Being Human), John Redlinger (The Originals), Lisa Ann Walter (War of the Worlds) and, of course, the movie wouldn’t be complete without the ice cream man himself, Emil Johnsen (Corridor). The Ice Cream Truck currently holds a 4.8 on IMDb.com. It appears as though fans might be feeling a bit let down by this film. How could a slasher about an Ice Cream Truck killer be a let down? Let’s dive in and break it down on where The Ice Cream Truck went wrong.
Official synopsis of The Ice Cream Truck:
Mary moves back to her suburban hometown, to find that the suburbs are scarier in more ways than she ever remembered.
What Works
The Ice Cream Truck really should have been considered a drama instead of a horror film. The main premise of the movie concerns Mary, who is moving to the suburbs with her husband and children. The catch? Her husband is tying up loose ends at their old house and bringing the children in a few days, while Mary prepares to get the house ready for them. It’s not long before Mary meets the neighbors and falls for their young 18 year old who just graduated high school. I feel as if I could probably relate to the age thing, as I’ll be turning 30 this year. It seems like Mary is having a mid-life crisis in her middle 30s. I feel like this could have been more of a fish out of water or coming of age film, as opposed to horror (I’ll get into that in a minute). The nosy suburban bitches were also on point. Lisa Ann Walter as Christina is clearly a vet when it comes to acting. Even though she had very little screen time in this one, she was outstanding as usual. There’s also one really cool kill scene that has to do with an ice cream scoop… unfortunately, the fun stops there.
What Doesn’t Work
I was legitimately excited to see a slasher movie that had to do with an ice cream truck killer. However, the ice cream man is only in the movie for like 2.5 seconds. Okay, maybe more of like 10 minutes altogether in the film’s 1 hour and 36 minute run-time. Lame. To be honest with you, I don’t even know what the ice cream truck man was doing in here. It’s almost as if his reels ended up in the wrong movie. I can’t make sense of why he was even in this film or why he was killing people. There was absolutely no backstory. I know sometimes, back stories ruin a slasher, but in the case, it would have made one. The acting in the film was sub-par and felt, at times, like a Lifetime movie. No, there isn’t anything wrong with Lifetime movies… but this is supposed to be a horror film! The ending is probably the most atrocious thing about it. It contradicts the entire film and makes you feel dumbfounded, and not in a good way.
Final Verdict:
I wanted to like The Ice Cream Truck so badly, but I couldn’t. Why? The main reason was that there was hardly any ice cream truck in it! If you are looking for a bloody slasher, this one is not for you. If you are looking for a film about a woman that is having a mid-life crisis, maybe check The Ice Cream Truck out. If you do, maybe you can wrap your head around the ending and tell me your thoughts in the comments.
