Michael_Elliott We All Scream for Ice Cream (2007) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Masters of Horror film about a group of kids who play a prank on an ice cream clown, which eventually kills the clown. As adults, members of the group start getting killed in mysterious ways so has the dead clown returned to seek revenge? This is a horror film so what do you think? Director Tom Holland has delivered some good films in the genre like Fright Night, Child's Play and Thinner but this film here doesn't quite work. The idea behind the story and the way the killings are done is very interesting but outside of that there's not much going on here. All of the performances are rather bland, which doesn't help matters. William Forsythe is the main saving grace as he does a very good job as the clown.

Coventry 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.

Jonny_Numb I've glimpsed tidbits of articles where writer David J. Schow has vented his frustration over the final form of 'We All Scream for Ice Cream,' Tom Holland ("Child's Play"; "Fright Night")'s contribution to the "Masters of Horror" anthology. While the film itself is mostly surface and little subtext, and pushing the allotted 60-minute run time, it's not really clear what could have been done to salvage it. That's not to say "Scream" isn't worth a look--sure, part of its effect rests on our ability to take a silly premise seriously ('slow' clown-faced ice-cream man Buster--played by William Forsythe--is killed during a vicious childhood prank; years later, his ghost comes back for revenge, using the grown kids' kids as vessels of evil), but some moments are particularly well-done: the soft-focus, colorful flashbacks that show childhood cruelty in all its sadistic glory; and images of zombied kids with quarters in their hands. Parallels to Grimm's Fairy Tales is apt, and the story has a clever, well-done hook, but the acting is questionable (nobody really seems to know how the material should be played, especially in the more absurd moments), and the resolution ultimately unfulfilling (relying on a random coincidence that doesn't make narrative sense). Holland, however, does a fine job of moving the story along (even if it is never really scary), and gets a surprising performance out of Forsythe, playing the polar opposite of his "Devil's Rejects" persona.

Jeffrey R. Broido My wife and I did enjoy this episode, for the acting and direction were excellent, as is usually the case with this series, but we are both consumed by the inconsistency and incompleteness of the story. I will list our objections in no particular order.1) Buster seemed more emotionally disabled as presented than retarded. After all, he could drive, make change, put on his makeup, juggle, etc.2) Why did Buster have no nose and why wasn't this mentioned more than once?3) If Buster died when run over by his own truck, why did he have a corporeal body and why was he able to be killed again when Layne made his own effigy out of presumably inferior ice cream and bit off its head?4) If the other members of the "club" were killed by transformation into the best ice cream in the world, why couldn't their ghosts come back to battle Buster's ghost?These are questions which scream for answers. Does anyone have any ideas? Is this just a matter of proper exposition being left on the cutting room floor? Regards, Jeff & Barb