Ice Cream Man

""

Director: Norman Apstein Year: 1995 Runtime: 86 min IMDb: ⭐ 4.8

Movie Poster

Synopsis

Young Gregory Tudor sees his local ice cream man murdered and later grows up to inherit his business, opting to inject gruesome ingredients—including human body parts—into his frozen confections. When one of the neighborhood boys goes missing, the local kids suspect Gregory and band together to get to the bottom of things.

In a Californian suburb, young Gregory Tudor finds out that a local ice cream man, Butch Brickle, known as "The Ice Cream King", was murdered in a drive-by shooting incident. In the present day, Gregory has taken over the "Ice Cream King's" business, calling himself "The Ice Cream Prince", and using the man's truck and parlor right up to the present day. Unbeknownst to the public, Gregory uses the dilapidated parlor as a sort of laboratory, where he produces his concoctions, filled with insects and dismembered human pieces. One night, Gregory kills a dog belonging to Nurse Wharton, his landlord and an orderly who treated him for his childhood trauma. The same night, Roger, a neighborhood boy, goes missing. Having witnessed Gregory's creepy personality, the other children suspect him of kidnapping Roger, but the police and Wharton do not. Three kids, Johnny, Heather, and Tuna, agree to search for Roger. Soon after, another boy known as Small Paul disappears. Initially unable to prove that Gregory is dangerous, the kids have a difficult time getting the police to pursue their claims. Meanwhile, Gregory has recurring flashbacks to his abusive treatment at the Wishing Well Sanatorium. As the kids dig deeper, they discover that Gregory kidnapped Roger and Small Paul, and imprisons them in a cage at the parlor. However, Small Paul shows a macabre interest in the experiments, so Gregory takes him under his wing. Two detectives investigate the Wishing Well, which is unregulated and free-for-all; the unstable patients roam freely and cause chaos, while the doctors and administrators are insane. Escaping, the police now believe the children, and prepare to search for Roger and Small Paul. Gregory kidnaps Tuna, and Heather enlists the help of Johnny's older brother Jacob to investigate, but Gregory kills Jacob and his girlfriend. Small Paul baits Gregory by holding a photo of the Ice Cream King over his face, and leads him into the main mixer, where Gregory is dismembered. Roger and Tuna are reunited with their friends, who reveal that Small Paul has been sent to therapy. The final scene shows Small Paul alone in a darkened room, silently churning an ice cream bucket, his face twisted into an evil leer, just like Gregory's.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

🎄 Holiday Cheer Breakdown

☠️ Takes place on or around a holiday —
☠️ Features holiday symbols and decorations —
☠️ Features a traditional holiday activity —
☠️ Features an iconic holiday character —
☠️ Someone is killed in a festive or holiday-specific way —

🚗 Joe Bob Appearances

Season 14

Featured on The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs

🎄 Honorary Christmas Pick Counts as a Christmas entry because Joe Bob said so — not a Cheer Score vote.

Season 14 · Episode 1

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

a dog dies

spoiler The neighbor's dog is stabbed by the ice cream man and turned into patty which is served to his family. Really disturbing death, in fact more disturbing than any other deaths in this movie. Wouldn't reccomend

a child is abandoned by a parent or guardian

Yes

there's child abuse

Yes

there's abusive parents

Yes

the abused forgives their abuser

spoiler Small Paul appears to forgive the Ice Cream Man for kidnapping him: Stockholm Syndrome or a con.

the abused becomes the abuser

Yes

someone is stalked

Yes

someone uses drugs

Yes

an animal dies

Yes

a pet dies

Yes

there's a dead animal

Yes

animals are abused

Yes

an animal is sad

Yes

there are spiders

Yes

there are bugs

Yes

there's finger/toe mutilation

Yes

there's amputation

Yes

someone is drugged

Yes

someone is restrained

Yes

someone is beaten up by a bully

Yes

a kid dies

spoiler no kids die. which is suprising because so many kids are in the movie. it uses camera angles to make you think the garbage man is one of the kids though.

a non-human character dies

spoiler Dog death.

a major character dies

Yes

someone dies

Yes

a parent dies

Yes

a family member dies

spoiler Father and brother death, on-screen.

someone cheats

Yes

someone is kidnapped

Yes

there are jump scares

Yes

there's a claustrophobic scene

Yes

there are clowns

Yes

There's audio gore

Yes

someone defecates

spoiler Two men are seen sitting on toilets in the sanatorium.

someone is eaten

spoiler We watch a scene of a man eating an eyeball in their ice-cream.

there's eye mutilation

Yes

there's decapitation

Yes

there is copaganda

spoiler Although there are cops, they are without exception depicted as: Violent thugs, sleeping on the job, or either too stupid or too lazy to investigate crime.

needles/syringes are used

Yes

there's a mental institution scene

spoiler yes, and they are hyper-stylized, negative trope filled sequences, used for either comedy or disturbance.

electro-therapy is used

spoiler It is talked about and implied to be used in one scene.

there's a hospital scene

Yes

a mentally ill person is violent

Yes

someone suffers from PTSD

Yes

reality is unstable or unhinged

Yes

there's dissociation, depersonalization, or derealization

Yes

someone has a mental illness

Yes

there are hangings

Yes

someone's throat is mutilated

Yes

someone struggles to breathe

Yes

there's flashing lights or images

Yes

there are sudden loud noises

Yes

shaky cam is used

Yes

there's screaming

Yes

there is obscene language/gestures

Yes

someone is watched without knowing

Yes

there's fat jokes

spoiler yes, there is a whole character bit with the character tuna, who is labeled as the trope “fat kid,” with jokes at his expense consequential.

there's demons or Hell

Yes

religion is discussed

spoiler There's an odd side-plot where a girl's mother claims to be possessed by an archangel. We also witness a sermon led by a pastor.

there is sexual content

Yes

someone is sexually objectified

Yes

there's fat suits

spoiler Tuna very obviously has a pillow under his shirt, which is meant to be a makeshift fat suit

a person is hit by a car

Yes

a car crashes

Yes

a car honks or tires screech

Yes

there's blood/gore

Yes

there's gun violence

Yes

there's excessive gore

Yes

there's torture

Yes

there's body horror

Yes

there's cannibalism

Yes

someone is stabbed

Yes

Someone becomes unconscious

Yes

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