Horror Movie Review: The Ice Cream Truck (2017)

The Ice Cream Truck is a baffling watch. Is it a thriller poking fun at social conventions? The mystery and banality of suburban life of middle America? Is it a slasher horror with a bit of suspense thrown in? It’s hard to fathom and by the end you won’t really be any clearer. While that level of mystery might appeal to some, The Ice Cream Truck seems to suffer from missing scenes as if they were cut and lost during editing. The gaps in the narrative mixed with sudden jumps had to have been done on purpose, right?

The movie stars Deanna Russo as Mary, a bored writer/housewife who has just moved back to her quiet, suburban hometown. Her husband and two children won’t be joining her for a few more days leaving Mary to pass the time by meeting the neighbours and smoking weed with the teenager, Max (John Redlinger). The attraction between the pair is instantly noticeable but Mary is married and Max has a girlfriend.

Said girlfriend, Tracy (Bailey Anne Borders) is the first to suffer at the hands of the creepy Ice Cream Man (Emil Johnsen) who drives around the town constantly. An eerie man, his old-timey style van and off-kilter musical tune would be enough to put most off but he oozes bad vibes. Tracy ends up being murdered at his hands and no-one really seems to notice.

It’s one of the many odd events that will occur throughout leaving you wondering if what you’re seeing is even real. As the body count rises, seemingly at random, it makes no waves in the community at all.

The mystery surrounding the Ice Cream Man is left vague and his motivations even more so. Just why he does what he does and how he chooses his victims is random. The obscurity of it all gets pretty frustrating as you try to find some threads to tie together. There is no consistency with what kind of story it is trying to tell. One minute it’s giving off a ‘Stepford Wives’ vibe, the other it’s a standard slasher then suddenly it’s about Mary trying to fight temptation.

You’re left desperately hoping the payoff will bring it all together. However, in a simply astounding finale, everything the movie did beforehand is brushed away. All for the most head-scratching finish that makes it all a waste of time. Sure, its point might be made but it’s not satisfying in any way. It ends up raising many questions that don’t get answered.

It’s not the fault of the actors, all of which do a stand-up job. It’s not even a bad story it’s just poorly told and put together. Very disappointing.