Ice Cream Man, an obscure cult film from the dark ages of horror (ie 1995), might seem like an odd choice for a super fancy, limited-run blu ray release. Honestly, it kind of IS an odd choice, but luckily 'odd' is something I relish.
This film, about a crazed and homicidal ice cream man (played full tilt by Clint Howard) and the small group of kids who are on to his grue-slingin' ways, suffers from an identity crisis. According to the director himself, as quoted from the dreadful commentary track --seriously, multiple times throughout he just stops talking for upwards of five minutes at a time, which one would assume is a major no-no when recording audio-- he recorded for this new blu ray from Vinegar Syndrome, "I tried to make a film that was half kids' movie and half horror movie, and ended up shitting on both." What we are left with is something to full of blood and boobs for kids, yet to soft for most horror fans. However, there's plenty here to enjoy.
Have you ever stumbled across a movie that might not be "good" in any conventional way, but is so unabashedly fucking strange you can't help but like it? You know, something like The Howling 2: My Sister is a Werewolf or the Japanese Evil Dead Trap? Well, Ice Cream Man fits in beautifully with those titles. With logic leaps, nearly hysterical acting, continuity that could be described as "loose" if one were in a generous mood, and bizarre unexplained plot details (my favorite being when Clint "plants" those plastic, spinning daisy lawn ornaments and every other character, including a pair of supposedly sane detectives, treating them as though they were real daisies), Ice Cream Man stands out whereas it might've otherwise been forgotten.
As far as the blu ray goes, the picture and audio are about as good as they're every going to be for a small budget, mid-90s horror film. Aside from the aforementioned commentary track, there are three interviews with Clint Howard, director Norman Apstein (this interview is much better than his commentary and covers most of the same info), and producer David Goldstein. The real standout, however, is the Monstervision Summer School Edition, which allows you to watch the film with all the Joe Bob Briggs Monstervision bits from it's TV debut on that program. As a lifelong Monstervision fan, this was one of the best special features that could've possibly been added.
At the time of this writing there are only 177 copies of Ice Cream Man available straight from Vinegar Syndrome, so if any of this piqued your interest I'd urge you to head that way as fast as possible.
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