Movie Review: The Ice Cream Truck (2017)

The Ice Cream Truck is a film written and directed by Megan Freels Johnston. It was released by “Look At Me Films” and distributed by “Uncork’d Entertainment”. The name of the film is relevant because there is an ice cream truck with a weirdo driving it, but there are also a lot of other things going on aside from the obvious mentioned in the title, and these things paint a much more intricate picture. The story is about a woman named Mary (Deanna Russo) who is staying in her family’s new home, and waiting for her husband and two kids to join her there from Seattle, and they will be there in a couple of days. She meets a couple of neighbors and begins to get acclimated to the neighborhood, and notices a creepy old ice cream truck as well.

What we liked:
– The first thing we noticed was the cinematography and score. Both are very well-done in most of the film, and there were some especially nice shots in a couple of kill scenes, and scenes that focused on the neighborhood. The vibe of this film is really reminiscent of the old Halloween films in some ways. Both taking place in a suburban neighborhood, the street scenes, the scenes where the Ice Cream Truck was driving by and a couple of other scenes paired with an 80s/90sesque score really set a nice tone.
– The acting in this film was great all around for the most part. Deanna Russo was the lead and focus of most of the film and did an amazing job. Jeff Daniel Phillips even has a small role, and has appeared in three of Rob Zombie’s films, and recently in the show “Westworld”.
– The story itself. The story was interesting. The neighbors were all awkward and there was something off about them. Mary herself was interesting as a main character and focus and inspired a lot of curiosity as far as what her intentions would be, or what she would do next. – Some of the special effect kills were pretty good. There was one in particular that involved a POV shot and an ice cream scoop. Loved this, and there were some good others.
– The ice cream truck. The truck used looked like a classic truck from the ’50s or something. Loved this.

What we thought could have been better:
– While it was good as it is, we would have liked to see more of the ice cream man. The focus of most of the film is on Mary, and the ice cream truck is kind of in the background most of the time. It would have been nice to see more. We do realize that this was likely intentional, though.
– A small thing we thought was interesting was the casting choices for Max and the ice cream man. Max was played by John Redlinger, and while John did a fantastic job, the role was for an 18-year-old man, and he looked much older. John is about mid to late twenties if we had to guess. Emil Johnsen did a great job in his role as the ice cream truck driver, but he didn’t seem that dangerous as a character. It may have been the line approach, or maybe that he was somewhat younger and didn’t look as intimidating. These kinds of things can pull you out of the immersion.
– The ending. Without giving too much away, we will have to just say that the ending came as a surprise, but could have been executed better. It left us wondering “Why?” more than anything instead of being content and surprised. A bit more explanation or better clues throughout the film could have really tied everything up a bit more neatly.

Overall:
The Ice Cream Truck is a great second effort from writer/director Megan Freels Johnston, and we think that this was an awesome Horror/Psychological Thriller. You will definitely want to think twice the next time you approach an ice cream truck after seeing this, and enjoyed how it was a different film than the poster or trailer would have you think a typical “Ice Cream Truck” horror film would be.

The Ice Cream Truck is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.