Sandman's Screaming Room

Welcome, friends, to the first installment of Sandman's Screaming Room. Every now and then I will show up with reviews of different horror films/shows that I have just seen. So without further ado, let's get started.

Masters of Horror: We All Scream for Ice Cream

Hoo boy. What a prestigous title to start with. William Forsythe and Lee Tergesen star in this quite campy but fun entry in Starz' Masters of Horror series. This review contains some SPOILERS.

Lee Tergesen has moved back to his childhood hometown, with his wife and young son. When he was a little tike, he and his friends were collectively known as the West End Bunch, kind of a goonies-style clique whose only adventure shown is picking on Buster, a mentally handicapped clown/ice cream truck driver played by Forsythe. No, that's not a typo.

When the West End Bunch start disappearing one by one, we learn a terrible secret: The West End Bunch accidentally killed Buster back when they were kids. steep hill + retarded clown+kids releasing brake on ice cream truck = dead clown.

So good ol Tergesen is convinced that Buster has come back from the grave for revenge, as he begins hearing the old song from the truck, and even sees the truck driving in slow motion through the late night fog.

His friends are literally MELTING, apparently from magic revenge ice cream. Given to children by the now-zombified mentally handicapped Forsythe clown. On paper, this movie is really weird, and the film itself is pretty weird too, but in a good way.

So, as people melt all around him, Lee Tergesen ends up in a final apocalyptic showdown with Buster the retarded zombie clown. The final plot device used to vanquish Buster is so downright bizarre and devoid of logic, it takes away from what is otherwise a fun supernatural film.

But still, Forsythe is great as both the innocent, pre-zombie Buster, and the bloodthirsty, sadistic Zombie Buster (I guess death is also a cure for mental retardation). And Tergesen gives a great performance as a man with a secret that literally will not stay dead.

All in all, 4/5.

Coming soon: After Dark Horrorfest's BORDERLAND