I have three more films left until the end of the "Masters of Horror", but I think it's safe to say that this is the worst episode of the series. I didn't give up watching and I didn't have to struggle to endure, but I didn't enjoy either... not a bit. The story is extremely stupid, uninteresting, undeveloped, full of holes and illogicality, and above all unoriginal. It was not literally stolen from King, but it reminds of "It" so much that coincidence is excluded as an option. The group of kids, led by cruel bully, pulls a practical joke on mentally challenged clown who sells ice cream, and they accidentally kill him. Decades later, he's back from the grave and uses their children to get even. Atmosphere is very King-ish and, if movie wasn't so repetitive, it could have been terrifying, but because the clown kills his victims one by one in exactly the same way the only effect this movie leaves is boredom. I'm terrified of the clowns and I watched this alone, at night, in dark, and it didn't cause me even the slightest goosebumps. "We All Scream for Ice Cream" is too stupid and lousy to be scary and not stupid or bad enough to be "so bad it's good" kind of fun. The most terrifying thing about this movie is the feeling that it will never end.3/10

On paper, "We All Scream for Ice Cream" looks like a fantastic & ideal addition to the "Masters of Horror" concept. It's directed by Tom Holland, who deserves a listing among the master horror directors based on his "Fright Night" and "Child's Play", the premise offers possibilities for scares (a lot of people are petrified of clowns) as well as for laughs (death by gooey melting) and it stars no other than William Forsythe ("The Devil's Rejects") in the unconventional role of mentally disabled clown. Unfortunately Holland's installment isn't as great as it could – and should – have been, but still it's a more than entertaining enough way to spend an hour of your time. Layne Baxter returns to his hometown and learns that all members of his childhood posse are dying off in mysterious circumstances. Only their clothes are found, lying in a puddle of gooey substance, and this shortly after their offspring devoured figure-shaped ice cream coins handed out by an eerie clown. When his own children wait hypnotized on the sidewalk at midnight, Layne has no choice but to reveal his hideous childhood secret. He and his clique accidentally killed the friendly but mentally retarded ice cream clown Buster when a harmless prank ran out of hand, and it seems like he reincarnated as a purely evil avenger. The main shortcomings of "We All Scream for Ice Cream" are – surprisingly enough – the lack of humor and a painfully monotonous execution. The first couple of times you see the uncanny ice cream truck and hear the titular rhyme off screen, it's definitely creepy, but the same ritual is repeated so many times it loses all of its scary impact near the end. Buster's method of killing, albeit quite nasty to behold, rapidly gets repetitive as well. Instead of showing the same stuff over and over again, perhaps the screenplay could have focused on explaining how Buster returned from the dead and how come a retarded clown knows so much about the art of voodoo, but I guess that was too complex. Enough with the criticism now, as the scene with the guy melting in his improvised bathtub is quite awesome and the dialogs during that sequence even hint at pedophilia. William Forsyth is very impressive as Buster and even his most devoted fans will have to look twice before recognizing him underneath all that clown's make up.

Buster the Clown(William Forsythe), a tragic victim of a prank gone awry, returns from the grave to murder those kids behind his death, now grown, by giving the men's children voodoo ice cream cones..when each child bites into these voodoo ice cream bars their fathers melt into ice cream! No, I'm not kidding you.I think fans of director Tom Holland("Child's Play", "Fright Night","Thinner")might like this silly little installment of Masters of Horror. Forsythe as a zombie clown in the present and as a stuttering mentally handicapped(..but, kind and wonderful to the little kids on his block)clown in the 70's, who becomes a victim of smart-ass kids who decide to poke fun at him and eventually pull a prank using his parked ice-cream truck that ends badly, is always fun to watch. This episode doesn't hold up to close scrutiny(For instance, how does Buster actually return from the grave? Or, how is he able to hypnotize the children of those behind his death in the 70's?)so you'll have to look over it's story flaws or it will not work for you. But, if anything, you have to see how the men melt from humans into ice cream..it's a gas.Lee Tergesen(the biker in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre-The Beginning") stars as Layne, the protagonist who followed the order of bully Virgil when he was a boy to cause the unfortunate demise of Buster.David J Schow(Leatherface:Texas Chainsaw Massacre III;Critters 3 & 4)wrote the teleplay which might explain the film's lapses in logic, and the profane characters(..and, like "Stand by Me", the kids spout off curse words as well in the 70's)that inhabit the film.Holland and Schow use cold as an important tool in the story-telling.

So far during its second season, "Masters of Horror" has strictly been a hit-and-miss affair. While the first season was full of groundbreaking and daring one hour films, the second season has been a mixed bag. For every truly great episode like John Landis' "Family" and Joe Dante's "The Screwfly Solution", there's been a batch of unwatchable episodes like Tobe Hooper's "The Damned Thing", Daria Argento's "Pelts", and John Carpenter's "Pro-Life." With the exception of Rob Schmidt's "Right to Die", one element all them have had in common is that they haven't been very original. Tom Holland's "We All Scream for Ice Cream", on the other hand, is one of the most original horror tales to come along in quite some time. While shades of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET can be found, "We All Scream for Ice Cream" is fresh and exciting, just like one would expect from the director of such classics as FRIGHT NIGHT and CHILD'S PLAY. This is Holland at his best, expertly directing an emotional and character-driven story with intensity, tight pacing, and style. Credit is also due to writer David J. Schow, who also wrote last season "Pick Me Up", which despite repeated viewing I still am not a fan of. Schow successfully adapted John Farris short story and even managed to improve it. Here's to hoping Holland and Schow team up again for Season Three. Final say: Best episode of Season Two. 10/10