6/10
A Decent Film, But Nothing Really New to Offer
11 February 2007
Many years ago, the children of a small town accidentally killed the local ice cream man (a clown named Buster). Now all grown up, the same "kids" are being killed off and it seems that the ghost of Buster is to blame.

Many good things can be said about this film, and the nicest thing I can say is that William Forsythe (Buster the Clown) is a great actor who is not well-known. But he should be, especially with performances like this. The best parts of this episode were the children's interactions with the clown.

The visuals were also nice, with the death scenes being some of the messier ones you'll find. (Not necessarily "gory" but definitely messy.) It was like the scene in "Robocop" after the guy gets the toxic waste all over himself... yeah, you know the scene.

The biggest problem with the film, and it is all over this one, is what seems to be a lack of new ideas. Now, director "Tom Holland" has done some great films. But he's made some stinkers ("Langoliers"). So, I'll blame him even though he's working with someone else's short story. But we have the concept of a childhood accident coming back to haunt/kill the kids as adults. Not new. Some people have said it's like "Nightmare on Elm Street" because the man they killed is now talking to their kids. I can see that. I think the more obvious connection is "It" -- a clown who returns after about 20 years (although I think it was 30 in "It"). Either way, nothing really new. I did like the idea of "voodoo ice cream"... that ranks at least as cool as "The Stuff".

Clowns, ice cream, voodoo. The reason for the return is left unexplained, which makes me a bit disappointed. (Sure, I can say "The spirit wanted revenge" but that's a cop-out explanation). I've enjoyed other films less than this, but at the same time this wouldn't make my "Top 100 Horror Films", so unless you have a lot of desire to see it, just keep walking.
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