The Ice Cream Man opens to an unnamed woman as she grabs an ice cream from her freezer. After finishing the treat in her room, she notices writing on the Popsicle stick. “Who Lives in the Freezer and Gives You a Treat. He’ll Haunt You All Night the Moment You Eat” on one side and “The Ice Cream Man” on the other.

She simply discards it, thinking nothing of it. As the night goes on and she brushes her teeth in a poorly lit restroom, she sees another stick in her toothbrush holder. The message just as cryptic and ominous as before. At this point, she is aware that something isn’t right. On her way out of the room, she sees another stick with another message. Then another, then another.

The trail of sticks leads her back to the freezer, where she decides to break a stick in half and hold it as a weapon. The freezer that’s in the kitchen, the kitchen that most likely has items better suited for self-defense than a broken ice cream stick. At this point, we all have a general idea of where this is going to go. And that is The Ice Cream Man’s biggest flaw.

While five minutes might not seem like a long time, it’s long enough to take a risk or push boundaries. This short film does neither of those. It plays out exactly how you think it will. Victoria Fratz does well enough as the woman, she isn’t really given anything to do except what you would expect any other girl in a horror film to do.

Aaron Fradkin does well as both Director and Editor. The shots and camera work were consistent and lack of dialog was a good choice overall. It all boils down to being just there and going through the motions of basic horror tropes. We’ve seen short films blow us away, just look at Lights Out and chadgetstheaxe. Ultimately, feel free to check out The Ice Cream Man. There are worse ways to spend five minutes. But speed-eating a sundae in five minutes will leave a longer-lasting impact.

5 out of 10