Paul (John Stride) is trying to come to terms with the fact that his wife has just recently left him. He books himself into a remote health spa on an old country estate, where relaxation, massage and some nice lunches are the order of the day. The spa is run by a brother and sister, Clovis and Jessica, both of whom seem friendly, maybe even a little over friendly towards Paul. Paul begins to get suspicious of the resort as everyone seems to have ice cold hands, he first notices this when masseuse Bob, apologizes for his "fit of the cools" before pleading for help from Paul to get him out of the resort, but before Bob can elaborate more, their conversation is interrupted by Clovis. The following day Bob has disappeared and Paul has more questions for the increasingly odd Clovis and Jessica, who increase their hands on approach to their most recent guest. They show him their prized Ice House in the garden around which grows a very unique vine, containing two highly scented trumpet shaped flowers, one red, one white. Jessica beckons Paul to climb the vine and inhale deeply the wonderful scent, Paul declines...
Paul's sleeping habits have been interrupted too, on his first night, there was a wrapping noise on his window which disappeared when he opened it, this of course left the him to deal with the noise of local wildlife. The second night, he notices that his window now has a small hole in it, a hole that gets increasingly bigger and grows in the shape of a trumpet shaped flower? all the while of course the overly aromatic scent of the flowers (which is more active at night) creeps its way into Paul's room.
Paul decides to investigate further by himself at the mysterious Ice House, which he finds locked despite the fact that Clovis and Jessica have told him its always open. That night under darkness, Paul makes another attempt to enter, this time the old oak door creaks open with ease, what ghastly deeds will he find there? The Ice House was the final film in the initial run of the annual Ghost Story for Christmas series that ran from 1971. This time it retains the modern setting adopted by the previous years Stigma(1977) although it still retains an old fashioned air about it which i liked. For the first time too, Lawrence Gordon Clark did not helm, perhaps a sign that the series was coming to an end. Its an oddity for sure, its brief running time and its theme giving it at times, the feel of a Twilight Zone episode. The strange otherworldly owners and guests with their mannered speech are more reminiscent of a 50's Sci/Fi flic a la Invasion of the Body Snatchers or of Day of the Triffids than the usual ghost story fare, Are these odd personages aliens? pod people? plants in human form? ghosts? who knows?...little is explained in this regard or to any plot point for that matter, as is de rigeur with the series, all such matters are left purely to the instincts and imagination of the viewer. For the most part it kept this viewers interest, Its finale too sticks firmly to the vagueness of previous films and is somewhat fitting. Not as bad as its rating, thats for sure.
Paul's sleeping habits have been interrupted too, on his first night, there was a wrapping noise on his window which disappeared when he opened it, this of course left the him to deal with the noise of local wildlife. The second night, he notices that his window now has a small hole in it, a hole that gets increasingly bigger and grows in the shape of a trumpet shaped flower? all the while of course the overly aromatic scent of the flowers (which is more active at night) creeps its way into Paul's room.
Paul decides to investigate further by himself at the mysterious Ice House, which he finds locked despite the fact that Clovis and Jessica have told him its always open. That night under darkness, Paul makes another attempt to enter, this time the old oak door creaks open with ease, what ghastly deeds will he find there? The Ice House was the final film in the initial run of the annual Ghost Story for Christmas series that ran from 1971. This time it retains the modern setting adopted by the previous years Stigma(1977) although it still retains an old fashioned air about it which i liked. For the first time too, Lawrence Gordon Clark did not helm, perhaps a sign that the series was coming to an end. Its an oddity for sure, its brief running time and its theme giving it at times, the feel of a Twilight Zone episode. The strange otherworldly owners and guests with their mannered speech are more reminiscent of a 50's Sci/Fi flic a la Invasion of the Body Snatchers or of Day of the Triffids than the usual ghost story fare, Are these odd personages aliens? pod people? plants in human form? ghosts? who knows?...little is explained in this regard or to any plot point for that matter, as is de rigeur with the series, all such matters are left purely to the instincts and imagination of the viewer. For the most part it kept this viewers interest, Its finale too sticks firmly to the vagueness of previous films and is somewhat fitting. Not as bad as its rating, thats for sure.