What if that refreshing bowl of creamy dessert tried to eat you back?
In Aleen Isley’s new film “I: Scream — A Minty Musical,” a glob of chilly, sweet ice cream gains sentience and endeavors to consume everything in its path.
The Lindsay Theater will show the film — which was partially shot in Sewickley — as part of its Emerging Filmmakers Showcase series on Jan. 22. This is the directorial debut of Aleen Isley and falls under the production umbrella of Silver Spotlight Films.
Isley’s husband, Steve Rudzinski, have been making similar indie films for 15 years now with Silver Spotlight Films, bringing titles such as “Curtains for Christmas” and the “CarousHELL Trilogy” to the big screen. The couple co-wrote “I: Scream.”
She said that she was inspired to write this film after seeing colorful ice cream cone skull decorations at Target.
“I thought to myself, that would be a really fun old VHS cover for a scary movie,” she said.
The film — which Isley described as “Rocky Horror” meets “Little Shop of Horrors” but more family-friendly — isn’t a period piece, but it has a decidedly ’50s feel.
She took this opportunity of inspiration to make her own movie. “I thought last year was the year to do it.”
At 63 minutes, the movie has a fairly straightforward plot: after a failed ice cream date, a scientist’s “experimental human chemicals” come into contact with a scoop of the dessert and it comes to life. The ice cream, now known as “Minty” by the other characters, must be stopped from enveloping everything in frozen terror.
While the mint-flavored monster is lovable, Isley was careful with her characterization.
“I want people to both enjoy Minty and his presence onscreen, but also root for the people to be able to stop him,” she said.
She took inspiration from classic films such as “The Blob,” paying homage to their over-the-top monsters and garish color schemes. The movie was not originally a musical, but coming from a musical theater background, Isley found herself pulled in that direction.
“Once I cast all my leads, I realized I had cast a bunch of people I’ve worked with onstage. …So then I said, well, this will make the movie way more interesting. Let’s make it a musical.”
Rudzinski saw this new direction as a revelation. “‘I: Scream’ was a fun idea and it was like an eight out of 10 indie movie idea that would have an audience. But making it a musical made it a great idea, in my opinion. Like it turned an eight into an 11 out of 10.”
Isley and Silver Spotlight Films have a lengthy history with the Lindsay Theater and their Emerging Filmmakers Series, and this will be an extra special occasion for them.
“What’s also exciting about our event is, since it’s the 15th anniversary of our film company, we are going to be running a special trailer reel of all of the trailers of all of our films over the past 15 yeas before the movie begins,” Isley said. “So it’s like a gathering of all the people who worked on the film, but then also people who are fans of our movies who’ve been following us for some time will enjoy seeing our work progress.”
“I: Scream” will be the 19th release from Silver Spotlight Films in a decade and a half. Rudzinski sees this showcase as an opportunity to spotlight Isley’s talent first and foremost.
“This is Aleen’s night. … This is her debut,” he said. “But that way it’ll be for the fans that do show up that have been with us for awhile, they’ll kind of be able to relive the journey that has brought us to this 19th release.”
“I: Scream — A Minty Musical” will be shown at the Lindsay Theater at 7 p.m. on Jan. 22. To learn more, visit thelindsaytheater.org.