I just watched this movie again. Do Americans really not use ice cube trays?
Seems bizarre to me. After all the movie was made in 1992 not 1922.
Yes, most of us use ice cube trays. A lot of folks have fancy fridges with ice cube dispensers built into the front door.
A psycho murdering someone by stabbing them with a plastic tray (or a refrigerator) is somehow less menacing from a cinematic standpoint.
Agreed. I have never actually seen an icepick in person. Or in a person for that matter.
Those old aluminum trays could give a fierce pinch, though. Might be useful for a torture scene.
There are certain people who consider themselves connoisseurs who believe that ice chipped off a large block is better in drinks than ice formed in cubes. They are a small minority and probably full of shit, but nonetheless it’s not entirely implausible.
I think that must be the answer. In all my world travels I have only ever seen an ice pick used once. It was in a very expensive bar in a very expensive hotel in Kitakyushu Japan -by the bartender.
The fact that it’s an unusual item for a person to have and use is supposed to be significant. I mean, if the guy at the beginning had been killed with a spatula and Sharon Stone’s character just happened to have her own spatula… well, it lacks a certain significance because about 99% of American households have one or more spatulas, err, spatulae.
I use an ice pick. My fridge doesn’t have an ice machine and I find using trays to be a pain in the ass so I just freeze a big container of water and chip off as needed.
A big piece of ice can be nice for drinking scotch. It melts slower and thus dilutes the liquor slower.
When I was a kid ('60s and '70s) ice picks were common. Dad was an avid water skier, and there were many days spent down at the bay. Coolers either had a block of ice, that had to be chipped, or cubes that always seemed to be frozen together and had to be chipped apart.
ETA: At home of course we just got cubes out of the trays.
I have an icemaker. A bit of ice got stuck in the fill port, so the maker would cycle, and filled the harvest bin with water, which became a large block. No point in tossing it out, so Mr. Ice Pick came out of the kitchen drawer to chip it up into smaller pieces.
I also keep it just in case Jeanne Tripplehorn wants to come over and kill me after screwing my brains out. Admittely, a long shot, but just saying. 
Yeah, Tripplehorn’s character was extremely fuckable, and she was a Simpsons fan. I’d chance an ice-picking. Tripple-horny…
Anyway, Americans do indeed use ice cube trays.
Same here. In my experience, using ice picks and block ice is not considered unusual along the Texas bayous.
Wow - I feel old. I have not only used an ice pick, I have used ice tongs, have pulled blocks of ice out of the sawdust packing in an ice house, and have had my food kept cool in an ice box (the precursor to the refrigerator).
We had an ice pick when I was a child in the 1970’s. I am not sure why. We didn’t use it for regular ice yet it was there. I am pretty sure that we found a few uses for it as a tool but I don’t remember why.
Back in the 70’s, my grandparents would come to visit and would bring an old hand-cranked ice cream maker. My dad would go out and pick up some block ice and it was my job to chip it all up with a ice pick small enough to fit the ice cream maker . I could use some ice cream right now.
My parents have an ice pick and use it all the time. They freeze ice in gallon milk jugs and then use it for in coolers or when making ice cream. Why buy it when you can make it yourself?
My dad has an icepick in his toolbox. I’ve never seen it used for anything.
Yes, but do you still listen to your Vanilla Ice tapes? That would make you really old.
Did he have 8 tracks?
We had an ice pick in the lid of our all metal early 60’s cooler, and a bottle opener. Besides that I’ve never had an ice pick in my possession. They are not in common use in America. Hollywood picks and chooses props to make the movie they want without regard to the commonness of the item.