Ice Cream Man (2026)
Directed by: Eli Roth
Premise: The children of a small town turn into murderers after eating the treats sold by a mysterious character in an ice cream truck. A group of young people who have not been infected must discover the source of the evil. Not to be confused with the 1995 film.
What Works: The most charitable view of Ice Cream Man is understanding it as a satirical homage. Much like Quentin Tarantino, filmmaker Eli Roth has spent his career making interpretations of the movies that shaped him. In Roth’s case, he has emulated cult horror movies of the 1970s and 80s like Torso and Cannibal Holocaust whose influence can be seen in Roth’s Hostel movies and The Green Inferno. For Ice Cream Man, Roth draws on 1976’s Who Can Kill a Child? although the movie also bears resemblance to Beware! Children at Play and Children of the Corn. Ice Cream Man has a cheap, direct-to-VHS aesthetic that’s in keeping with its inspiration. There is one notable sequence set on a playground where the movie captures the chaotic energy and macabre humor that Roth is clearly striving for.
What Doesn’t: The retro horror films that Ice Cream Man is channeling had a sleazy earnestness to them. In the better cases, viewers could sense the filmmaker’s enthusiasm in the tone and the attempts at artistry through special effects and lighting. Ice Cream Man has none of this. The film feels lazy. There’s plenty of gore in Ice Cream Man but this picture often plays like a visual effects demo reel and not a very good one. Ice Cream Man is shot and lit in a flat and uninteresting way. The filmmakers hold on the special effects but there’s no style to it. The gore is repulsive but it always looks like a special effect. Despite all the violence, there is no emotional impact. Ice Cream Man is incredibly dull. It only runs eighty-six minutes but it feels twice that length because it is just so unengaging. It’s also an empty film. Ice Cream Man has a satirical angle and the moviemakers flirt with a bigger idea about corruption but they don’t do anything with that concept. Eli Roth’s films usually have a comedic element but the humor of Ice Cream Man is cringy and the black humor is obvious and witless. It’s an immature film. Ice Cream Man comes across as a movie made by an adolescent who thinks they are being transgressive by being grotesque but it’s all just desperate and obnoxious.
Bottom Line: Ice Cream Man is never more than an imitation of the sleazy direct-to-video horror of the 1980s. It’s boring and badly made, lacking any of the charms of the films it emulates.
Episode: #1111 (August 9, 2026)