Movie Review: ‘Ice Cream Man’

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Review by James Lindorf

Eli Roth built his reputation on films that made audiences deeply uncomfortable, most notably with “Cabin Fever” and the “Hostel” films. He suffered a mid-career slump before reestablishing himself with 2023’s “Thanksgiving” as a filmmaker who understands the genre’s capacity for both shock and satire. “Ice Cream Man” arrives in theaters everywhere on August 7th through The Horror Section and represents a deliberate step in a sillier direction, somewhere between the cartoon menace of the Terrifier franchise and a darkly comic Pied Piper story set in an idyllic American summer town.

When the Ice Cream Man (Ari Millen) begins serving his sweet treats to the children of Bayleen Bay, the town descends into chaos as the kids become gleeful instruments of violence. The surface of the setting is not quite as idyllic as the premise suggests. Roth and co-writer Noah Belson incorporate bullies, body image issues, controlling parents, and the belief that gentle parenting has no place in a world with homicidal children running rampant. It is a cynical choice that ultimately hurts the film. Classic horror set in suburbia works through contrast, innocent surfaces concealing darkness. When the surface is already unpleasant, the darkness has to work much harder to land with impact, and making the primary victims and villains the same group of kids creates a tonal problem where you are neither horrified by their fates nor particularly invested in them.

Millen’s Ice Cream Man was a significant missed opportunity in a film that wants to create an iconic villain or at least the next Art the Clown. For a character with a malevolent presence, a specific power over children, and a signature look that gives him origins similar to Freddy Krueger, he is woefully underwhelming. He is silent, rarely a physical threat, and alternates between adoring and mildly mean expressions while his young charges carry out all of his violent dreams. The silent approach can work in horror, but it requires either physical menace or visual iconography to compensate, and the Ice Cream Man has neither. No one is going out this Halloween in a 50s-style soda jerk-looking outfit, but we will still see Michael Myers’ masks and Jason hockey masks. Among the possessed children there is Piper, whose dirty face reads as dangerous and feral rather than just sticky. She is easily the most memorable character, which is why she is the one on the poster. She is still a child, reducing her physical threat, and the film lacks the “Pet Semetary” atmosphere needed to help her bring the scares, but she is still the best the film has to offer.

The good kids at the center of the story are Jared, Mia, Tommy, and Jared’s older sister Lizzie. They do their best to give the audience somewhere to get invested. Still, they are all thin characters with one defining characteristic. Jared is the victim of earlier bullying, Mia has body image issues, Tommy is a crass kid too cool for school in the 5th grade, while Lizzie is rebelling against her parents’ wishes for her future while being largely unaffected by the ice cream. Lizzie’s immunity is never explained or explored. Though the film seems to suggest it may have something to do with age or possibly body type, since she is larger than the elementary school age children who are affected. Whether that is intentional commentary about it being ok to eat ice cream when you want to and not worrying about the opinion of others or an accidental implication, it could have been one of the more interesting threads in a thin story.

Roth himself plays Marty, Jared and Lizzie’s father, and delivers a performance convincing enough that I initially mistook him for Zachary Quinto. Anyone who has seen “Inglorious Basterds” would not be shocked by this, but it is also a bit of indulgence on Roth’s part. He is not a uniquely skilled actor, and Marty doesn’t need to be a part of the film based on his contributions beyond the family connections.

Roth made his name with gore, making it all the more disappointing that the gore here is inconsistent. Especially for a film primarily selling itself on that element. There is a kill involving a BMX bike that provides the wet visceral impact the film is striving for and will be the most memorable moment without Piper. However, the rest of the effects too often feel like puppets and mannequins being destroyed rather than anything that generates real unease while also lacking the dynamics that made this style a comedic element in the 80s.

“Ice Cream Man” is best experienced with the loudest and most enthusiastic group you can find. It needs the support of shared jokes, collective gasps at the better effects, and the energy of an audience willing to meet it where it is. Without that, it is a good idea without the budget and story discipline to pull it off, making it nothing more than a mildly interesting way to kill 86 minutes, earning “Ice Cream Man” a 2 out of 5.

Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): August 7th, 2026, Wide
Runtime: 1h 26m
Director: Eli Roth
Producer: Eli Roth, Christopher Woodrow, Kate Harrison
Screenwriter: Eli Roth, Noah Belson
Distributor: The Horror Section
Production Co: The Horror Section