ICE CREAM MAN (2026) Review by Matt Boiselle
Written & Directed by Eli Roth, and starring Ari Millen, Charlie Zeltzer & Sarah Abbott
Let’s just get this out of the way…
If you walk into Ice Cream Man expecting grounded storytelling and subtle scares, you’re in the wrong theater. Eli Roth’s typical fashion didn’t allow this movie to be restrained. He made it to splatter the walls with blood, make horror fans laugh in disbelief, and remind us why ridiculous horror concepts can be so damn entertaining.
Mission accomplished.
The premise is beautifully absurd. A quiet little summer town begins spiraling into complete madness when the local ice cream man starts handing out frozen treats with horrifying results. That’s it. That’s the setup. And instead of trying to explain every little detail or make it overly serious, the movie just grabs you by the throat, hands you a dripping ice cream cone, and says, “EAT IT!!”
I absolutely love when a horror movie fully commits to its insanity, and Ice Cream Man never once takes its foot off the gas. But let’s be honest…We’re all here for the gore – and holy hell…Eli Roth delivered.
This movie is an absolute bloodbath from beginning to end. The practical effects are disgusting in all the right ways, the carnage is relentless, and the kills are some of the most creative I’ve seen in quite a while. Every time I thought the film had shown its nastiest trick, it somehow found another way to crank the insanity up another notch. There were multiple moments where all I could do was laugh and think, “There’s no way they actually went there, and that’s when they drove that vehicle even further.
That’s the beauty of the film itself – it doesn’t settle for simple slash-and-stab kills. Every death feels like an event. Gorehounds are going to have an absolute field day picking their favorites because there’s no shortage of memorable moments to choose from.
The cast does a fantastic job keeping the madness believable enough that you stay invested while everything around them completely falls apart. Everyone understands the assignment here, and nobody looks like they’re embarrassed by the material. They lean into it, which only makes the movie that much more fun. And yes, Eli Roth had his role in place, which is expected, but he pulled his performance off nicely.
Clocking in at just 86 minutes, the pacing is exactly what it should be. No unnecessary filler. No dragging middle act. It gets to the chaos early and keeps the blender running until the credits roll.
What I appreciated most, though, is that Ice Cream Man never forgets why people bought a ticket. It knows horror fans came looking for outrageous violence, insane practical effects, and creative kills, and it delivers all three by the truckload. This isn’t a movie trying to reinvent the genre. It’s a movie trying to entertain horror fans…and it succeeds with flying colors.
Ice Cream Man is exactly the kind of horror movie I’ll happily revisit. It’s gross, it’s hilarious, it’s completely unhinged, and it’s overflowing with the kind of practical gore that horror fans constantly beg for. Eli Roth has served up one seriously messy scoop of mayhem, and I enjoyed every gloriously blood-soaked minute of it.
If you’re the type of horror fan who judges a movie by its kill count, practical effects, and willingness to go completely off the rails…
You’ll definitely want a second scoop – trust me, That creepy little man in the white truck has got PLENTY to serve up.
Ice Cream Man hits theaters this Friday, August 7th, so dig in your pockets for your change, and step up to the little window, cause when this frozen-treat representative rolls into town, he doesn’t like to be ignored.
