Review: Ice Cream Man Is a Bloody Throwback That Knows Exactly What It Wants to Be

Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man embraces old-school splatter with killer kids, gallons of gore, and unapologetic horror fun.

Review: Ice Cream Man Delivers Exactly the Kind of Gory Summer Slasher Eli Roth Set Out to Make

When Eli Roth first announced Ice Cream Man, expectations immediately followed. Coming off the success of Thanksgiving, it was easy to assume the filmmaker was once again leaning into the mix of graphic gore and outrageous horror that has defined much of his career.

After watching the film, that’s exactly what audiences get.

Rather than trying to reinvent the slasher formula, Ice Cream Man embraces it. The result is a straightforward, blood-soaked horror movie that wears its influences proudly while focusing on delivering practical carnage, memorable kills, and an old-school drive-in atmosphere.

The story centers around a supernatural force that begins influencing local children, turning them into willing participants in increasingly violent acts. While killer kids have long been part of horror history in films like Village of the Damned and Children of the Corn, Roth uses the concept less as social commentary and more as an excuse to unleash relentless splatter and chaos.

That simplicity may ultimately be the film’s biggest surprise.

Instead of layering the story with mythology or larger thematic ambitions, Roth builds Ice Cream Man around familiar genre archetypes. There’s the bullied outsider, the intelligent girl, neighborhood troublemakers, frustrated parents, supernatural evil, school confrontations, baseball games, and the kind of foul-mouthed childhood banter that has become a staple of coming-of-age horror.

It’s a formula horror audiences have seen countless times, from It and Super 8 to A Nightmare on Elm Street and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Roth never attempts to disguise those influences, instead using them as the foundation for a film that prioritizes entertainment over reinvention.

For viewers already comparing the film to the Terrifier franchise, those comparisons may be misplaced. Extreme gore and dismemberment have been part of Roth’s filmmaking DNA since the beginning of his career. If anything, Ice Cream Man feels like another extension of that style rather than an attempt to chase contemporary trends.

Where the film succeeds most is its energy.

The young cast appears to embrace the material with enthusiasm, and the over-the-top violence often carries the playful spirit of classic splatter cinema. At times, Ice Cream Man feels like something that could have been discovered on late-night cable in the early 1980s or playing at a neighborhood drive-in, where outrageous practical effects mattered more than elaborate storytelling.

Not every aspect lands. Those expecting major twists, deeper mythology, or a fresh take on the slasher genre may find the film too familiar. It rarely moves beyond the established framework, choosing instead to deliver exactly what it promises from the opening scenes.

For some viewers, that will be enough.

Sometimes horror doesn’t need to reinvent itself. Sometimes it simply needs to provide outrageous kills, gallons of fake blood, and ninety minutes of unapologetic genre fun.

That’s ultimately where Ice Cream Man finds its identity.

Final Cut

Ice Cream Man doesn’t introduce many new ideas, but it isn’t trying to. Eli Roth delivers a straightforward summer splatter film built around practical gore, killer kids, and old-school horror energy. Fans looking for inventive storytelling may be left wanting more, but those who appreciate classic splatter films will likely find plenty to enjoy.

Score: 2.5/5