ICE CREAM MAN

(director/writer: Eli Roth; screenwriter: Noah Belson; cinematographer: Simon Shohet; editor: Matt Lyon; music: Brandon Roberts, Snoop Dogg; cast: Ari Miller (Ice Cream Man), Charlie Zeltzer (Jared), Shiloh O’Reilly (Tommy), Kiori Mirza Waldman (Mia), Sarah Abbott (Lizzie), Benjamin Byron Davis (The Priest), Karen Cliche (Alison), Dylan Hawco (Chris), Eli Roth (Marty), Lorenzo Antonucci (Terry), Luke Dietz (Elliot); Runtime: 86; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Eli Roth, Kate Harrison Karmen, Christopher Woodrow, Raj B. Singh; Head Gear Films/Iconic Events Releasing; 2026)

“One-joke film.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
An off-putting horror pic directed and co-written by Eli Roth (“Thanksgiving”/”Hostel”) and Noah Belson. The story takes place in a suburban small town that goes berserk after its children consume tainted ice cream sold to them out of a truck by a non-verbal ice cream man (Ari Miller), that turns them into maniacal killers. The kids who ate the ice cream gruesomely murder the adults.

The kids who don’t eat the tainted ice cream, Jared (Charlie Zeltzer) and his sister Lizzie (Sarah Abbott), and two other kids, go after the psycho ice cream man.

The one-joke film relies on its kills to be mindlessly entertaining, but unfortunately is only mindless.

REVIEWED ON 8/10/2026  GRADE: D
dennisschwartzreviews.com