Name: Ice Cream Man Review: Eli Roth Leans Into His Strengths in an Absurd 1990s Horror Remake — Review
Rating: 6

There are few directors working today whose names immediately tell you exactly what kind of movie you’re about to watch quite like Eli Roth. Whether that’s a compliment or a warning depends entirely on your tolerance for gallons of fake blood, unapologetically mean-spirited humor, and horror movies that constantly wink at the audience while doing something completely unhinged on screen. At this point, “Directed by Eli Roth” is practically its own subgenre, and Ice Cream Man leans into that identity about as enthusiastically as possible. It’s loud, gleefully disgusting, and has absolutely no interest in pretending to be anything other than a midnight movie for horror sickos.

The film reimagines the 1995 cult favorite with a simple enough premise. An idyllic suburban town is thrown into chaos after its local ice cream man begins serving frozen treats with horrifying consequences. Before long, children across the neighborhood descend into violent madness, turning what should be the carefree days of summer into an escalating bloodbath that only a handful of kids seem capable of surviving.

It’s exactly the kind of absurd setup that Roth has spent much of his career thriving within. His filmography has certainly been uneven. Following the disastrous Borderlands adaptation, I wasn’t entirely sure what his next move would look like. But when he’s operating squarely within the horror genre, especially something this unapologetically campy, he’s still remarkably effective. Thanksgiving proved that a few years ago, and Ice Cream Man continues that streak by understanding exactly what audiences are showing up for.

Everything here exists in service of the film’s gleefully ridiculous tone. The performances knowingly flirt with parody, while the script embraces every horror cliché imaginable and the violence is cranked to such absurd levels that it somehow becomes both genuinely grotesque and darkly hilarious at the same time. Watching entire neighborhoods unravel because children have transformed into tiny homicidal maniacs after eating cursed ice cream is precisely the sort of premise that only works if everyone commits completely to the bit. Thankfully, Roth and company never hesitate.

The kills are among the bloodiest you’ll see all year, but they’re staged with such exaggerated enthusiasm that they rarely become unpleasant. Instead, the film settles into this candy-colored frenzy of suburban carnage that’s surprisingly infectious. It’s less interested in building lingering dread than it is in constantly escalating its own insanity, and I honestly appreciated that approach. Parents get chopped to limbs, decapitated, and mangled in just about every way you can think of here.

Too often, low-budget horror movies become bogged down trying to convince you how important or emotionally devastating they are. They mistake misery for depth and spend so much time wallowing in heavy themes that they forget to actually entertain. Ice Cream Man couldn’t care less about any of that. It’s about kids murdering adults with reckless abandon because an evil ice cream man poisoned an entire town. Sometimes that’s enough.

And at a lean eighty-six minutes, the movie also knows exactly when to get in and get out. That pacing does a tremendous amount of the heavy lifting. Roth rarely lingers on exposition longer than necessary, instead pushing quickly from one increasingly ridiculous set piece to the next. The result is a horror movie that remains consistently engaging simply because it’s constantly finding new ways to embrace its own chaos.

Ari Millen makes for an appropriately sinister titular Ice Cream Man. There’s something inherently unsettling about the cheerful iconography surrounding ice cream trucks, and Millen (and his frolicking mobile) plays into that wonderfully, turning what should be a comforting neighborhood fixture into an increasingly ominous presence lurking just outside the frame.

Meanwhile, Charlie Zeltzer, Shiloh O’Reilly, and Kiori Mirza Waldman make for a likable trio of survivors trying to navigate the madness unfolding around them. Their performances won’t be mistaken for awards contenders anytime soon, but they fit the heightened tone the film is aiming for.

I also appreciate what this represents for Roth’s new production company, The Horror Section. There’s something refreshing about seeing a studio embrace this particular brand of unapologetically schlocky horror again. Not everything needs to be elevated horror or prestige genre filmmaking. There’s still plenty of room for movies designed to play at midnight screenings while audiences cheer, groan, and laugh at increasingly outrageous practical effects.

Shudder used to be that for me, but after a rough batting average of late, with a few major stinkers (Mother of Flies, Get Away, Destroy All Neighbors, Sorry About the Demons, etc.), I’ve been waiting for something new to come along and help fill that void where at the bare minimum each movie peaks my interest.

As for criticisms, there honestly aren’t many beyond whether this style of filmmaking appeals to you in the first place. The child performances occasionally feel stiff, and the visual style isn’t especially distinctive outside of its bright, candy-coated color palette. But those aren’t flaws that meaningfully detracted from my experience because the entire production is operating with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. The movie knows exactly how ridiculous it is.

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But that’s simply the Eli Roth experience. If you’ve enjoyed his brand of aggressively over-the-top horror before, Ice Cream Man delivers exactly what you’re hoping for. If you’ve never connected with his sensibilities, this isn’t likely to be the movie that changes your mind. Personally, I found it to be an entertaining dose of carnage that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, even if it’s never aiming much higher than becoming a very fun midnight movie.