Ice Cream Man (2026) Review: It Won’t Make You Scream

Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man is a tedious and repetitive gorefest that never manages to feel scary or even tense, despite the shock value.

Ice Cream Man doesn’t just lack strong scares; it’s boring, which is pretty much a sin when it comes to horror fare.

The Movie takes place in an idyllic American town, and follows a smart kid named Jared (Charlie Zeltzer, of The Handmaid’s Tale). He’s a completely normal tween: he goes to school, plays baseball, has an older sister named Lizzie (Sarah Abbott), and they both live with their parents, lawyer  Marty (Eli Roth) and housewife Alison (Karen Cliche, of Thanksgiving). Things turn weird, though, when the titular mysterious ice cream man (Ari Millen, of Undertone) arrives in town, handing ice cream to every kid he lays his eyes upon.

At first, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. But that very night, every one of those children who ate the ice cream wakes up and kills their parents in horrific ways. Thankfully, Jared didn’t have any because he’s lactose intolerant, and neither did Mia (Kiori Mirza Waldman) and Tommy (Shiloh O’Reilly). That’s why, when they arrive at school the next morning, they’re the only ones who haven’t turned into murderous zombies, which compels the other kids to chase them and try to make them eat their ice cream. Scared and confused, the three kids must find a way to escape school and survive, while Jared tries to call his sister, who thankfully decided to skip classes the night before.

Ice Cream Man’s premise is not without merit. Feeling like a mixture between Zach Cregger’s excellent Weapons and the classic tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the film could have certainly worked as a deranged story of manipulation and violence, centred on a fascinating figure of corruption. Unfortunately, Ice Cream Man never takes full advantage of its main idea, contenting itself with including as much gore as possible… and pretty much nothing else. If the film is even trying to say something, it’s nothing particularly well thought-out.

Moreover, even though the kills are appropriately shocking the first time they are shown, the shock value starts to decrease as the story progresses. Yes, it’s quite surprising to see little kids beheading, maiming, stabbing and hitting people with bats (and I’m sure it was all super fun to shoot for the young thespians), but after a while, it all becomes stale. It turns out Roth doesn’t have much to show beyond the gory killings, which means that by the end of the movie, the whole enterprise feels incredibly repetitive. The viewer becomes desensitised, and the experience as a whole ends up feeling pretty pointless.

Additionally, Ice Cream Man feels a bit too cynical for my taste, which isn’t usually a problem in the horror space, but here, combined with the excessive bloodletting and the paperthing narrative, made me feel a bit uncomfortable. For example, young Mia doesn’t become zombified because she manages to throw up after eating the ice cream, and when asked about it by her friends, she tells them “I’m a twelve-year-old girl, of course I know how to make myself puke” (!). All the adults act like idiots, with the film seemingly portraying their deaths as well-deserved (with two notable exceptions), and the ending is pretty depressing and even a bit anticlimactic. Tone-wise, Roth seems to want Ice Cream Man to feel ironic and fun in a satiric way, but the dire situations the characters go through and the cynical dialogue are at odds with that.

Surprisingly enough, though, the kids’ performances are all pretty great. Charlie Zeltzer plays Jared as a smart, witty, and energetic boy who really wants to survive, help his sister, and find his parents. It’s an impressive central performance from the young actor, who I hope we’ll see more of in the future. Kiori Mirza Waldman as Mia and Shiloh O’Reilly as Tommy are equally great, making the most out of their undeveloped characters. Unfortunately, the adult actors aren’t as good; in fact, this is one of the few films I’ve seen where the kids give better performances than the grownups. And although Ari Millen doesn’t do anything wrong as the titular ice cream man, he never manages to turn his vengeful and murderous psychopath into a horror icon (or even a compelling antagonist).

At least the gore effects are incredibly well-made; they’re all disgusting and gruesome and juicy. Practical effects seem to have been favoured instead of CGI, which means most of the kills look appropriately realistic and detailed. Visually, though, Ice Cream Man is more of a mixed bag. I get that there’s supposed to be a contrast between all the violence and the sunny and colourful interiors, but Roth does nothing particularly interesting with either his setting or his main setpieces. Moreover, there are a couple of wide shots of the town right during the kids’ rampage that look pretty awful, with unconvincing fire effects and other digital additions.

Ice Cream Man’s biggest sin, though, is that it’s tedious. There’s not an ounce of suspense during its entire running time, and the titular villain is neither intimidating nor scary. Yes, the whole affair is pretty disgusting, but not even the impressive gore effects can turn the movie into a memorable experience. It’s a pity, since I found Roth’s previous movie, Thanksgiving, to be quite solid, with a better handling of its story, scares and characters. The kids give credible performances, and the movie’s premise is relatively original, but that’s pretty much it. Ice Cream Man won’t make anyone scream.

Ice Cream Man (2026) will be released in U.S. theaters, in U.K. and Irish cinemas, and globally in theatres on August 7, 2026.