"Ice Cream Man" Review Roundup: Why Critics Say Eli Roth's Splatter Comeback Falls Flat

Eli Roth built his name on shock value. From the gross-out backwoods horror of Cabin Fever to the torture-tourism nightmare of the Hostel films, he became one of the defining names of 2000s extreme horror. Nearly two decades later, he's trying to recapture that same transgressive energy with Ice Cream Man — and according to critics, it isn't working.

What the Movie Is About

Ice Cream Man drops audiences into a sun-drenched, small-town setting where an unsettling ice cream vendor, played by Ari Millen, starts handing out frozen treats to the local kids. What follows is less "sweet summer memory" and more full-blown massacre: the children fall under the vendor's influence and turn on the adults around them, town included. One boy, Jared (Charlie Zeltzer), is left largely unaffected thanks to a lactose intolerance that keeps him out of the carnage, and he becomes the film's reluctant hero as he tries to work out how to stop things before the whole community is wiped out.

If the setup sounds familiar, that's intentional. It plays like a gorier cousin of Children of the Corn, swapping cornfields for cul-de-sacs and possessed farm kids for sugar-crazed suburban ones. The film was released theatrically in the US on August 7, 2026, through Iconic Events Releasing, with a screenplay co-written by Roth and longtime collaborator Noah Belson.

Empire's Verdict: One Star Out of Five

Empire's John Nugent didn't hold back. In his review, he argued that horror as a genre has evolved well past where Roth built his reputation — pointing out that the genre now regularly earns awards recognition and box-office dominance with more mature, thoughtful storytelling. Against that backdrop, he framed Ice Cream Man as a step backward: an attempt to return to old shock tactics that no longer land the way they once did.

Nugent also took aim at the film's structure, describing scenes that drift without clear motivation and dialogue that rarely feels convincing. His overall score landed at one star out of five, making it one of the more brutal reviews the film has received.

The Rest of the Critical Consensus

Empire wasn't alone in its disappointment. Across the review aggregators, the picture is remarkably consistent:

• Rotten Tomatoes currently sits at just 27% from nearly 100 critics, with an average score under 4 out of 10.
• Metacritic places the film at 34 out of 100, a rating the site classifies as "generally unfavorable."

Other outlets echoed Nugent's frustrations. The A.V. Club compared it unfavorably to Roth's 2023 film Thanksgiving, arguing that the earlier movie found smarter, more inventive ways to escalate its violence, while this one leans on repetition instead. Variety's Owen Gleiberman similarly panned it as a disappointing entry in Roth's filmography. Several critics also drew comparisons to Terrifier and 2025's Weapons, generally to Ice Cream Man's disadvantage — suggesting that other recent horror films have handled extreme content with more craft and purpose.

Not every response was negative, though. A handful of critics and audience members embraced the film precisely for its over-the-top, campy tone, praising the practical gore effects and the child actors' commitment to genuinely unhinged material. For viewers going in expecting a gleefully trashy gorefest rather than a return to Roth's more calculated early work, the film seems to deliver exactly what's promised on the label.

The Bigger Picture: Has Horror Outgrown Eli Roth?

The most interesting thread running through the reviews isn't really about Ice Cream Man itself — it's about where horror as a genre has moved since Roth's heyday. Films like recent Oscar contenders and sleeper box-office hits have shown that horror can be both commercially dominant and critically respected when it's built around real ideas, not just shock. Against that shift, Ice Cream Man reads to many critics as a throwback that doesn't quite know how to update itself for a smarter audience.

Whether that's a fair read of Roth's intentions or not, the consensus is hard to ignore: a Rotten Tomatoes score in the 20s, a "generally unfavorable" Metacritic rating, and a string of reviews questioning whether the shock-first approach still has a place in modern horror.

Should You Watch It?

If you're a die-hard fan of practical gore effects and don't need much plot to have a good time, Ice Cream Man might still scratch that itch — several reviewers admitted to enjoying it purely as trashy, campy entertainment. But if you're hoping for the kind of sharp, purposeful horror that's been winning over critics and audiences alike in recent years, most reviews suggest you'll want to look elsewhere.

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This article summarizes and reports on critical reception, including Empire's review by John Nugent, alongside coverage from Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, The A.V. Club, Variety, and other outlets.