--- title: "Ice Cream Man: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/ice-cream-man/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/ice-cream-man" critics_score: 35 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Ice Cream Man (2026): what the critics said Critics' score 35 from 13 reviews: 0 positive, 3 mixed, 10 negative. The reviews are almost uniformly unimpressed: no critic recommends Eli Roth’s killer-kids horror, and most dismiss it outright. Where praise exists, it goes to the effects department. Several critics credit the practical gore, with The Hollywood Reporter calling the prosthetics designers the film’s real stars, and a few concede the premise of an ice-cream man whose treats turn children on adults has some promise. The complaints cluster around script and tone. Critics find the story thin, the jokey violence leaden and the kills repetitive after the first shock; almost nobody finds it frightening. Several measure it against smarter recent horror and Roth’s own Thanksgiving and find it wanting. The spread runs from a grudging C at The AV Club, which calls it a determinedly feel-bad film, down to The Guardian, which sees a cheap-looking, lazy picture with contempt for genre fans. The most generous verdict is that gorehounds may enjoy it and nobody else will. ## The AV Club — Jarrod Jones Rating C. 3 August 2026. Roth's silliest and bleakest work to date, a repetitive survival yarn delivering cheap splatter thrills via practical effects but lacking inventive escalation and ending on an aggressively sour note. It serves as a determinedly feel-bad movie with a viscous aftertaste. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/ice-cream-man-review) ## Time Out — Simon Crook Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 5 August 2026. Roth returns to shock bait in a killer-kids horror but plays the splatter for laughs that quickly wear thin. Gorehounds will enjoy the practical effects, but the uncertain tone and lack of fear leave it with a numbing brain-freeze. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ice-cream-man-review-2026) ## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 7 August 2026. The critic finds the film a gory but empty splatterfest lacking narrative depth or scares, with Roth delivering jokey violence over substance. They single out the concept's potential undermined by trivial execution compared to smarter horror like 'Weapons.' [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-08-07/ice-cream-man-review-eli-roth-ari-millen-charlie-zeltzer-horror) ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 2/5. 6 August 2026. Gore galore but little more in this cheap, clunky chiller that mistakes endless bloodletting for entertainment. The jokey humour is leaden and the film lacks substance compared to better entries in the psycho-kids sub-genre. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/eli-roth-ice-cream-man-review/) ## Sight and Sound — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2026. Roth unleashes possessed children on adults in an extravagantly violent but narratively insubstantial horror flick inspired by EC comics. The film is childish and steeped in 1980s tropes, lacking the edge of predecessors. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ice-cream-man-sweet-treats-turn-sour-eli-roths-gory-story-evil-kids-attacking-adults) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Frank Scheck Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2026. The film is an ultra-gonzo horror flick whose real stars are the prosthetics designers delivering relentless practical gore effects of children turning into homicidal killers. It is catnip for gorehounds but only for diehard slasher fans and absolutely no one else. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/ice-cream-man-review-eli-roth-1236660197/) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 6 August 2026. The review praises the central premise of an evil ice-cream man whose treats turn children into killers but criticises the execution and script. It notes that the promising idea is let down in practice. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/ice-cream-man-film-review-zztslxpjq) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 4 August 2026. The review calls it a derivative, ludicrous one-joke splatter schlock that's shamelessly basic, ham-handed, and not scary, with preposterous backstory and overdone gore. They single out the analog suburban kills as thin and the overall attitude as a cop-out beneath the director. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/ice-cream-man-review-eli-roth-1236826106/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 5 August 2026. The critic finds Eli Roth’s low-budget retro slasher one of the year’s worst horrors, a massive step down from his recent Thanksgiving. It singles out the cheap digital look, lazy script, and overall contempt for genre fans as the main failings. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/aug/05/ice-cream-man-review-eli-roth) ## Collider — Shawn Van Horn Rating 5/10. 3 August 2026. The critic finds the film a one-note horror comedy with impressive gore but undermined by thin screenplay, poor acting, and a forgettable villain. Praises the practical effects and kill scenes but criticizes the lack of substance beyond the gore. [Read the review](https://collider.com/eli-roth-ice-cream-man-horror-review/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2026. The critic finds the film an underdeveloped excuse for graphic gore that lacks plot or originality, comparing it unfavorably to better recent horror like Weapons. Roth's gleeful excess in the violence is noted but ultimately seen as tiresome and low-budget. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2026/08/ice-cream-man-review-eli-roth-1237016757/) ## The Playlist — Brian Farvour Rating D-. 5 August 2026. The critic calls the film a ridiculous, clichéd 86-minute misfire that borrows liberally from better movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Stuff while delivering generic gore and a supernatural backstory that feels like an afterthought. Roth's direction and the young cast's rampage through adults are singled out as lacking depth or originality beyond surface-level shocks. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/ice-cream-man-review-eli-roth-20260805/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2026. The review deems the movie repetitive and boring after its initial shocks, criticizing its shallow story and lack of substance beyond gory gags. It singles out the over-reliance on killer-kids violence as failing to sustain interest or deliver meaningful satire. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ice-cream-man-review-eli-roth/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/ice-cream-man.md