Ice Cream Man Delivers Fun Frights

Ice Cream Man serves two scoops of fun frights. Courtesy of Eli Roth, this refreshingly unserious spook show leans into the comically absurd. That makes it an amusing delight while still having enough unsettling content to call it a scary movie. There’s never a question of quality so much as worry about when the sugar crash happens.

The flick wastes no time introducing audiences to an idyllic smalltown indicative of Anywhere, USA. Viewers meet Jared (Charlie Zeltzer), a typical kid who has just experienced an embarrassing bit of defeat. Hoping to sooth his loss in ice cream courtesy of a scoop slinger in the typical good humor getup, he’s denied such indulgences due to lactose intolerance. That night, every local kid who partook in the frozen treats becomes a homicidal, dead-eyed maniac. Jared and the few others who didn’t indulge their sweet tooth are left to navigate a nightmare as their small town turns into a slaughterhouse. Their only hope is to discover the mysterious origins of the titular Ice Cream Man and, in doing so, find a way to stop the horror.

The film’s initial strength is a smooth, quick pace. Various characters are solidly established in the opening acts, mainly by simply letting them interact with one another. There’s next to nothing that could be called an exposition dump. Rather, writer-director Eli Roth allows characters to reveal themselves in amusing exchanges.

There’s a playful sense of humor set up from the get-go which remains throughout the feature. Roth’s career has often included a certain degree of sarcasm. Several of his films typically lean towards horror comedy as much as grossout gore with characters quick to quip—not to mention a certain macabre humor when it comes to kills. Ice Cream Man inclines towards the comical on all fronts; though, make no mistake, the massacres which occur are bloody messes of an extreme caliber.

Genre fans inured by years of similar and more intense displays of deviousness may find the film more amusing than scary. However, given the relative nature of frights, that isn’t to say Ice Cream Man isn’t unsettling. The premise of zombified children ripping people to pieces, their carnage on full, unflinching display, is bound to disturb some. Still, there’s a campfire quality to the movie that makes it a fun watch more than a fright—and that’s not a bad thing.

Roth also does a marvelous job of shooting several scenes in long takes. This helps keep the audience in a moment as well as establish a wider world. Ice Cream Man creates the sense of a lived-in space where things are happening outside the confines of the protagonists’ point of view. Furthermore, the movie creates a desire to watch it twice, especially during escape sequences, as background details are full of wonderfully gruesome moments glimpsed in passing.

Ice Cream Man does sputter a bit around the middle. What starts as a solid mix of marvelous dialogue and cinematic presentation starts melting. The movie then slips into cliché territory. Granted, some of this is in service to a sweet twist, but it doesn’t entirely excuse hackneyed elements. Parts of the closing acts lack the devious wit seen throughout the opening.

Fortunately, though Ice Cream Man may stumble a tad, it never loses the audience. This is because the flick clocks in at a tight 86 minutes. Roth hits the ground running without ever rushing details and gets to the gore early. The problems start when a degree of repetition ensues that feels like padding rather than furthering the plot. Yet, as soon as Ice Cream Man gets into the closing act, the movie resumes a steady course to a satisfying conclusion.

Some of the slaughter, frightening as it may be for some, is intentionally designed with a cartoonish quality in mind. The same could be said for the appearance of the affected children. Their ice cream smeared faces are simultaneously worthy of a chuckle and a grimace. All in all, it helps create an unsettling juxtaposition of Looney Tunes alongside a bloodbath.

The cast is a magnificent assortment when it comes to the main performers. Charlie Zeltzer (Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go) is charming as a kid in the middle rung socially, who finds himself having to take charge—though, in way over his head. Sarah Abbott (Ginny & Georgia) plays his sister, Lizzie, and the two share a sibling chemistry that makes their banter delightful. Kiori Mirza Waldman (Small Achievable Goals) plays one of the few unaltered children, not only joining the small group of survivors but occasionally taking charge of situations.

For a character with zero lines, Ari Millen (Orphan Black) imbues the main villain with a surprising amount of presence. He may be the most normal looking fiend in the history of horror yet, make no mistake, that something sinister comes across. This is conveyed clearly in no small part thanks to the way Millen often moves in a bizarre slow motion which is as unnatural as it is fluid. Assisting his aura of evil is wonderful work by production designer Peter Mihaichuk, who has worked with Roth previously on flicks such as Thanksgiving (2023), and delivers here the eerie ice cream truck that cruises around town bearing wicked treats.

Ice Cream Man serves up a cartoonishly gory good time. Eli Roth makes some sharp cinematic choices that keep the feature compelling. The stakes in this kid-pocalypse are set up quick, and the movie maintains a steady pace to the end. It does get a tad repetitious and clichéd for a blink or two in the middle, but the movie never risks losing the audience by quickly arriving at a satisfying close.

Overall, it’s a fun fright flick, more comical than chilling. Although the movie doesn’t offer many new ideas, Roth manages to keep the scenario feeling fresh. Ice Cream Man is a wicked treat, especially for genre lovers, but anyone can delight in this soft serve scary story.