00:00the ice cream truck rolls in that jingle you know the one kids come running the way kids always have
00:08the way kids always will and this time they don't come back the same this is ice cream man
00:15and by the end of this video you'll never hear that jingle the same way again hey welcome back
00:23to the channel eli roth is back the man behind hostile cabin fever thanksgiving and this time
00:31he's taking on something that sounds almost too simple to work an ice cream man except this isn't
00:40the 1995 cult classic with clint howard this is a completely different movie new story new nightmare
00:50let's break down everything the plot the cast the controversy and the ending critics can't stop
00:58talking about ice cream man released august 7th 2026 directed and co-written by eli roth alongside
01:07longtime collaborator noah belson it's the very first release from roth's new horror label the horror
01:14section an idyllic town called baleen bay a summer that's supposed to be perfect and a mysterious
01:20ice cream vendor here's what's actually interesting before we even get to the plot this movie almost
01:27didn't happen roth has had this idea for over 20 years studios kept passing so he stopped waiting
01:35he self-financed the roughly five and a half to seven million dollar budget mostly through foreign
01:42pre-sales and canadian tax credits and launched his own distribution company the horror section just
01:48to get it made no studio interference no toning down the gall roth has said directly this time nobody
02:01made him cut anything the horror sections plan is two to four horror films a year kept cheap enough that
02:08creative freedom stays intact next up from the label a strip club slasher called stiletto and a snoop
02:14dog collaboration called don't go in that house pitch this is officially the beginning of something the cast
02:21airy millen plays the ice cream man himself a grinning vendor with an old-fashioned mustache and absolutely
02:28nothing behind his eyes benjamin byron davis carin cliché dylan hawkel and sarah abbott round out the
02:36parents and town adults shiloh o'reilly kyori mierza waldman charlie zeltzer and charlie story play the
02:45kids of baleen bay and eli roth himself steps in front of the camera this time playing a father named
02:53marty
02:53wafer t sir behind the camera this isn't a shoestring crew either special makeup effects come from
03:00steve newburn alongside academy award winner adrian moro the score comes from emmy winner brandon
03:07roberts with additional original music from snoop dogg who also produced under his death row banner
03:13grammy winner nas is one of the executive producers for a self-financed indie horror film the talent
03:20detached here is genuinely stacked picture the most idyllic summer town you can imagine sprinklers
03:26running bikes on the sidewalk parents who still let their kids chase down an ice cream truck alone
03:32baleen bay is the kind of place horror movies love to destroy and roth wastes no time doing exactly
03:38that then the truck shows up nobody remembers hiring it nobody remembers seeing it before it just appears
03:47the ice cream man behind the window smiles the way people smile when they're performing being human
03:54rather than actually being it the kids don't notice why would they he's got the good stuff and the treats
04:03look completely normal sprinkles twirls the classic stuff but something in them changes the kids almost
04:13instantly reviewers describe it as giggling psycho mode that's the actual phrase used to describe
04:22what happens to these children one bite and the sweetest kids in town become something else entirely
04:30it starts at home parents the people who raise them the people who trust them most
04:38that's who gets hit first and from there it spreads neighbors teachers first responders who show up
04:50expecting a routine call and walk into something they cannot process critics who've already seen it
04:58describe the kill count as relentless more than an hour of near constant carnage barely pausing for breath
05:06one review put it bluntly every way life and limb can be separated shows up somewhere in this movie
05:14it's not subtle it's not restrained it is by design completely unfiltered at the center of the chaos
05:22is marty wayfair played by roth himself a father trying to protect his own kid jared as the town collapses
05:33around them while most of baleen bay is losing all sense of what's real marty becomes one of the few
05:40adults
05:42actually trying to figure out what's happening and stop it before it reaches his own front door so
05:53so
05:54who actually is the ice cream man
05:59reviewers have compared his backstory
06:02to a classic slasher origin
06:05the kind of wronged man becomes monster
06:08set up horror fans will recognize immediately
06:12the film keeps the specifics close to the chest in early reviews but the set up borrows from the
06:19same well as the genre's most iconic origin stories someone from baleen bay's past back for something
06:28the town did to him whatever you think of the story nobody's questioning the effects work
06:33roth built his career on practical go hostel cabin fever the green inferno an ice cream man leans all
06:42the way into that in-camera prosthetics real makeup adrian morrow's oscar-winning touch is genuinely
06:49visible on screen for gohound specifically that alone might be worth the ticket by the film's midpoint
06:57baleen bay isn't a town anymore it's a battlefield adults barricading doors against their own children
07:04first responders overwhelmed and outnumbered critics have called it exhausting in volume but undeniably
07:11committed to the bit the surviving adults marty among them start piecing together what's actually happening
07:20and try to find a way to stop the ice cream man before there's no one left in baleen bay
07:26to save
07:28it's messy it's desperate and every plan seems to arrive one step too late here's where i have to be
07:36careful because critics are being deliberately vague about exactly what happens next and i'm not going to
07:45fabricate details that haven't actually been confirmed anywhere what we do know there's a twist near the ending
07:55multiple reviewers say they saw it coming call it telegraphed a solution to the chaos so strange that in their
08:06words only a child would buy it but nobody spelled out exactly what it is
08:13what critics agree on is this the ending is abrupt hard out no extended wrap-up some reviewers respected
08:23that choice calling it a rare example of a horror film actually committing to a bleak final note instead
08:30of softening it for the audience others felt it left too many threads completely unresolved either way
08:38nobody's calling this one predictable in the way it chooses to end and here's a genuinely fun detail
08:46once the credits roll the movie ends with an original rap track written and performed by snoop
08:54dog himself made specifically for the film one critic quoted the hook directly i scream you scream we scream
09:03ice cream delivered with full snoop dog energy right after 86 minutes of chaos it's become one of the most
09:12talked about small details from early screenings there's also been some controversy worth mentioning eli
09:21roth initially said the film didn't use ai then later walked that back admitting he'd misspoken and
09:28confirming ai tools were used somewhere in keeping the production's costs down for a film built on a
09:35self-financed cost-conscious indie budget it's added an extra layer of discussion around how the movie
09:43actually got made so how's the movie actually landing with critics it's split right down the middle some
09:50reviewers call it gleeful committed gory chaos that knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be
09:57practical effects work that genuinely delivers and a director having fun with total creative freedom
10:04for horror fans who just want relentless old school splatter this is being called genuine crowd
10:11pleaser on the other side several major reviewers have called the plot too thin to carry even an 86
10:17minute runtime comparisons have been drawn to weapons and to roth's own earlier sharper work not always
10:25favorably some reviews describe the tone as inconsistent unsure whether it wants to be straight horror or full
10:32horror comedy the audience reaction has been just as divided some viewers are calling it a legitimately
10:39fun gross out midnight movie experience exactly the kind of unfiltered horror that's rare from a wide
10:46theatrical release others have been far harsher calling it one of the worst wide releases of the year
10:52so far there isn't much middle ground here it's a love it or hate it kind of movie so is
10:59ice cream man
11:00worth watching if you want a tightly plotted horror thriller this probably isn't it but if you want unfiltered
11:08practical effects horror that fully commits to its own insane premise kids turned into killers by a mysterious
11:16vendor in a picture perfect summer town this might be exactly your kind of movie 86 minutes unrated
11:27pure chaos ice cream man in theaters now directed by eli roth written by roth and noah belson distributed
11:36by the horror section and iconic events releasing unrated for a reason this is roth completely unfiltered
11:44self-financed and answering to no one but himself if you're into practical goal and don't need a tight
11:51plot to enjoy the ride this one delivers on exactly what it promises that's the full breakdown of ice cream
11:58man thanks for hanging out for this one horror recaps like this are always a blast to put together
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