Maybe skip the ice cream truck this weekend.
Summer is usually the perfect time for pools, sunshine, and grabbing something cold when you hear that familiar music coming down the street.
Not in Eli Roth's neighborhood.
Ice Cream Man is officially playing in theaters today, August 7, bringing a wonderfully messed-up new slasher premise to the big screen where something as innocent as an ice cream cone turns an idyllic suburban town into complete chaos.
The setup is beautifully simple.
An ice cream man starts serving sweet treats to the local kids.
The kids eat them.
And then the kids become homicidal maniacs.
You know, normal summer activities.
I Scream, You Scream...
The film takes place in what initially appears to be an idyllic summer town, where the arrival of an ice cream man shouldn't exactly be cause for alarm.
Until children start eating his frozen treats.
Whatever is being served has horrifying consequences, transforming the town's kids into killers and sending the surrounding community into madness.
And honestly, that's about all I need to know.
There's something particularly effective about horror taking something associated with childhood and making it completely unsafe. Ice cream trucks are practically built into the nostalgia of summer, right down to hearing that music somewhere in the distance and immediately knowing what it means.
Now Eli Roth wants us associating that sound with homicidal children.
Thanks, Eli.
Eli Roth Returns to Slasher Territory
Ice Cream Man is co-written, produced, and directed by Eli Roth, who certainly isn't a stranger to putting audiences through some uncomfortable situations.
This time, however, the horror isn't simply centered around one conventional masked killer hunting victims.
The entire town appears to become the playground.
The film stars Ari Millen, Charlie Zeltzer, Shiloh O'Reilly, Kiori Mirza Waldman, Sarah Abbott, and Benjamin Byron Davis, with the story revolving around the increasingly violent consequences of those mysterious sweet treats.
The premise also raises a pretty big question that I'm curious to see answered:
What exactly is in that ice cream?
The information released about the movie establishes that eating the treats causes the murderous behavior, but doesn't reveal exactly what's responsible.
And that's probably for the best.
Sometimes it's more fun walking into a horror movie without knowing exactly what's waiting for you.
Now Playing in Theaters
Running a lean 86 minutes, Ice Cream Man is being released in the United States by Iconic Events Releasing and is playing in theaters starting today, August 7.
Between the summer setting, killer kids, mysterious ice cream, and Eli Roth behind the camera, this sounds like the kind of ridiculous horror premise that could make for a really fun theatrical watch.
Especially with an audience.
So if you're looking for some new horror at the movies this weekend, Ice Cream Man is now playing in theaters.
Just maybe grab popcorn instead.
🍦 You really don't know what they're putting in the soft serve.
