Episode 434: Ice Cream Man

This week, Kelly is...gone, so Byron and a very special guest chat about the horrors of 2026 so far, before talking modern Creepy Kid™ flicks...and unfortunately AI, reviewing Eli Roth's "Ice Cream Man". Stream on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/14ioP0zfFczK8hKPsDUmko?si=cff351ada3944a9a 0:00 Cold open 0:47 Cookie the Boston terrier and favorite ice cream truck treats 6:00 The year in horror so far: Stubs A-List, theater-only viewing 14:23 Speed round: Obsession, Backrooms, Hokum, Primate, We Bury the Dead, Undertone, and more 29:00 Staff Picks: The Stuff and Cooties 38:02 ICE CREAM MAN review begins 38:20 The Eli Roth question 46:50 The Horror Section and the Republic fan-investment angle 57:00 The look, the coloring, and the AI problem 1:12:00 Spoilers begin 1:29:00 Final ratings 1:33:00 Is there an organized hate campaign ABOUT THE FILM ICE CREAM MAN (2026) is a creepy-kid horror film co-written, produced, and directed by Eli Roth. A silent ice cream vendor arrives in a suburban town and hands out treats that turn the local children into homicidal maniacs. It is the first theatrical release from The Horror Section, Roth's new studio co-founded with Bloody Good Horror's Jon Schnaars. Made for roughly 5.5 million dollars, with about 10 percent of the company sold to around 2,500 fans through the investment platform Republic. TALKING POINTS Where Eli Roth sits now after Borderlands, the low-budget theatrical horror model and why five million is the sweet spot, the practical-versus-CGI blend, the teen paralysis lore hole, and the AI question: Roth's initial denial, the later walk-back to a sketches-handed-to-an-AI-company framing, and what that does to how genre fans watch low-budget movies going forward. STAFF PICKS Byron: The Stuff (1985, Larry Cohen) Jacob: Cooties (2015, Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion) CONNECT Discord: discord.frightday.com The Frightday Society: frightdaysociety.org Email: contact@frightday.com Bluesky / Twitter / Instagram: @frightday Phone line: 1-833-FRIGHT-9 MORE FRIGHTDAY 700+ episodes covering horror, paranormal, cryptids, true crime, and conspiracies since 2014. An Audio Wool original produced by Byron McKoy. #IceCreamMan #EliRoth #HorrorReview #Frightday #TheHorrorSection #HorrorPodcast Want more? Join the Frightday Society, at http://thefrightdaysociety.org As a Society Member, you'll have access to all Screamium content (Behind the Screams, It's Been a Weird Week, A Conversation With..., Toast to Toast PM with Wine Kelly, Cinema Autopsy, the Writers' Room, bonus episodes of Captain Kelly's Cryptids & Conspiracies, Byron's Serial Corner, and so much more! You'll also be part of our interactive community dedicated to the advancement of horror, hauntings, cryptids, conspiracies, aliens, and true crime. All things frightening. Keep our mini-fridges full of blood...I mean...not blood...normal things that people drink...by going t