Eli Roth’s ‘Ice Cream Man’ Finally Sets Summer Release Date for The Horror Section

This summer, Eli Roth is heading behind the soda shop counter to scoop frozen confections — with a body count. The “Hostel” filmmaker has finally set August 7 as the theatrical release for “Ice Cream Man,” his upcoming spin on the grimy 1995 straight-to-video cult oddity that turned a cute suburban tradition into campy nightmare fuel.

Opening on 2,000 screens thanks to Roth’s newly launched banner, The Horror Section, the film marks a key test of the divisive director’s ambitious plans to revive the kind of scrappy, mean-spirited genre films that once thrived in video stores. The first poster for “Ice Cream Man” leans into that same sense of nostalgic menace, promising Roth hasn’t lost his appetite for serving splatter with a smile (check it out below).

Per The Horror Section, “Ice Cream Man” follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when a seemingly friendly vendor begins serving children sweet treats with horrifying consequences. Ari Millen (“Orphan Black”) steps into the apron as the titular menace, joined by a cast that includes Benjamin Byron Davis (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”), Karen Cliche (“Thanksgiving”), Dylan Hawco (“Heartland”), and Sarah Abbott (“The Body,” “Poser”), with Roth also appearing in an undisclosed role.

Roth co-wrote the screenplay with longtime collaborator Noah Belson. The pair reworked the bones of the original film, which is best remembered approaching its 30th anniversary as a low-budget fever dream starring Clint Howard as a traumatized former psych patient who turns human flesh into refreshing treats. The film’s ridiculous reputation has only grown in the decades since, with a notoriously queasy blend of pitch-black comedy and straight-faced grotesquerie that precedes it.

If Roth’s recent “Thanksgiving” proved he still knows how to engineer a crowd-pleasing kill, “Ice Cream Man” feels like a more pointed return to the sticky, sadistic sandbox that defined his early work. It’s also his first official release from The Horror Section, which began releasing films last year. (Of course, no update yet on the release date for “Thanksgiving 2.”)