In 1897, Oscar Metenier opened a theater in Paris devoted to performances of a more realistic fashion dealing with those living on the margins of society. In an effort to turn a profit, the organization’s director, Max Maurey, shifted the focus to alternating comedic scenes and those of extreme horror.
The theater, known as the Grand Guignol, became famous for its depictions of graphic, bloody violence. Renderings of decapitations, amputations, surgeries and disfigurements were common, the reactions from the audience ranging from disgust to arousal. It soon became a sensation, drawing crowds that sometimes included royalty, until World War II broke out. It eventually closed in 1962.
Eli Roth’s works would be right at home in the theater, his films a natural extension of its sensationalist fare. Featuring simplistic stories and gratuitous violence, the director’s work is specialized for a unique audience that revels in witnessing acts of wanton cruelty and finds humor in the sadism on display. His latest and most extreme work, “Ice Cream Man,” will please his fans. Those with any sense of morality will be horrified, and rightfully so.
Using the Pied Piper legend as a starting point, the titular mobile vendor (Ari Millen), an agent of chaos who uses children as his minions, arrives in a small California town. He hands out copious free samples, and the kids who flock to them are soon exhibiting strange behavior. Having turned into murderous zombies, they kill any adults who cross their paths. However, lactose-intolerant Jared (Charlie Zeltzer), his sister Lizzie (Sarah Abbott) and a few others resist the sweet treats and try to escape.
Roth was once described by one of my colleagues as a triple threat — he can’t direct, write or act. All three deficiencies are on display here, as the “auteur” casts himself as Jared and Lizzie’s father. The poster child for arrested development, this is a man suffering from perpetual adolescence.
Wallowing in gore, Roth takes glee in creating scenes that show children sawing their mother’s head off with a hacksaw or beating their father to death with a baseball bat. Then there’s the inspired bit where a brother and sister kill their father by shoving a dental drill in his ear. Not to be outdone, another pair of siblings cut off their dad’s fingers in a garbage disposal before setting him on fire. Unfortunately, teachers fare much worse, as one is beaten to death with bricks, while another has the top of his skull removed and brains taken out with an ice cream scoop.
I have no problem with violence in film if its purpose is to make a point regarding a character’s motivation, or it’s used to comment on a social ill or serves as a metaphor. Roth has none of this in mind, his motivation to shock the initiated or meet the disturbing, low expectations of his fans. While I try to be conscious that what may be entertaining to others might not be my cup of tea, the disturbing nature of movies like this transcends that.
“Ice Cream Man” is a vile piece of work, catering to the most immature and callous among us. Roth is their pied piper, gleefully leading them from one grotesque scene to the next. You’d do well to keep your distance from any you see exiting the theater where this abomination is screening.
‘Ice Cream Man’ 0 stars Cast: Ari Millen, Darrin Baker, Benjamin Byron Davis, Karen Cliché, Sarah Abbott, Ryan Allen, Alex Armbruster, Charlie Storey and Eli Roth. Directed and written by Eli Roth; produced by Kate Harrison Karman and Christopher Woodrow. A Horror Section release. 86 minutes. Rated R (excessive violence and gore). At the AMC Champaign 13 and Savoy 16 IMAX.
