Not all ice cream has a dairy base; some of it has an artificial one. Such is the case with Eli Roth’s upcoming horror movie, Ice Cream Man. The film, which has been taking a shellacking from critics, bows for audiences this Friday, but since it began early screenings, some moviegoers who should be screaming for ice cream are screaming about potential AI usage. Like most Hollywood controversies, the debate kicked off with a review on the r/horror subreddit, where a user, claiming the film “is a trainwreck,” reported “excessive use of AI.” While director Eli Roth doesn’t cop to “excessive use,” he has confirmed to Polygon, “AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes.” Very bad-ass, sir.
The admission came in the form of a clarification. Roth spoke to the outlet yesterday and claimed that one of the film’s AI-assisted sequences was hand-drawn. “I misspoke,” he later told Polygon. “AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes in the film. It was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life.”
Speaking to Polygon yesterday, Roth, touting his “animation background,” said he “worked with an animation team” to make a sequence look and feel like the 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Haunted House, with its “dancing skeletons” and “jittery style of animation.” Roth continues, “I drew the loop cycles and the styles. Then I had some animators help kind of make it a little more fluid, and I worked with an artist to give it a bit of an old-timey jittery feel. But I sat there, and I drew out the frames that I wanted, and I tried to match the style of the 1920s haunted Mickey Mouse cartoons.”
Roth didn’t clarify which scenes use generative AI, but considering the low budget of the film and lack of any studio interference, Roth was able to scoop up some slop for the film. However, recalling the bungled statements surrounding Stop! That! Train!, some early reviews have pointed to the AI effects company Dark Half receiving a credit on the film.
Ice Cream Man is an independent production from Roth’s own production company, The Horror Section, which will release the Snoop Dogg x Eli Roth horror film, Don’t Go In That House, Bitch!, later this year. Earlier today, he spoke to Variety, claiming the independence gave him freedom to achieve his vision without the pesky studio notes. “Part of horror is you’re being distasteful,” Roth says. “Part of what you’re doing by making a good horror movie is you’re being transgressive and you’re pushing the boundaries.” Finally, someone pushed the right boundary: Boiling the ocean to make the spooky sweet treat movie.
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