Why Eli Roth Using AI in Ice Cream Man is a Warning Sign for Horror Movies
The director’s reveal that he used generative AI in the gory new horror film betrays the tactile craft that has long defined the genre
by Alex Kaan 6 August 2026
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Whether through genuine artistic curiosity or forced inevitability, generative AI is making its way into major horror releases. And in Eli Roth, the director known for gore fests Cabin Fever and Hostel as well as the recent slasher Thanksgiving, the practice now has an advocate in a renowned horror filmmaker.
Roth told Polygon in an official statement that he used generative AI in his new horror film Ice Cream Man, a grisly slasher riff on the Pied Piper legend that sees an idyllic suburban town thrown into chaos when a mysterious ice cream man begins serving sweets that turn children into brutal killers. He revealed the information after previously telling the outlet that he had hand-drawn a key animated sequence — a Mickey Moose-style cartoon that flashes on the children’s phones before turning them violent — clarifying that he had misspoken.
“AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes in the film,” he told Polygon. “It was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life.”
What makes Roth’s partnership with Dark Half, an AI VFX Firm, particularly egregious is the fact that the appeal of a film like Ice Cream Man, a gore fest featuring animated sequences, should be the presence of tactile, handmade art leaving an indelible mark on the screen. Horror has long been a space that privileges inventive, practical effects-driven filmmaking, and Eli Roth’s explanation that the AI in Ice Cream Man “was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together” is a slippery slope that threatens the craft at the heart of the genre. The only “opportunity” to be spoken of is the one lost by an animator or VFX artist.
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Ice Cream Man is Roth’s first film released under his new banner The Horror Section, made as an economical indie with a budget of around $5 million. He recently told Variety that he created the production company to allow him more artistic freedom after studio interference over his 2024 film Borderlands, an adaptation of the video game series of the same name, which grossed only $33 million worldwide on a budget of over $100 million. While AI may appear to be a tempting tool to cut costs and save time, something that fellow indie horror Late Night with the Devil (2024) did with three graphic images, those potential benefits for an independent film shouldn’t erase the chance for an artist to contribute their work.
As with Late Night with the Devil and this year’s RuPaul-led queer comedy Stop That Train!, noticeable generative AI has drawn criticism from general audiences, with the filmmakers often begrudgingly revealing that they indeed used the tool. In the case of Stop That Train!, as with Roth’s amendment after he hand-drew an animated sequence, director Adam Shankman first denied using AI before he admitted the opposite a week later. Of course, these are the films where viewers are able to spot that AI has been used, and recent reports from the likes of The Los Angeles Times, The Economist, and more have all attested to the fact that Hollywood studios are quietly integrating the practice into their films with a philosophy of “don’t ask, don’t tell”.
A gateway into the industry more than ever, horror is a safe space for artists to experiment. From Evil Dead to Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste, the emphasis on the value of practical effects, even crude ones, and hand-crafted genre thrills has always been paramount to the genre. But for every Eli Roth, the hope is that the filmmakers like Kane Parsons, the 20-year-old Backrooms director vehemently opposed to AI, keep human creativity, warts and all, alive.