At San Diego Comic-Con 2026, filmmaker Eli Roth spoke to Collider about his new unrated horror film Ice Cream Man, crediting the success of Damien Leone's Terrifier franchise with making unrated horror releases commercially viable in cinemas. Roth, known for Cabin Fever, Hostel and Thanksgiving, said the shift has allowed him to release his own gory "carnival of carnage" theatrically without cuts, marking the debut feature from his new company, The Horror Section.

Ice Cream Man, co-written by Roth and Noah Belson back in 2003, follows a town terrorised by children who turn murderous after eating tainted ice cream from a local truck; the film stars Ari Millen, Roth, Benjamin Byron Davis and Karen Cliche, and opens in theatres on 7 August. During the interview, Roth also discussed the difficulties of directing a largely child cast in a violent film, changes made to the ending during editing, and his upcoming collaboration with Snoop Dogg on another horror project, Don't Go in That House, Bitch!.