Eli Roth’s Latest Film a Sticky Mess, X-Files Goes R-Rated, and Can a Slasher Really be Elevated? Horror Roundup

Welcome to Knockout Horror and to our Cutting the Crap Horror Roundup for the first week of August. This is going to be a short one because things have been whisper quiet in the horror world. Today we are talking about Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man seriously disappointing, the X-Files returning in R-Rated form, and whether or not an elevated slasher can truly work. Let’s go!

Eli Roth’s Latest Film Is a Sticky Mess

Well, we are starting off this week’s news on a bit of a downer. Eli Roth’s brand new slasher movie Ice Cream Man is getting a bit of a panning from both critics and early viewers. The story follows an idyllic suburb that turns into a bloodbath after an enigmatic ice cream man serves treats that turn the kids into raving lunatics.

It currently has a 26% rating from 23 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 4.5/10. It doesn’t actually release until the 7th of August but preview screening viewers have literally been walking out of the cinema. Roth’s main villain is, apparently, an Art the Clown rip-off, sans personality… That’s not good.

The really worrying thing here, though, is the fact that audiences are calling out, what they deem to be, entire sequences made using generative AI. The phrase “somebody typed spooky ice cream parlor into ChatGPT” keeps popping up, which is not what you want when plugging a brand new film.

It’s very concerning and, quite honestly, really sad to see from one of horror’s most well known directors. Even the staunchest Roth apologists are struggling to back him up on this. I’m seriously disappointed as I really thought this movie could be a lot of fun. Ah well!

X-Files Returns in R-Rated Form – Kinda

Growing up, I was an absolutely huge fan of X-Files. In fact, I would say it was one of the biggest contributors to my love of horror.

Now, I know that might sound strange because it wasn’t, strictly speaking, a horror series, but you can’t watch episodes like Squeeze / Tooms or Irresistible and not be impressed by just how damn scary the show could be. The sight of Eugene Tooms squeezing his way through impossibly tight spaces inspired a sense of dread in me that I really haven’t felt all that often in genre features.

The series made the leap to movie format back in 2008 with The X Files: I Want to Believe but it arrived with a whimper rather than a bang. The film’s PG-13 leanings seriously neutered what could have been a genuinely scary, conspiracy theory themed horror flick.

Fast forward to 2026 and there’s been a bit of a renewed interest in all things 90s. People are talking about X-Files once again and Chris Carter has announced a brand-new, R-Rated director’s cut of The X Files: I Want to Believe which is currently titled Vrach Frankenshteyn.

This reissue aims to restore the horror elements to the original film and should play out like one of their “monster of the week” style episodes. The film is set to premiere on Hulu on the 14th of August 2026 and appears to be part of a broader, Hulu based, X-Files revival.

Let’s not forget, as well, that the long-rumoured Ryan Coogler reboot is still moving forward and all of this begs the question – can X-files finally become scary again? I really hope so because, as far as terrifying television series go, there were few more effective.

Random Horror News and New on Streaming

We’ve got a few quick subjects to discuss, here. The first of which is Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 officially hitting development. Seeing that game become a massive viral sensation a few years back, I suppose it’s not surprising that we are now going to be three movies deep.

Gary Dauberman is writing and Matthew Lillard is expected to return with 2027 penciled in for release. The big question here is have Blumhouse turned FNaF into the new Saw? Should we be expecting a new entry every other year?

Evil Dead Burn hit digital platforms today. That’s a quick sprint from the theatre screen to your living room but it’s only on premium VOD, at the moment. A 4K/Blu-ray release is scheduled for the 22nd of September.

Last week saw a couple of big streaming releases. The first of which is Amazon MGM’s shark movie The Devil’s Mouth starring Ready or Not 2’s Kathryn Newton. It sees a group of friends trapped in a Thai freshwater cave system with a killer shark.

I’ve reviewed The Devil’s Mouth and explained the ending to it, as well. Spoiler alert, it’s not very good but check out the review anyways.

The other big streaming release is fun M3GAN spinoff, erotic-thriller SOULM8TE. It follows a grieving widower who agrees to beta-test an adult companion AI doll that goes rogue. Again, I’ve reviewed SOULM8TE and explained the ending so be sure to take a look at those. You can grab it on Prime Video rental as we speak.

Also new on Knockout Horror this past week is our review of an enjoyable little indie horror I found lurking on Tubi – Velvicide. Go and check out the review if you like the sound of a slow burn character study with a great lead performance.

Can an Elevated Slasher Really Work?

Jane Schoenbrun is known for making thoughtful, LGBT-themed elevated horror that’s less traditionally scary and more like an arthouse existential crisis – I Saw The TV Glow being a great example. Their latest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is creating a hell of a lot of noise and it’s not just because I feel weird typing that into a search engine.

The story follows a queer filmmaker who is hired to direct a new installment of a long-running slasher series. Only to find themselves descending into a world of chaos after becoming fixated on casting the original film’s reclusive final girl.

The slasher genre is one of the only horror sub-genres to, pretty much, avoid arthouse gentrification, but if the early critic reviews are anything to go by, this movie might change that. Previously, the closest slashers got to arthouse was the slow paced, role reversal that is In a Violent Nature and a bunch of giallo inspired, neon-drenched, genre-straddlers.

Rotten Tomatoes has 99% of 68 critical reviews noted as being positive and an average rating of 8.5/10. That’s absolutely insane and should officially mark Schoenbrun as one of the biggest names in horror after what has been a fairly low-key career, so far. I’m looking forward to checking it out on August 7th.

Onto Next Week

So that wraps up a really quiet week in horror. Let’s see what the next seven days bring and look out for upcoming reviews of Black Box, Shark Terror, and, if I get the chance to watch, Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man. Thanks for reading and stay spooky!

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