Darlings, Eli Roth tried to sell us a hand-drawn fairy tale for his low-budget horror flick Ice Cream Man, only to trip over his own credits and admit he "misspoke" about that generative AI usage. The Borderlands director spun a whole story about his animation background and jittery 1920s-style loops drawn by him and a team, but a preview screener credited Dark Half, the Toronto AI VFX outfit tied to Cream Productions, forcing a quick clarification that a "very small portion" of a few scenes leaned on the tech to "bring my vision to life."

The animated Cuphead-like sequences triggering killer kids were the obvious flashpoint, and Polygon’s follow-up caught him backpedaling without quite pinning it all on those cartoons. Early screenings have reviewers and Reddit horror heads calling out more than a sprinkle—town shots, ice cream details, even live-action elements looking suspiciously generated—while the film’s already eating critical flop status right alongside his last outing.

X is buzzing with the usual yikes and side-eye, from "Eli Roth using generative ai for ice cream man is ...something" takes to sharper jabs tying it to the movie’s other reported issues. Roth can frame it as creative synergy all he wants, but the whiplash from proud hand-drawn claims to quiet AI confession has everyone wondering what else got the digital assist. Sources inside the credits suggest the "small portion" line might be doing some heavy lifting.