The Tripper (2006) User Reviews

Bad Trip & Ax Reagan

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 17 April 2008]

In the 80's, after seeing his father and lumberjack foreman being hit by a protester against the deforesting and arrested by the police, the boy Gus kills the protester with a chainsaw. In the present days, Samantha (Jamie King), who is traumatized after being abused by her former boyfriend Jimmy (Balthazar Getty), travels with her pothead friends in a van to the American Free Love Festival, a rock-and-roll concert in the woods. Near the location, they are assaulted by three local hillbillies, but they succeed to arrive in the festival. Meanwhile, Mayor Hal Burton (Rick Overton) and Deputy Buzz Hall (Thomas Jane) try to give a minimum of organization to the event. However, a deranged psychopath serial-killer wearing a mask of Ronald Reagan uses an ax to kill the pacific stoned hippies.

The slasher "The Tripper" is a great disappointment. David Arquette certainly had the intention of making a cult-movie and was supported by a good cast (probably his friends) including a cameo appearance of his wife and a great cinematography and lightening, but unfortunately the story never works. Jason Mewes is comfortable performing his traditional role of pothead; the sexy Jaime King has a good performance in the role of Samantha but the good actor Thomas Jane is displaced in his silly role. Further, the political anti-war jokes and speeches of the Republicans and Ronald Reagan are boring. In a cheap manipulation, the Brazilian DVD highlights the name of Courtney Cox-Arquette in the movie, misleading her fans. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Perseguição Assassina" ("Assassin Pursue")

It's a short trip without Silent Bob

[slake09 · 4/10 · 12 August 2007]

This hippie slasher movie from director David Arquette is a mildly amusing satire on other slasher movies that does nothing new with the genre but is entirely watchable. You can watch it, even enjoy it, but there's nothing different from the last satire of slasher movies you saw.

Production values are high, this isn't some cheaply done indie movie, there are actual actors/actresses pretending to be stoned hippies, and the camera work is up to par. It's not particularly funny, though, and the only amusement worth mentioning comes from Jason Mewes, busily playing his Jay character without the benefit of Silent Bob. He could have used the backup in this one.

There is some brief nudity and a lot of swearing and drug usage, but it's not shocking or even particularly interesting. It fits into the story line, so it's not gratuitous. There are some gratuitous gross out moments involving gore and fecal matter, but they are the kind you would expect in this genre.

Every character is a stereotype of one kind or another, from the fascist small town sheriff to the greedy concert promoter. No one steps out of their stereotype, the dialog is competent but not terribly exciting, and the villain himself is only distinct from other slashers because he wears a Reagan mask.

This isn't one to go out and look for, but if it's all that's left at the movie rental place on the tail end of a Saturday night, with a bunch of friends in your living room - you can watch it without being sorry. You probably should break into your stash first, just to be on the safe side.

unsuccessful mixture of murder and politics

[Buddy-51 · 4/10 · 12 October 2008]

In "The Tripper," a slasher movie with a political conscience, a serial killer wearing a Ronald Reagan mask stalks a group of anachronistic hippies (so anachronistic they have cell phones along with their tie dye t-shirts and psychedelic van) who have come to the forests of Northern California to celebrate free love and partake in unlimited drug use at a Woodstock-type outdoor event.

The Red State/Blue State divide is never far from the filmmakers' minds as a bunch of gun-toting rednecks go up against a group of Flower Power love children who suddenly descend on the area. The saving grace, if indeed there is one, of this gory, but not particularly disturbing, splatter-fest is the tongue-in-cheek humor it manages to display from time to time. Otherwise, this odd little mixture of horror movie clichés and outdated political satire (does anybody really care about the Reagan administration any more?) falls strangely flat.

I guess the best thing I could say about this is AVOID at all cost!

[MarkC · 1/10 · 13 August 2007]

This has got to be one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. The acting is horrible and the scenes flipping back and forth are just an annoyance. The use of red as a fade seem that the director was trying for a Quentin Tarantino effect that seems to be lost on this movie. I think I would rather watch "Police Academy - Ten" before I watch this movie again. This movie tried to be a horror movie when in fact the movie itself is horrible. What did the writers think when they wrote this? Do they honestly believe that hippies are still around like they were in the 70's? Another point concerning this movie is it should have never been produced. I'm sure this movie will lose money. I guess the best thing I could say about this is AVOID at all cost! If you considered this movie good then I apologize if you think my comments are to critical.... I just enjoy good movies.

Nice try

[kfantastico · 2/10 · 21 April 2007]

It's true, everyone that saw The Tripper at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, CA, last night (4-10-07) had a great time. It was a sold out show of around 500 people, David Arquette and other members of the cast/crew were there, and lots of local folks showed up to support their friends and family members cast as extras (it was shot locally here in town). The event made it seem waaaay better than it really was. There's truly something special about seeing a movie, even a bad one, with a full house of excited people.

However, I missed the show last night. Rather, I heard all about it from several of my friends that were there. But since I was curious, and I wanted to see what the quirky D.A. would produce as a filmmaker, I checked it out at another venue earlier tonight, one with a modest crowd and no fanfare. What a difference a milieu makes.

While slasher flicks aren't my favorite genre, I do like good ones, e.g., Scream, Halloween, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original, of course). But The Tripper was bad, and not even "bad" in an enjoyable way. I could tell that everyone gave it their best shot -- the makeup effects and acting were pretty good -- but the story was weak, the humor fell flat, the political subtext was sophomoric, and the characters were all unappealing (except for the lovely and underrated Jaimie King). How this didn't end up straight to video I'll never know.

David Arquette should stick with acting...

[MrGKB · 5/10 · 23 May 2008]

...because based on the evidence of "The Tripper" he's an average-at-best director and a distinctly second- or even third-string screenwriter, though no doubt hamstrung by the scripting contributions of Joe "Darkness Falls" Harris. I'm sorry, I admire good intentions as well as the next guy, but only when they rise above mundane infernal construction projects, if you catch my drift. "The Tripper" is essentially a vanity project, and suffers accordingly.

The production values are alright for a relatively low-budget affair, especially the at-times lovely DP work from Bobby "Arlington Road" Bukowski, and the acting varies from earnestly professional (particularly leads Lukas "Mars Attacks" Haas and Jaime "Sin City" King) to egregiously self-conscious (most notably the ever-moronic-but-somehow-likable Jason "I owe Kevin Smith everything" Mewes and Paul "I AM Pee-Wee!" Reubens), with various shades in-between, including a slumming Thomas "The Mist" Jane as a local sheriff doing his best to keep a straight face. No one, though, collectively or individually, is able to redeem the sophomoric script.

I won't bore my gentle reader with yet another synopsis; you can find that in profusion elsewhere. "The Tripper" is, at best, a slasher film pseudo-parody that plays things too seriously to be genuinely funny, and too tongue-in-cheek to be remotely scary. Arquette should have gone for one or the other, not both. It's a watch-once film that I'm quite relieved I found at the library instead of wasting money buying or renting it.

Different and Creative.

[s-toubal · 6/10 · 5 December 2007]

The Blood and Gore was a bit comical, but overall it was an enjoyable movie. Some of the death scenes were done with some creativity and I think they hit the nail right in the head as far as depicting how Hippies behave and live their lives for nothing, but smoking pot or getting high with mushrooms, acid and whatever else drug they can get their hands on. This concert the Hips were attending reminded me of that event in the desert called (The Burning Man). David Arquette used a different approach to directing this and it was an effective approach for the most part. The acting was decent with some actors being better than others. So overall I give this a 6 out of 10. Not bad for Arquette's directorial debut.

Don't we see movies to escape reality?

[thebigrodney · 2/10 · 23 December 2007]

I had to stop this movie at about 25 minutes in because of the bad acting, horrible dialogue and the "political comment a minute" script. We go to see movies to get away from the bad news of everyday life. The last thing I want in a slasher film (or any film) is more commentary on Bush is bad, Bush is good, war is evil, corporate American is profiting from killing children, love everyone, legalize drugs, blah, blah, blah. I just saw a movie that could have very easily taken a political slant but didn't...."I Am Legand" with Will Smith. That was a good movie.

I want boobs, blood, a surprise ending, a twist, a bunch of good "jumps" in a horror film. David Arquette is a complete DORK. Go away please.

Trip out on the Tripper

[gaus17 · 21 February 2007]

Not having to face the facts, this movie is beyond weird. The tripper wears a Ronald Reagan mask while he butchers unsuspecting hippies. David Arquette took this movie and ran away with it, ax in hand. The plot seems kind of violent, i mean c'mon, Hippies? Who is going after hippies, but hey? This movie will trip out even the most hardened horror movie trippers. David Arquette's did a good job at directing, writing and acting in it. The Ronald Reagan mask is real 1980's cahuenga pass. It reminds me of the Max Headroom days when all we saw was cold war, berlin war and Ronald Reagan on t.v. This will probably get some hippies scared of a walking Ronald Reagan.

Not bad, but not good either

[dustinhunter707 · 6/10 · 5 November 2007]

OK now this movie wasn't completely horrible because the whole idea of a psychopath obsessing himself with Ronald Reagan and then dressing up like him to go kill hippies actually worked and was pretty frightening. But the gore was really fake looking and the characters were just completely dumb because they were really high the whole movie and didn't pay attention to anything that could have saved their lives. I like David Arquette, but I think he needed to rewrite this one a little before he made it and make the gore a little more realistic as well. Overall I give it a 6 out of 10 because it had a good storyline, but it kind of failed as the movie continued on. I would only recommend this to those who like brainless horror films with dumb characters and fake gore.

Annoying... I guess you have to be baked.

[terrible2 · 5/10 · 10 December 2008]

Well you have to at least give "The Tripper" an "A" for originality...

A strange little tale of the hippie culture being massacred by a Ronald Reagan-Masked killer during a music festival in the country. Very odd and at times quite annoying, but there are a few moments of grandeur... Written and directed by David Arquette "The Tripper" sells the scenario short with silly child-like humor and over the top performances by it's A-List walk on cameos. The main characters are unlikable, which leaves the viewer not caring about their well being at all. Jason Mewes acts even more ridiculous then his "Jay" character (if you can believe that), to the point where you just can't wait to see him killed, just to shut him up... I'm not sure if the film was aiming to, but it makes the hippie culture look even dumber and less human then the woodland creatures they try to protect. Pee Wee does a great job as the foul-mouthed concert promoter, but Thomas Jane looks stupid as the sheriff. The inconsistencies in character development makes this confusing movie even that much harder to watch, and by the end of the film you feel more baked then the idiots on screen...But alas, there are some decent gore scenes and the cinematography looks fantastic. If you are in the mood for mindless comedy / horror dribble, then this might work for you. If you are looking for a good hallucinogenic horror film, try renting "Shrooms" (the movie) instead...

A very Republican slasher

[Chris_Docker · 8/10 · 18 February 2007]

When Scream veteran David Arquette steps into the directorial chair to make a horror movie, you might be forgiven for expecting more of the same. But you would be wrong.

The opening sequence has news footage of nameless war dead, inhumanely thrown together like so much butcher meat. A voice-over says how there is nothing glamorous about war. The image is uncomfortably mirrored later in scenes of carnage and mass-murder. No shortage of gore, but it is the political overtones that make the movie stand out and also invite forgiveness for the appreciably low budget.

The story follows a bunch of hippies having a love festival in the woods, much to the annoyance of local hicks. They are stalked by a psychopath in a realistic Ronald Reagan mask who starts chopping them up. Of those that are left, most are too stoned on ecstasy and LSD ('trippers' - geddit?) to want to believe anything very terrible is happening or that they could do anything about it anyway. The suggestion is obvious: you are living in happy oblivion while your political leaders wreak havoc in the world. Vietnam is neatly linked to Iraq, and 'Reagan' has a pig named George W that seems to be fed on severed limbs. This is no gentle analogy - it is served up with a sledgehammer (or rather an axe in most cases). Ill-gotten gains fly in the air as a body is cut in half with a chainsaw. "No daughter of mine is going to be hooked on drugs," says the killer tenderly, advancing with murderous intent. Better off dead, obviously.

The humour is sparse enough to lend only light relief. With the lifelike Reagan towering over him, axe in hand, one victim pleads, "But I'm a Republican!" The killer dog Nancy is particularly nasty.

And there's another layer . . . When Ronald Reagan was governor of California, he famously released a record number of mental health patients back into the community to save costs. (In case you didn't know this before seeing the film, you will before the end.) Arquette says he was inspired to make the film by growing up in Los Angeles during the Reagan years. Overtly political, B-movie blood-and-gore effects that are nevertheless stomach-churning, lots of nudity and some nice cinematography that mimics the drug experience, The Tripper even has pictures of all the politicians it hates in the credits.

The Tripper may be for horror fans only, but it is an unpretentiously daring attempt to launch a broadside at a morally righteous right-wing establishment that is ankle deep in dead bodies of political making.

A dead President killing faux hippies? What's not to love?

[MBunge · 7/10 · 7 May 2010]

You might think a horror-comedy about Ronald Reagan killing hippies that ends with an environmental speech by Robert Kennedy Jr. won't be much fun. But with The Tripper, you'd be wrong.

Set during President George W. Bush's first term in office, The Tripper concerns a group of faux hippies. By faux hippies, I mean they dress and act and take drugs like it was the early 1970s and not the early 21st century. The trio of young couples - Sam and Ivan (Jaime King and Lukas Haas), Joey and Linda (Jason Mewes and Marsha Thomason) and Jack and Jade (Stephen Heath and Paz de la Huerta) - have all piled into a van and are heading to a music festival in the woods. Sam hooked up with this crew after a bad drug trip, trying to get away from her possessive and violent boyfriend Jimmy (Balthazar Getty). After a run in with a fairly generic group of rednecks, Sam and company make it to the festival. But before long, people start turning up dead, pushing local cop Buzz (Thomas Jane) to try and close the festival down. The spirit of freedom and the desire to get high won't be denied, however, and the concert goes on…right up until an orgy of murder perpetrated by a crazy guy who thinks he's Ronald Reagan. The murderer also has a pig named George W. to eat the remains of his victims.

When you hear the politically tinged details of the story, you might think this is a strident, overwrought piece of liberal propaganda…but you couldn't be more wrong. This is a fun little film that has no actual agenda than trying hard to entertain you. It may cast Reagan as an ax murderer but it's almost as hard on its faux hippie main characters, who, except for Sam, are all huge losers. I don't know if David Arquette thought he was making a political film, but The Tripper is as serious about politics as Groundhog Day is about meteorology.

What Arquette did make is a movie that's constantly working to please you. Whether it's flashes of gore, a couple of nudists walking by, wisecracks from Thomas Jane or a concert promoter who really, really loves the F-word, there's always something coming at you. A lot of films can start out strong but hit a wall. They reach a point where the story just starts killing time until it gets to the end. That never happens with The Tripper. There's no dead spot where it runs out of plot or has the characters lapse into a stretch of pointless screaming and running. Some scenes are shot in a very pedestrian style and no one involved in this movie had any clue how to film a fight scene, but there's a lot of interesting things splashed on the screen. This movie has its own look and its own sensibility, which is fairly impressive for a novice filmmaker working in a somewhat difficult genre. Horror-comedies can go very wrong, very easily, but Arquette strikes a nice balance between humor and slaughter.

He also gets some decent performances out of his cast. Thomas Jane looks like he's having a great time as the cop with a Fu Manchu mustache who has to deal with these faux hippies. Jaime King, as the only character with anything like a real backstory, manages to play a traditional horror heroine without lapsing into self-parody. Jason Mewes, however, is the standout performer of the film. Best known as Jay from Jay and Silent Bob in Kevin Smith's movies, Mewes shows off genuine charisma and screen presence. I'm not sure if he can actually, you know, act. But there are many skilled actors who would kill for Mewes' natural appeal.

This is exactly the sort of movie I'm always hoping for when I grab a DVD off the shelf. It's a film not that many folks have seen or even heard of, but it's still a good piece of entertainment that you'll be glad you saw. The next time you're looking for something to watch, take a ride with The Tripper.

One of the most awful movies I've ever seen in my life

[nizze-1 · 1/10 · 31 July 2007]

How this movie's got a rating of 6.7 is totally mind blowing to me. It's seriously one of the worst movies I've ever seen and believe me, iv'e seen my share of bad movies. My tip to you is to avoid this movie at all costs. If you see it on a shelf somewhere, just run and never look back. Yeah. Thats how bad it is. It's kind of a scream rip-off, but worse. The only highlight's in this movie are the occasional one liners that are, just so incredible bad that it makes you laugh your lungs out. Maybe this is a movie for those who have never seen a horror film before because I never got scared while watching this. Not even close. Instead I got a sudden urge to sleep.

Below average Slasher.

[desire_temptation · 3/10 · 22 August 2007]

Plot: A group of hippies attends The American Love Fest. This festival unites the free hippies in a massive display of love, freedom, and drug use. The location of the festival is inside a forest and in the midst of the forest there awaits a man hell bent on wrapping his axe around the head of any person who wonders his forest. One by one, hippies start disappearing, and this strikes the attention of the sheriff, who seems to be the only person concerned with the notion of a maniac lost in the woods. After the deaths of a few, the unenviable happens; the masses of hippies find one of the victims tied feet first to one of the branches of a tree. This instills fear and causes widespread panic. However, it does not last for long; it actually drives the people to dwell deeper into the woods, where they party long and hard in front of a bone fire.

The killer, who wears the mask of former President Ronald Reagan, reaches the pinnacle of his efforts when he rampages around the bone fire, rips of limbs, decapitates heads, and chops other body parts on a massive scale. The funny thing is nobody seemed to run away to safety. Instead, they sat and stared as each victim falls prey to Ronald. The climax is the most famous slasher movie cliché involving the drug free, socially withdrawn, troubled person, who, you guest it, is of course female, and the only person who did not have sex, fights with the evil Ronald Reagan. She eventually kills him with a hammer. Although, guess what, Ronald is not dead. The deputy informs the Sheriff that the body of Ronald had no been recovered, and the end scene shows Ronald stabbing the most annoying character in the film - the event manager. Other slasher clichés include, the murder of the informative old man who heeds warnings to the unsuspecting victims, the killer who turns out to be avenging to death of his mother by killing those who represent the same people who in his mind killed his mother. The couple interrupted during sex who happen to die, the corrupt official, the interaction with the town locals on the way to the festival, where they happen to get drawn into a fight, the crazy ex-boyfriend showing up at the very end, the law abiding sheriff who is the only person, apart from the hero, fearful of things to come, and many others I cannot think of right now. Oh, hang on, the killer who mysteriously vanishes into thin air leaving behind nothing other then his mask.

View: This is just another cliché filled horror/slasher film that brings nothing new to the screen. The setting, plot, characters, dialogue and everything about the film is substandard. Heck, it bored the hell out of me.

Rating: 3/10 - It was terrible, but I've seen worse. I wouldn't recommend it. It's not even worth downloading the sucker for free.

ALERT this movie is politically motivated

[fred3f · 4/10 · 23 October 2007]

This is not a review of the artistic or entertainment qualities of the movie. This is an ALERT or warning, for those who care about such things, that the movie is politically motivated. It is an attempt to subconsciously persuade the audience that certain political figures and views are "dangerous."

There is a movement in Hollywood to make movies are don't seem "political" but are based on political assumptions. The idea is to make the audience agree with the assumptions in order to go along with the movie which is (in this case) an suspense action flic. When the audience walks out of the movie they now believe the assumptions without actually thinking about it. It is a propaganda tool which was invented in Nazi Germany and is now the M. O. for too many Hollywood productions. It only works if it is done repetitively and without discussion of the actual issue. The viewer is given the idea that "everyone knows that there are crazy conservatives out there who are nuts about Reagan and one of them could become a killer." Since Hollywood is predominately liberal you probably won't see a movie about a Clinton fan who goes nuts and kills church goers. But if such a movie ever comes out I will warn against it also.

The movie is entertaining, so go to it if you like this kind of entertainment, but be aware you are being politically manipulated and if you are aware, that will be enough to negate the effects.

Hollywood needs to stop trying to manipulate the public. There is nothing wrong with a political film, but it should be boldly political, not a manipulative political film that pretends to be an action/suspense film.

Rubbish slasher that doesn't deliver.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 30 November 2008]

The Tripper is set in Northern California where six doped up tree loving hippie friends make their way to the Free Love Festival in the middle of some woods just outside a small town. There they intend to dance, smoke some weed, make love & generally have some fun. However their plans are slightly thrown out of kilter when a Ronald Reagan mask wearing psycho killer turns up & starts killing all the hippies & guests. Personally I would give the guy a medal but you can't just go around killing people no matter how annoying they are so local cop's & surviving hippies team up to put an end to the Ronald Reagan killer once & for all...

Co-written, co-produced, directed by & starring David Arquette I am yet again amazed by all the positive comments this piece of crap film has, where has people's taste in films gone where they can rave about a piece of turgid crap such as The Tripper which offers zero entertainment value as far as I am concerned? I keep reading & hearing about how clever The Tripper is, how relevant it is, the fact that it's a knowing satire of American culture & has something socially relevant to say & get across. Did I just see the same film? Where is all this social commentary & satire then? There's a conversation between the hippies talking about George W. Bush but the most intelligent thing said is that he 'has Texan sized balls' which just about sums up how clever & thoughtful The Tripper is. There seems to be a quick anti war message thing going on at the start but then is completely forgotten about as none of it's ideas or themes are carried through with an conviction. Even the hippies are shown as stereotypical tree huggers who are always stoned, boring & it's been done to death plenty of times before. There is nothing thought provoking, clever or relevant in The Tripper & I found it one long bore. So the social commentary sucks & doesn't work what about the horror & slasher content? Well that sucks too, the pace is mind numbingly slow, the kills are tame & few & far between, the killers motives are again meant to be clever but they don't work & I don't really see why he dresses up as Ronald Reagan, maybe it's an American thing & being British I don't get it but I got it enough to know it sucks. So as a horror film it sucks, as a comedy it's not funny in the slightest & as a film that tries to be meaningful it fails completely on all fronts. One to avoid I think.

I must admit that The Tripper does seem to have a budget & it actually has good production values but the film still sucks balls though. The gore levels are disappointing, there's an off screen decapitation, there are a few dead bodies seen, someones hand is chopped off (to which the stoned one handed kid says 'what's your f%^&ing problem?), the killer stabs a couple of people, he uses an axe at the end to kill hippies in a rather bloodless way, someone is sliced in half with a chainsaw & a guy is seen with a chainsaw stuck in his neck but it's all pretty tame actually. There's no build-up to any of the kills, there's no tension & while the woods provides a decent yet clichéd location there's not too much of an atmosphere either. I am really struggling to find one single positive thing to say about The Tripper, I just thought it was moronic & unfunny rubbish of the highest order that doesn't satisfy on any level whether your looking for horror or comedy or satire.

To give The Tripper some credit it does look quite nice with above average production values but as I said the film is still terrible. Apparently shot in the Big Basin Redwoods State Park in California. I found the entire cast grated on my nerves, David Arquette's wife Courtney Cox appears although I didn't recognise her.

The Tripper is a truly terrible film that I hated, I keep seeing & reading about how good this is but I just didn't see it at all & I really do wonder if I saw the same film. Absolute total & utter crap from start to finish & that's my opinion.

Not bad

[jason_13 · 6/10 · 30 August 2007]

The Tripper is a movie, directed by the famous actor David Arquette. It's about couple of teens, heading to a concert when their plans change direction. A serial killer is on the loose.

At least for me, Arquette's directing skills are much more interesting than the movie itself. Whether the good old Dewey Reily is good behind the camera, or he is just wasting his time, after having already achieved pretty much everything.

The Tripper's directing is completely casual. There is absolutely nothing original or surprising in terms of direction, editing or even writing. Cheap dialog, fast paced chase scenes, everything, you'll find in slashers today. However, The Tripper manages to keep all slasher rules. Despite the first impressions, the movie is far from being ambitious. That turns out to be a big plus later on, when you realize The Tripper is a perfectly bearable horror film.

The cast deserves a look. Thomas Jane, Jamie King, Jason Mewes and of course David Arquette. Most are average at best, but their popularity does bring refinement to the picture in some weird way. There is even a ridiculous Courtney Cox cameo near the end of the film. I appreciate her acting skills, she's a good actress, but that was pathetic. It's like, her and David were having an argument whether she deserves a role in his movie and their decision is a brainless, ten seconds cameo.

Apart from the eccentric cast, The Tripper is a fine, contemporary slasher. The killer appears to be a fan of president Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, the opening scene shows us the background of the villain and there is a complete lack of mystery and suspense during the final 15-20 minutes. This is the movie's major flaw. You really do have to think twice before trying to trick the audience in such a naive way. There is a scene where we are supposed to believe that one of the chicks's ex-boyfriend is the killer. I mean, this is dumb. What's the point of the first scene? The killer's profile is good. I liked it. As I said, we know who he is, but that doesn't affect his image though. There is a very high amount of death scenes. Slasher fans, such as myself, won't be disappointed. Althougt most of the gore is used in a comic way, it's still graphic.

Overall, The Tripper is a positive surprise, horror fans should view. Not flawless, not great, but quite watchable and entertaining for what it is.

worst horror movie ever seen

[thomasjane_86 · 1/10 · 24 April 2008]

actually I was interesting to see the the first movie to Thomas Jane my favorite actor after the legend the punisher movie and after two years of that great movie,but i had disappointed and the movie was too bad and it never never compare between the last work Thomas Jane did it and this movie !! the acting is too bad,and that movie cannot consider it as horror movie or fantasy or action or anything !! it may be consider comedy movie not horror movie !! the thing that was may be good in this movie is the story , but the special effects wasn't completely with it !! so you think as you watch comedy movie not horror movie. and i wonder how great actor like Thomas Jane acting in this loser movie ? however i see this movie as the worst horror movie that ever coming out in the history of the horror movies and please not rate to this movie to the cast and the producer think to do second part of this movie.

No Republicans or hippies were harmed in the making of this motion picture.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 20 November 2017]

A modern slasher with a heavy dose of political commentary, "The Tripper" was the brainchild of actor / co-writer / director David Arquette (whom you probably know best as the dopey Deputy Dewey from the "Scream" franchise). It's got plenty of gore, and a fair amount of sex, but it's noteworthy more for its satirical approach, as it skewers the entire hippie generation and conservative Americas' response to it.

The plot is nothing special. You have an air headed gaggle of kids - played by, among others, Lukas Haas and Jaime King - heading for the woods to attend a "Woodstock" type rock festival organized by Frank Baker (Paul Reubens). Everybody's good time is ruined by the appearance of a savage psychopath who clearly admires Ronald Reagan, and who even keeps a pack of nasty dogs, the worst one being named Nancy.

Arquette does have some cutting things to say about his targets; he refers to the fact that a bunch of mental inmates had once been unleashed upon the world due to budgetary cutbacks engineered by Reagan. Overall, one would have to say that his commentary is heavy handed, but it does make this grind house-style horror picture a cut above a lot of other current genre fare.

Moodily shot by Bobby Bukowski, "The Tripper" is not totally without humour, but plays itself straight a good deal of the time. Since so many of the characters are not really fleshed out, you don't much care for them and will likely cheer when they meet their demise.

Some of the cast give it 100%. It's fun to watch "Pee-wee Herman" actor Reubens drop tons of F bombs and play a generally sleazy moron. Thomas Jane is also pretty amusing as a local yokel cop. Other familiar faces include Jason "Jay" Mewes, Rick Overton, and Balthazar Getty. Arquettes' brother Richmond plays the police officer Cooper; his then-wife Courtney Cox produced the film with him and has a cameo as an animal-loving hippie.

Definitely worth at least one look for genre fans.

Seven out of 10.

What an embarrassment!

[thegreatbeast2000 · 2/10 · 10 July 2008]

That so many prominent actors would collude to produce this piece of crap saddens me. Sophomoric would be an aspiration for this film but The Tripper can't reach that bar. The crudity of the political impetus to this film is not just simplistic, it's severely retarded. To draw characters of such stunted stereotypicality is an insult to any prospective viewer. There isn't one role that isn't appallingly encumbered by the nature of their shallowness of type. The sheriff (Jane), while chasing the killer's father, comes across the lair of the psychopath , papered with newsclippings about Reagan, and is scared when the (venal, crooked and meddling) roughed up mayor steps out of the shadows blubbering. This causes the sheriff to not only lose his hat but drop on the floor the shotgun that had been his main weapon while in pursuit. Does he stoop to pick it up? No, and of course as soon as the sheriff helps the mayor out of the shack, the shotgun becomes an immediate need when dogs attack the mayor. Does the sheriff take out handgun on his hip to take care of the dogs? No, he runs like a scared rabbit.

Courtney Cox, Paul Reubens, Jaime King, David Arquette, Thomas Jane, Lukas Haas and Balthezar Getty-- you'd think acouple of them would have called for a rewrite to the crapulous script,but again, no. What a terrible waste of money (because the production values are of a professional caliber). Better that the celluloid wasted on this film had been used to make guitar picks.

Jelly Beans, Purple Sticky Punch, Chainsaws and Ronald Reagan. Excerpt from The Horror Review

[Mr_Alphonso · 10/10 · 8 March 2007]

How does one label David Arquette's directorial debut? Possibly awe inspiring? No, too vague. I've got it…This film is a brilliantly executed politically charged homicidal satire of our generation.

David has created a new breed of a horror film. I'd liken The Tripper to early works by cult fave, George Romero. This film knocked my socks off. Crisp dialogue, great characters and enough scares to send shivers down your spine. Seriously.

The story, from my perspective, is a throwback to classic 70's and 80's horror romps fused with the trickle down ideals that Reagan gave to us.

The Tripper opens with an obscure kid watching his father arguing with "save the redwoods" activists and results in a very bloody end that gives little Michael Myers a run for his money in the opening scene of Halloween. From here the narrative blooms like cannabis and follows a group of twenty-somethings as they travel to a love and peace concert, hosted by an aged Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) in the very woods that the opening tragedy occurred. The group is led by the breathtaking Jamie King, Stephen Heath, Lukas Haas, Jason Mewes sans his Silent Bob but still with his rapid-fire one-liners and the always beautiful Marsha Thomason (Las Vegas). Thomas Jane (The Punisher) plays the local sheriff and David Arquette, well, his character's name is Muff and I don't think I need to say anymore.

Before one can scream Jason Voorhees, a killer donning a Reagan mask descends upon the locals with a sharp political tool; an axe. Balthazar Getty has one of the best lines in the film as he screams "But I'm a Republican!" And the stunning Mrs. Cox-Arquette appears in one of the funniest moments of the film that left me howling.

Arquette has written a dark satire that, thanks to Trickle Down economics, transcended the political climate for the past 20 years. Even the killer's motive is revealed in a bold way by referencing Reagan's poor decision to open up mental institutions and let the patients roam the streets. One chased me to my car last night after seeing this film.

This is a unique film experience like Natural Born Killers was back in 1994. The characters are rich and their personalities are extremely layered. As far as the dialogue, my goodness, Arquette seems to have left no political ideal untouched.

I have no idea how they're going to market and promote this film but it's one to watch when released nationally in 2007. A note to Hollywood…let David stretch his creative legs in the future and when he asks for a bigger budget, do not hesitate. He has proved himself as one hell of a filmmaker to watch.

"A hippie is someone who looks like Tarzan, walks like Jane and smells like cheetah."- Ronald Regan

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 31 January 2010]

Some people look at Ronald Regan as a hero, an all-American cowboy made of awesome who rode in and brought our country into the "Regan-80's", and some look at him as one of the worst things that has happened to our country in the 20th century, with de-regulation and corruption and "Reganomics". David Arquette is after something a little more simple and direct in his film: what if he inspired a serial killer? And not just any serial killer, but the kind that traipse through the woods and goes after drug-addled and sex-crazed hippies in modern times? His debut feature as director, The Tripper, goes to wild and awesome lengths to explain that.

The film isn't always particularly great, not in the sense that your really 'great' horror movie will go. This isn't John Carpenter's Halloween, and it doesn't pretend to be. It's a slasher of a 'HELL YEAH' order, where it's just a lot of fun seeing Arquette have fun with his cast of young people (one of those a weirdly pro-Bush fiend played by Jason Mewes) and more recognizable folks in their 30's and 40's (Thomas Jane and Paul Reubens as a sheriff and a sleazy party promoter). It's not original either in its story of an insane mental patient who escapes and dons a Ronald Regan mask to hunt after his prey, all attending a rock music festival in the woods... well, maybe the Ronald Regan part. Perhaps it's one of a handful of horror-comedies to use politics in such a grab-bag of references and quotes (one victim says, pleadingly, "But, I'm a republican!"), and sometimes just as fodder for "damn you hippies!" jokes.

But there is invention and surprise in the film-making here, and even some impressive cinematography and shots out in the woods. Sometimes there's even just a weird line that is totally hilarious (when Thomas Jane as the officer is facing the audience of hippies at the concert, "Leave or you will all die!" in an official's capacity!), and when the Ronald Regan killer gets on a roll with his shtick, quoting himself like a fiend ("Good Morning, America!"), you might wonder why this concept hasn't really been done outside of Point Break. It's not too in-your-face as a satire, and Arquette doesn't mean for this to be taken too seriously- albeit some references to Bush in 2003 and 9/11 are a little blatant- but just enough as a farce of slasher movies with a gimmick. It's a self-conscious parody that works on its own as a decent horror movie, and better as a comedy, and combined it makes for a fun night of viewing.

An Acidic Trip

[jamhorner · 5/10 · 2 February 2008]

What do you get when you cross Republican president Ronald Reagan, hippies, hatchets, a homicidal maniac and a whole lot of drugs? You get David Arquette's The Tripper. Basically the movie is about a group of friends, who are hippies, that travel through the northern wood of California for an all night rock n' roll concert, similar to that of Woodstock. The problem is, people start dying and turning up in pieces by the hands of a lunatic dressed up like Reagan. This movie was an equally balanced horror flick in my opinion. I enjoyed the horror/scares; I loved the outstanding lighting techniques, but I somewhat enjoyed the acting and the plot structure. In fair's game, I enjoyed this film and I did not think it was a waste of time, and it is a very good average horror movie.

First off, I enjoyed the horror and the gore that is placed throughout this movie. It's easy to see that this film follows "standard serial killer guidelines," which is why it was such a good homage to slasher flicks of the 80's and 90's. in this movie "Reagan" wields a non-firearm weapon (hatchet), super human strength, brutal attacks and a scary mask, your typical Republican serial killer. We even have our anti-survival-girl (the heroine that does seem like the hero of the movie). There is a good amount of blood and gore that is NOT typical in slasher flicks, but when dealing with a hatchet it is very necessary to have that amount of blood. The killer does pop out of nowhere at the most inopportune times, which plays for an effective "jump-out scare." There is a good helping of all to familiar blood. The blood in this movie is not as clear as other movie blood, but rather thick and red-pinkish, similar to that of Tim Burton blood that we saw in films like Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd. All in all a good scare from this movie.

The lighting in this movie was a marvel; in fact, it was a huge component to the films genre and its drug themed story. The lighting provided a great mind expander to enhance the already intoxicated feel this movie has. There was a beautiful circular array lighting that had a tie-dye design to it whenever somebody was in silhouette, there were fantastic straight primary colors used and the natural coloring (green plants, blue sky, fire and blood) were amplified to give the audience the blinding feel of the mind on horrible drugs. Ultimately and curiously enough, these amped colors and tie-dye designs only seemed to be present when one of the main characters took a hit. The lighting, as funny as it sounds, played a huge part in the films genre.

The acting was sort of a bittersweet thing for me because by a normal eye, the acting was great but I can see that the emotion and the reactions didn't fit the characters or the situation. Jamie King, who plays the main actress, does a good performance but she tends to overreact to the most subtle things, but when the killer comes, her performance lowers. There were okay performances by Lukas Haas and Balthazar Getty. Jason Mews did not seem like the pot-smoking-foul-mouthed bad boy in this movie, I enjoyed that, he performance was good but I don't think that his character should have been so "light." And Paul Reubens, who plays Frank Baker the owner of the concert, was an obnoxious character who swore too much and seemed like a plot device to set up the ending.

Overall, this movie had a great homage to slasher movies with some good scares and amazing lighting, though the acting and the plot seemed a bit unorthodox, ultimately giving this movie a good average rating. I do recommend this movie for people who enjoy a good slasher flick as well as humorous political satire. Though, I would not recommend this film to those who don't like comedy-horrors like Cabin Fever or Slither. I enjoyed it but I did not like it, basically I have a bittersweet relationship with this movie.

Nancy, help your man....

[FlashCallahan · 2/10 · 12 April 2014]

After seeing his father and lumberjack foreman being hit by a protester and arrested by the police, Gus kills the protester with a chainsaw.

Jump forward a few years, and we meet Samantha, after being abused by her former boyfriend, travels with her friends to the American Free Love Festival.

Mayor Hal Burton and Deputy Buzz Hall try to organise the event, but a deranged psychopath wearing a mask of Ronald Reagan uses an axe to kill the stoned hippies......

Fair dues to Arquette for trying to make a fresh spin on the slasher movie, but, he fails miserably from the very beginning.

He succeeds in capturing the feel and essence of those really poor horror films of the early eighties that tried to rip off Friday, Halloween, and Nightmare, but those films were generally really cheap and nasty, and fell off the radar without a trace.

So why bother here?

Even though you have quite a prolific cast, the script and the story are just so poor, you wouldn't really care if all of the Hollywood A-Listers turning up for a massive party at the end, it wouldn't lift the nasty feeling the film gives you come the end.

With a pointless cameo from Courtney Cox, The Tripper will be known as another poor vanity project from someone who is in the 'where are they now' hall of fame.

Sorry David, keep praying for Scream 5