the Tripper

I believe that the Tripper may actually be the first combination of the Cheech and Chong formula with the slasher genre. It’s kind of odd, but it works. It mixes and matches its separate elements pretty well. Pot-smoking hippies and a Ronald Reagan-obsessed killer! Drug comedy, political commentary, and spurting blood! I’m not sure why nobody thought of this first. I’m especially astonished that this film was co-written and directed by David Arquette. David-fucking-Arquette. Apparently he’s not the fuckwit I imagined him to be.



The film starts out forty years in the past with young Gus watching Ronald Reagan on the television as his father tends to his dying mother. A problem arises at his father’s logging worksite, and Gus accompanies his father there. Apparently a bunch of hippies are protesting the cutting of the trees. This is unfortunately keeping Gus’s father from working and providing his mother with the medical care she needs. Things go terribly wrong when one of the hippies strikes Gus’s father with a rock. Then Gus strikes the offending hippie with something too.



In the present day, Frank Baker (Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman) is holding a Woodstock-like festival in those very same woods. Samantha (Jaime King), her boyfriend Ivan (Lukas Haas), and friends Joey (Jason Mewes), Jack (Steven Heath), Jade (Paz de la Huerta), and Linda (Marsha Thomason) are all attending. Samantha is trying to steer clear of drugs due to a bad experience with her violent ex-boyfriend Jimmy (Balthazar Getty), but the others are continually toasted and tripping (go figure… Jason Mewes playing a druggie!). Unfortunately, a killer dressed as Ronald Reagan is bringing a little right-wing action to the festival… one axe swing at a time. It’s up to Sheriff Buzz Hall (the incredibly awesome Tom Jane) to keep those damned hippies safe.

The Tripper is a great debut for co-writer/director/producer David Arquette. The script is pretty tight. It delivers on all the right things that a horror comedy should. It’s funny as all hell, and the horror moments are well done. Surprisingly Arquette does a great job bringing life to the script. Apparently, he hasn’t been wasting his time on set during his film years. He’s picked up quite a bit of knowledge from all the directors he’s worked with. The acting is by-far the best thing about the film though. The hippies are all funny despite their one dimensional roles. They know they are there to deliver the laughs and be killed, and they have fun with it. Paul Reubens is a blast as the incredibly profane concert promoter. There’s a moment in the film when he hides in a Port-A-Potty to avoid the killer. It’s gross, but the character is such a dick that you can’t help but love the scene. Tom Jane is the real scene-stealer here though. It’s the first time I have seen Jane outright chew the scenery, and it’s awesome. Tom Jane has seriously become one of my favorite actors over the last several years, and this only increases my respect for the man. As for the killer… I would love to see this turn into a franchise because I was totally cheering on the murderous Reagan. You seriously haven’t lived until you’ve seen Ronnie start slaughtering a field full of hippies. I only have a few problems with the film. The hippies characters fall into the genre-trap of just being there to be victims. Unfortunately we spend too much of the movie with them despite their one dimensional personalities. There just wasn’t enough of the Gipper for me. Secondly the film was a little too comedic for me. There are no really serious moments of horror at all in the film, as they are all played for laughs. All that is really nit-picking really. I loved the movie just for the simple fact that hippies are slaughtered. I swear I have such hippie hate. And really… who better to kill the hippies than Ronnie Reagan? Brilliant.