Instant Favorite.

Don't Believe the Hype

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

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.

From the twisted mind of David Arquette, come the Tripper, a Horror film, that he promised would change the way we see Horror. There's no doubt that Arquette set big expectations for this film, unfortunately the Tripper fell well short of achieving it's goals. A group of hippies take a road trip to this weekend music festival, in the woods of Northern California. The locals don't want them there and pretty soon, the party goers wind up being hunted, by an ax wielding man, who is convinced he's Ronald Reagan. The cast of friends that Arquette put together for this film is impressive, and there were some terrific cameos from the likes of Jason Mewes, Courtney Cox, and Pee Wee Herman, but ultimately they didn't do much to help this film. There are some funny scenes and some great lines, aside from that, this film is nothing different from your traditional, mediocre, slasher film. The one stand out was Thomas Jane who was thrilling as the Sheriff, but the scenes that didn't feature Jane were predictable and honestly kind of dull. The setting was different, the killer was certainly a nice change of pace, and the cast was top notch, but the movie itself was nothing you haven't seen a million times and I was left feeling less than impressed.

Honestly, how can you go wrong? If you are a hippie, you will appreciate the running political commentary. If you are a hardcore conservative, you will have to like how many hippies get axed. For a feature film debut, David Arquette could not have done much better. The dialog is witty throughout, and the death scenes are very entertaining, especially some of the last words of a few characters. I'm not going to ruin any of them, but they are priceless. The Tripper has one of the best openings I have seen in a slasher flick, ever. The musical choices that were made are brilliant. Every time I watch the movie, I like it even more. The editing works perfectly, and David Arquette did an excellent job directing it. Courtney Cox's cameo is one of the funniest moments of the movie, which says a lot considering that it seems like a dark comedy to me. Then again, how could a movie about a man in a Reagan mask killing hippies not be funny? Overall, i highly recommend this underrated movie to anyone who likes political satire and slasher flicks. Good job David Arquette, and i would love to see you do something else along these lines.

A group of modern-day hippies (Jaime King, Lukas Haas, Jason Mewes, Marsha Thomason, Paz de la Huerta and Stephen Heath) go to a Woodstock-like concert filled with drugs, music and topless ladies. But their fun is over, when a serial killer in a Ronald Reagan mask comes to stalk these fun loving hippies.Directed by first-time director:David Arquette (Best known as Dewey in the "Scream" trilogy) made an lively black comedy/horror film that is entertaining but it is truly helped by a good cast as well... including Thomas Jane (Best known for "Deep Blue Sea", "The Mist" and "The Punisher") as a by-the-book sheriff. Director Arquette certainly has an eye for visual style, especially when the female lead character finds herself unexpectedly in a acid trip. Arquette also doesn't shy away from the gore and the social commentary is surprisingly intelligent. I would love to see more movies from Arquette, if he decides to direct more."The Tripper" is a surprising good movie, the horror audiences at the festivals were kind to it and the film critics as well. This picture is certainly one of the most underrated movies of 2006. As film critic Leonard Maltin says it... (Who gives it an above average review) This feels more like a grindhouse film that GRINDHOUSE and he's right. Fans of dark comedies and horror movies will have an blast with this. This is worth watching. Co-written by the director. Watch for the director, Courtney Cox (Who also produced the film and the director's wife) and Wes Craven in amusing cameos. *** 1/2 out of *****.