The Tripper (2006)

Written by Joe Harris & David Arquette
Directed by David Arquette

Man, I wanted to see this movie in theaters on 4/20, and now after having watched it, I'm extremely upset I didn't make a greater effort to go see it. On the same token, I was pretty broke that day, I couldn't even afford my own weed, let alone a movie. Anywho, I'm still glad to have seen it, this easily chalks up as another great slasher flick, and I had to check my calendar to make sure it was really 2007, and that I was really watching NEW, GOOD slasher flicks. Hell, when I watched Fido, I did the same thing. I'll probably do it again when I watch Black Sheep later.

Anyway, if you don't know the story, it's pretty simple, classic slasher genre stuff, so I won't waste time explaining it here, let's just say someone obsessed with Ronald Reagan goes around killing hippies. Enough said. Oh, and the guy they have in the Reagan mask is really creepy, the way the mask is on his face. Nice touch.

Overall, the film isn't too gory, but at the same time, it doesn't waste a whole ton of time with obligatory back story. I mean, a back story and set up is there, but it doesn't feel like it takes up half the movie, which was one of my big problems with Halloween. Once Ronnie gets choppin', he gets down to business. From what I can count, the body count is around 20-22, depending if you consider some deaths or just dismemberments. I'll just assume they died.

The hippie aspect is interesting, and really original, even if it's just a take off of the Jason slasher ethics where sex, drugs, and partying = death. On another level, it's not that simple, the creative touch is that Ronald Reagan did indeed hate hippies. But Arquette manages to tie that into his story, and at the same time, brings humor out of the whole thing, without overtly trying to be laugh out loud funny, which some moments are.

The cast is what really makes this movie work, I believe. It's not your typical horror cast, but when you're a name actor making a horror movie, you can get a better than average cast. Arquette and his brother make amusing cameos, or bit parts I suppose, Jason Mewes is hilarious playing yet another extension of himself, Lucas Haas plays a relatively minor character, but he does it well, Balthazar Getty does the same, and I thought all along Jaimie King was going to be the main character. In reality, the main character is Thomas Jane as the small town cop Buzz Hall, and Jane really carries this film on his back, like he has done so many times in the past few years, carrying little movies into being really entertaining ones. Paul Reubens plays the creep in the movie, the one death that everyone patiently waits for.

David Arquette is obviously a horror fan, but at the same time I have to give him credit for having a vision of originality in something that should be utterly ridiculous, but he manages to make a worthwhile movie, and in turn, a great slasher flick.

9.3/10