Theatrical Poster
A few days ago I was lucky enough to come across The Tripper Myspace page whilst wandering about and I happened upon a blog entry made by David Arquette mentioning his new film The Tripper would be screening for Myspace fans three days before its theatrical release. To get in you simply needed to place The Tripper in your Top 8 and print the page out. The print out would be redeemed at the box office for a ticket to see the film. Honestly, what a damn deal! Knowing I’d eventually have to review the film anyhow I figured seeing it before the greater Chicagoland area would be a plus.
While all of the above certainly sounds easy, the wait was not. We stood in line for about three hours to get in and get our tickets. With a little poking and prodding though we were able to secure ourselves press/VIP arm bracelets and we were permitted to enter the press area to await the arrival of David Arquette, Lukas Haas and Thomas Jane…THE PUNISHER HIMSELF! After some time they arrived, we were greeted and the massive crowds still waiting in the commoners lobby (just kiddin’!) were allowed to meet the stars and get in line.
Eventually all press/VIP were called away to enter the theater and my party grabbed our seats, ordered some beer and food and settled in for the movie. The actors came out to, once again, greet the audience and introduce the film and get the party started. The night was turning out to be magical; everything was amazing except for the loud, obnoxious Real World cast members.
Readers, I gotta tell ya…I was skeptical. I stood for three hours and had to fight my way through an agitated crowd to see this film and I wasn’t at all confident the film would live up to the effort I put forth to see it. If it sucked…I was going to be incredibly pissed off. Drunk and full, but pissed off nonetheless.
The Tripper is a politically charged, deliciously ferocious slasher film the likes of which I haven’t seen in years. It grabs you by the balls, shakes you a few times and doesn’t let go the entire running length. People expecting your typical, run-of-the-mill studio produced slasher wankfest are either going to be sadly mistaken or pleasantly surprised depending on their ability to appreciate a kick-ass flick.
Six hippy friends hit the road in their lovemobile and head to a peace and love festival run by money-hungry promoter Frank Baker (Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens). Good old Frank has set the festival up in a small town known for belligerent, Republican rednecks, mysterious disappearances and deadly traps set by shrewd pot farmers. Mayor Hal Burton (Rick Overton) places de facto Sheriff Buzz Hall (Thomas “The Punisher” Jane) and Deputy Cooper (Richmond Arquette) in charge of keeping the peace and hopefully keeping the hippies alive during the festival.
One of the six friends, Samantha (Jaime King), is doing more than just getting away for peace and love though; she’s recovering from a bad acid trip and attempting to get away from her violent ex-boyfriend Jimmy (Balthazar Getty). When hippies start dying, Samantha begins to suspect that the dangerous Jimmy has somehow tracked her down and is dispatching everybody that stands in his way. Could Jimmy be hacking flower children up or is it the crazy old lumberjack coot trying to scare people out of the forest? Hell, the killers could even be a group of drunken, paintball gun wielding rednecks led by Muff (David Arquette)!
As the body count rises, the killer finally steps from the shadows to reveal who he really is…RONALD REAGAN. That’s right horror fans, Ronnie is on a rampage and he’s cleaning up the streets…er…forest. “Just Say No” has taken on a whole new meaning as Ronnie and his bloodthirsty attack dog Nancy storm the festival with axe ‘a swingin’ and teeth ‘a bared! The only thing standing in the killer’s way is Samantha and Sheriff Buzz Hall but will they be smart enough to stop The Gipper?
Hippy blood will trickle down indeed!! The Tripper was a bad ass slash-a-thon featuring hella gore, crazy drug usage, tits, ass and even some hippy trouser snake for the ladies! Now I can already hear some of you snotty elitists and grungy goremongers clearing your throats to recite your holy horror commandments and you have every right to be skeptical, as I was, but this is far from your average big budget slasher flop. It works…well…very well. There’s just the right mix of comedy, political satire and honest-to-goodness head loppin’ horror!
The acting in The Tripper was fantastic and the cast was solid. David Arquette, Thomas Jane, Paul Reubens, Courteney Cox, Jason “Jay” Mewes, Lukas Haas, Balthazar Getty and Jaime King all held their own and did excellent jobs. Jay & Silent Bob fans are going to love Jason Mewes character Joey; he’s everything you love about Jay…but hippified. Personally, I was amped to see Paul Reubens because Pee-wee Herman had a very special place in my heart and childhood. It’s great to see him overcoming his past indiscretions and moving forward. He’s even making a come back in an upcoming Pee-wee Herman movie!
As I mentioned above, The Tripper sports loads of cool gore & sweet kill sequences. Gore and slasher fans are not going to come away from this film disappointed because Arquette is no chump when it comes to knowing and delivering what the fans want; the sheer amount of murder and nudity in this film attest to that. The Tripper is a psychotic smorgasbord of hot hippy titties and gobs of gooey red intestine. It was like Christmas for horror fans!
As the end credits rolled I knew right away The Tripper is a franchise waiting to happen! Ronnie may be nothing more than a psycho in a Reagan mask now but ya gotta start out somewhere. Just look at Michael Myers and his William Shatner mask! I think the one and only thing I felt a bit let down on were some of Ronnie’s one-liners; they were a tad weak. Not to worry though because his pack of killer dogs, flesh-eating hog named George W. and gleaming axe more than make up for a lack of quality one-liners.
If you’re a Republican, like I am, you’re going to have to get over yourself awful quick and just relax because some of the political views presented in the film are what some might consider “liberal.” Oh well, we all have opinions and whether you agree with David Arquette and co-writer Joe (Darkness Falls) Harris’ or not, the film was still exceptional.
Do yourself, and the entire cast & crew of The Tripper, a favor and go see the film if it’s playing at a theater near you and support independent horror films like this one. Hopefully it does well enough to warrant more screens across the nation or at the very least a fancy DVD release in the next few months. Don’t sleep on this one!
