THE TRIPPER
(not rated)
MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5)
STARRING
Lukas Haas as IVAN
Jaime King as SAMANTHA
Marsha Thomason as LINDA
Jason Mewes as JOEY
Stephen Heath as JACK
Paz de la Huerta as JADE
David Arquette as MUFF
Courteney Cox Arquette as CYNTHIA
Balthazar Getty as JIMMY
Thomas Jane as BUZZ HALL
Paul Reubens as FRANK BAKER
Directed by: David Arquette
Studio: Coquette Productions
BY KEVIN CARR
I don’t have any problem with David Arquette. In fact, I really like the guy. Had a chance to hang out with him on his tour bus when his “Tripper” tour came through Columbus, Ohio. He’s a great guy and into having fun. Sadly, I had more fun watching him quote lines from “Ready to Rumble” than watching his directorial debut “The Tripper.”
The film tells the story of a bunch of hippies heading into the woods for a freedom festival. However, during the festival, there’s a psychotic killer on the loose who dresses like Ronald Reagan and chops up anyone smoking dope or doing any other sort of hippie behavior. As chaos reigns in the woods, the authorities try to shut down the festival, but the hippies just don’t dig authority, and they pay for it in the end.
“The Tripper” had its debut as a sneak during the 8 Films to Die For event last Halloween, and it got a theatrical release on April 20 of this year (that’s 420, for anyone not in the know of the drug culture). Perhaps Arquette could have gotten a bigger bump if he would have released it this Halloween, considering how poorly the horror films this year performed outside of that time frame.
I doubt it, though. While I don’t doubt Arquette’s love for the genre and his passion for filmmaking, “The Tripper” just turned into a mess. I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised if drugs were involved throughout the script and production. After all, too many moments just didn’t make sense or work in the slightest for somebody sober.
The filmmaking and directing techniques weren’t bad, and the horror/slasher moments were pretty well formed. The problem fell in the script. I can hope that Arquette will find a better script for his next film, but right now, “The Tripper” works better as a concept and a logline than a film itself.
The DVD has quite a number of special features, including a commentary, deleted scenes, a blooper reel, trailers, a photo gallery, a retrospective of the bus tour and featurettes on Ronald Reagan, a missing finger and how the FX department made fake poop.