The Tripper (2006)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

David Arquette

Writers (WGA):

David Arquette (written by) &
Joe Harris (written by)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

On 4.20, Hippie Blood Will Trickle Down.

Plot:

A Ronald Reagan-obsessed serial killer targets a bunch of hippies who are heading to a weekend-long concert.

Plot Keywords:

Festival | Van | Lumberjack | Chainsaw | Mutilation

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Arquette	...	Muff
Richmond Arquette	...	Deputy Cooper
Courteney Cox	...	Cynthia (as Courteney Cox Arquette)
China Crawford	...	Paramedic (as China Raven Crawford)
Paz de la Huerta	...	Jade / Summer
Alan Draven	...	Kid #1
Norwood Fisher	...	Band (as John Norwood Fisher)
Ben Gardiner	...	Wilson
Rocky George	...	Band
Balthazar Getty	...	Jimmy
DeAndre Gipson	...	Band
Redmond Gleeson	...	Dylan / Father
Richard Gross	...	Cop
Lukas Haas	...	Ivan
Josh Hammond	...	Tyler

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, drug content, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | Germany:Not Rated (SPIO/JK) (cut) | USA:R (cut) | USA:Unrated | New Zealand:R18 | UK:18 | Ireland:18 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Big Basin Redwoods State Park - 21600 Big Basin Way, Boulder Creek, California, USA

Company:

Coquette Productions

Trivia:

The film was originally going to be a part of After Dark Production's "8 Films to Die For," but Arquette wanted the film to be released in theaters and on April 20th (4/20), so they respectfully parted ways.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the old man gets his head chopped off in the tunnel he clearly screams long after his head has been detached.

Quotes:

Ronald Reagan: A hippie is someone who looks like Tarzan, walks like Jane and smells like cheetah.

Movie Connections:

References Rocky III (1982)

Soundtrack:

Kum Ba Ya

Nice try

It's true, everyone that saw The Tripper at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, CA, last night (4-10-07) had a great time. It was a sold out show of around 500 people, David Arquette and other members of the cast/crew were there, and lots of local folks showed up to support their friends and family members cast as extras (it was shot locally here in town). The event made it seem waaaay better than it really was. There's truly something special about seeing a movie, even a bad one, with a full house of excited people.

However, I missed the show last night. Rather, I heard all about it from several of my friends that were there. But since I was curious, and I wanted to see what the quirky D.A. would produce as a filmmaker, I checked it out at another venue earlier tonight, one with a modest crowd and no fanfare. What a difference a milieu makes.

While slasher flicks aren't my favorite genre, I do like good ones, e.g., Scream, Halloween, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original, of course). But The Tripper was bad, and not even "bad" in an enjoyable way. I could tell that everyone gave it their best shot -- the makeup effects and acting were pretty good -- but the story was weak, the humor fell flat, the political subtext was sophomoric, and the characters were all unappealing (except for the lovely and underrated Jaimie King). How this didn't end up straight to video I'll never know.