David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Paz de la Huerta

A group of free-love hippies attend an outdoor music and camping festival only to find themselves stalked by a maniac with a Ronald Reagan fixation and his killer dog, Nancy.

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37% liked it

5,635 ratings

Critics

25% liked it

12 critics

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: David Arquette

Release Date: April 20, 2007

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DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (740)


  • July 14, 2009
    When Scream veteran David Arquette steps into the directorial chair to make a horror movie, you might be forgiven for expecting more of the same. But you would be wrong.

    The opening sequence has news footage of nameless war dead, inhumanely thrown together like so much butcher m...( read more)eat. A voice-over says how there is nothing glamorous about war. The image is uncomfortably mirrored later in scenes of carnage and mass-murder. No shortage of gore, but it is the political overtones that make the movie stand out and also invite forgiveness for the appreciably low budget.

    The story follows a bunch of hippies having a love festival in the woods, much to the annoyance of local hicks. They are stalked by a psychopath in a realistic Ronald Reagan mask who starts chopping them up. Of those that are left, most are too stoned on ecstasy and LSD ('trippers' - geddit?) to want to believe anything very terrible is happening or that they could do anything about it anyway. The suggestion is obvious: you are living in happy oblivion while your political leaders wreak havoc in the world. Vietnam is neatly linked to Iraq, and 'Reagan' has a pig named George W that seems to be fed on severed limbs. This is no gentle analogy - it is served up with a sledgehammer (or rather an axe in most cases). Ill-gotten gains fly in the air as a body is cut in half with a chainsaw. "No daughter of mine is going to be hooked on drugs," says the killer tenderly, advancing with murderous intent. Better off dead, obviously.

    The humour is sparse enough to lend only light relief. With the lifelike Reagan towering over him, axe in hand, one victim pleads, "But I'm a Republican!" The killer dog Nancy is particularly nasty.

    And there's another layer . . . When Ronald Reagan was governor of California, he famously released a record number of mental health patients back into the community to save costs. (In case you didn't know this before seeing the film, you will before the end.) Arquette says he was inspired to make the film by growing up in Los Angeles during the Reagan years. Overtly political, B-movie blood-and-gore effects that are nevertheless stomach-churning, lots of nudity and some nice cinematography that mimics the drug experience, The Tripper even has pictures of all the politicians it hates in the credits.

    The Tripper may be for horror fans only, but it is an unpretentiously daring attempt to launch a broadside at a morally righteous right-wing establishment that is ankle deep in dead bodies of political making.
  • July 25, 2008
    As a slasher horredy, The Tripper is great fun. It is, however, something you need to watch with a group to get the full effect, preferably a group who will appreciate the political satire at play. Bloody, fun, and at times hilarious - give it a try!
  • January 10, 2008
    Man watching this was like I was on a acid trip myself. This was so bad I can't believe I wasted my time. I usually love silly B rated Horror movies, but I just couldn't get into this at all. The cast was impressive but this one didn't do anything for me. Good Lordy...
  • January 9, 2008
    If you like seeing hippies getting axed to death by Ronald Regan, this is the movie for you. Other highlights include Courtney Cox getting killed by evil dogs, and Paul Reubens covered in outhouse crap before he gets chopped down the middle with a chainsaw.
  • December 11, 2007
    This hippie slasher movie from director David Arquette is a mildly amusing satire on other slasher movies that does nothing new with the genre but is entirely watchable. The opening sequence has news footage of nameless war dead, inhumanely thrown together like so much butcher me...( read more)at. A voice-over says how there is nothing glamorous about war. The image is uncomfortably mirrored later in scenes of carnage and mass-murder. No shortage of gore, but it is the political overtones that make the movie stand out and also invite forgiveness for the appreciably low budget. The story follows a bunch of hippies having a love festival in the woods, much to the annoyance of local hicks. They are stalked by a psychopath in a realistic Ronald Reagan mask who starts chopping them up. There is some brief nudity and a lot of swearing and drug usage, but it's not shocking or even particularly interesting. It fits into the story line, so it's not gratuitous. There are some gratuitous gross out moments involving gore and fecal matter, but they are the kind you would expect in this genre.
  • July 19, 2009
    A Ronald Regan killer? Now I've seen it all.
  • July 6, 2009
    David Arquette brings us an unscarey horror comedy that is a political satire meets slasher flick. Decent gore, T&A.. & D actually, highlight this hippie, dippie, stoner... Republican? chopfest. Heeeeeere's Ronnie!
  • June 24, 2009
    This wasn't very good. I'll just leave it at that.
  • June 5, 2009
    There were some editing mistakes but it was actually really good.
  • April 11, 2009
    A cheesy/horror/comedy B-flick. Some good actors, an OK watch.

Critic Reviews


Comments


  • flexysms
    May 14, 2008
    ok ,i wanna see it,but it looks scary.
  • lovecyn4ever
    December 12, 2007
    A decent bloody & gory slasher film from David Arquette on his directorial debut.He did a good job behind the camera so it will be interesting what else he can come up with in a near future.The dialog wasn't so good,i'm sure the movie was intended to be funny at times but it didn't came through as being so funny,Arquette could've done so much with this villain wearing the Ronald Reagan mask by giving him more personality & funny lines.Besides that it was an entertaining horror film.

  • sarahzombie
    November 12, 2007
    The best thing about this movie is Jason Mewes.
  • stvcobbs
    April 2, 2007
    Link opens new window to MySpace

    http://www.myspace.com/thetrippermovie
  • 21orangecreamsicles
    April 1, 2007
    they have a myspace on this movie, i checked it out and the movie looks great, i want to see it. i saw the trailer too and it looks pretty freaky!
  • monkeywrench74
    March 28, 2007
    i just seen the trailer, looks really good.
  • puppyleigh3
    February 25, 2007
    this movie looks interesting, cant wait till more information about this movie comes out.

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The Tripper Trivia


  • which movie are the following characters from. Tripper,Crockett,Hardware,spaz,larry  Answer »
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