[The Tripper]
Plot:Ronald Reagan-obsessed serial killer targets a bunch of hippies who are heading to a weekend-long concert.

Cast: David Arquette, Richmond Arquette, Courteney Cox, Paz de la Huerta, Ben Gardiner, Balthazar Getty, Lukas Haas, Josh Hammond, Stephen Heath, Brad Hunt, Thomas Jane, Jaime King, Bert Kinyon, Noah Maschan, Jason Mewes, Christopher Allen Nelson, Rick Overton, Waylon Payne, Paul Reubens, Michael X. Sommers, Marsha Thomason.

My Thoughts:Disappointing.

Review:"The Tripper" is the latest attempt to bring back the slasher movie genre to atleast halfway respectable status. Unfortunately, it's also the latest failed attempt. The film follows a group of hippie kids who head to a small town for a Woodstock-themed gathering. The small town however has a very dark and bloody history. It seems that everytime one of these hippie fests gets going, some kids turn up dead mysteriously. And to make matters worse, the killer has yet to be caught.

The group of kids, played by familiar faces such as Jason Mewes and Jaimie King indulge in sex, drugs, and everything in between for the start of the event. But soon things begin to turn tragic when an axe murderer named Ronnie shows up with a serious "axe to grind". Dressed in a suit, and a very life-like Ronald Reagan mask...Ronnie has but one objective. Rid his woods of peace-loving, dope smoking, sex loving hippies. "The Tripper" does indeed boasts a great killer, with a very unique backstory, but the film has some serious issues.

You can tell by the pic's comedic bits that it was written by David Arquette. But you can also tell by how slow, lacking of entertainment, and badly written it is that it was co-scripted by one Joe Harris. Writer of such horror disasters as "Darkness Falls". I think Arquette would've been better off writing the film himself. Harrises penchant for boring the viewer with scenes where nothing happens totally kill this movie. Arquette's brand of comedy meanwhile is funny for awhile, but 90 minutes of it is far too much. Had this film balanced out the comedy with the horror, I would've been alot happier with it.

However, it doesn't, so I wasn't. When some deaths finally do happen, they are pretty good, but by the time the end rolls around, even Ronnie looks tired. There is a few bright spots to the film though. As I said earlier, Ronnie has a pretty unique gimmick for a serial slasher. And there's a very funny backstory to why he's slicing and dicing hippies in the woods. But the downside to Ronnie is because of Arquette and Harris, who both fail to explore his motives or him as a character alot more thoroughly, instead making him just a one-dimensional slasher who spouts off Reagan-esque one-liners from time to time.

The film also tries to mix in some social commentary with it's blood, gore, and immense drug-usage scenes but the message comes across loud and clear at the beginning. It's not really necessary to keep beating the viewer over the head with the message. But for some reason, Arquette kept doing so. The films performances are another issue, and other than Jason Mewes, Jaimie King, Thomas Jane as the local sheriff, and "Las Vegas"es Marsha Thomason as Linda...everyone else just doesn't step up to the plate enough.

Add to that that no clear potential victim takes on the reigns of a dangerous situation and becomes the brave one, the one who steps up to the killer...and this film was pretty much destined to sink. I would've thought David Arquette who starred in three "Scream" movies would've easily aced making a good slasher movie. However that wasn't the case here. "The Tripper" tries some new things, but ultimately never gets the formula right enough to make for a pleasurable viewing experience...and just becomes relegated into 70 minutes of people getting high, and 20 minutes of real horror.

Positives:The killer was interesting. Decent performances by Thomason, Jane, King, and Mewes.

Negatives:A lack of in-depth exploration of the killer. Not enoguh action, too many drug-using scenes which eat up time that could've been better spent elsewhere. Bad performances by a majority of the cast except for the ones named above.

Overall:A disappointing slasher film.





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