The Tripper (2006)

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

Director:

David Arquette

Writers:

David Arquette, Joe Harris

Stars:

Jaime King, Thomas Jane, Lukas Haas

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Arquette	...	Muff
Richmond Arquette	...	Cooper
Courteney Cox	...	Dog Lover Hippie (as Courteney Cox Arquette)
China Crawford	...	Paramedic (as China Raven Crawford)
Paz de la Huerta	...	Jade / Summer (as Paz De La Huerta)
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

Storyline

In the 80's, after seeing his father and lumberjack foreman being hit by a protestor against the deforesting and arrested by the police, the boy Gus kills the protestor with a chainsaw. In the present days, Samantha, who is traumatized after being abused by her former boyfriend Jimmy, travels with her pothead friends in a van to the American Free Love Festival, a rock-and-roll concert in the woods. Near the location, they are assaulted by three local hillbillies, but they succeed to arrive in the festival. Meanwhile, Mayor Hal Burton and Deputy Buzz Hall try to give a minimum of organization to the event. However, a deranged psychopath serial-killer wearing a mask of Ronald Reagan uses an ax to kill the pacific stoned hippies.

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Plot Keywords:

festival | van | lumberjack | chainsaw | blood splatter | 

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Taglines:

Sex, Drugs, and Rock'N'Ronnie!

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

President Evil

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,840, 22 April 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$20,840, 22 April 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Coquette Productions,NaVinci Films,Raw Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Arquette has said that despite political elements, his intention was never to further an agenda but to just make a "fun" movie.

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Goofs

When Frank flees the concert with the money, his lock-box clearly contains no more than $50 in ones. How ever, one could argue that he had been interrupted by Reagan before he could fill it.

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Quotes

Joey: Shut the fuck up. George Bush is the greatest.
[Linda groans]
Joey: The man's got balls. Big Texas-size balls. Probably the first man in history to ever tell the whole world, "Fuck you. I could do what I want, and there ain't shit you can do about it."
Linda: George Bush is like the worst president this country's ever had. Yeah.
Joey: You're just saying that because George Bush hates black people.
Linda: [laughing] You're absolutely right!

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Crazy Credits

No hippies or republicans were harmed in this film

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Connections

References First Blood (1982)

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Soundtracks

Talking Horse
Written by The Melvins
Performed by The Melvins
Courtesy of IPECAC Recordings ©2006

User Reviews

Bad Trip & Ax Reagan

In the 80's, after seeing his father and lumberjack foreman being hit by a protester against the deforesting and arrested by the police, the boy Gus kills the protester with a chainsaw. In the present days, Samantha (Jamie King), who is traumatized after being abused by her former boyfriend Jimmy (Balthazar Getty), travels with her pothead friends in a van to the American Free Love Festival, a rock-and-roll concert in the woods. Near the location, they are assaulted by three local hillbillies, but they succeed to arrive in the festival. Meanwhile, Mayor Hal Burton (Rick Overton) and Deputy Buzz Hall (Thomas Jane) try to give a minimum of organization to the event. However, a deranged psychopath serial-killer wearing a mask of Ronald Reagan uses an ax to kill the pacific stoned hippies.

The slasher "The Tripper" is a great disappointment. David Arquette certainly had the intention of making a cult-movie and was supported by a good cast (probably his friends) including a cameo appearance of his wife and a great cinematography and lightening, but unfortunately the story never works. Jason Mewes is comfortable performing his traditional role of pothead; the sexy Jaime King has a good performance in the role of Samantha but the good actor Thomas Jane is displaced in his silly role. Further, the political anti-war jokes and speeches of the Republicans and Ronald Reagan are boring. In a cheap manipulation, the Brazilian DVD highlights the name of Courtney Cox-Arquette in the movie, misleading her fans. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Perseguição Assassina" ("Assassin Pursue")