The Tripper (2006)

continued...

... Despite the films many downfalls, there are some redeeming qualities to David Arquettes directorial efforts, and along with some truly amazing cinematography, The Tripper, at times, can be a very rewarding film to gaze upon. It's set in a gorgeously dense forest, and each shot that is taken is well populated with lush greenery and beautiful mountain streams. Is there a better place to slay a bunch of hippies? Probably not, and I must say, it's a good time to be had while watching some of the more explicit scenes of gory hippie hacking, but by the end of the film, it tends to lose its impact. This is due to the silliness of the characters (including the Reagan slayer) and the brutal killings never mending well within the film itself. It's as if Arquette was trying to combine too much together at once. In the end, you'll find yourself looking at the pretty redwoods more so than the loads of intestines that tend to freely hang out of our main characters, on more than one occasion.

In the end, what made The Tripper so dissatisfying, was me realizing how much I wanted to thoroughly enjoy the film, but did not in almost the slightest. Its humor could have saved the film, by saying that the picture was more of a comedy first and a horror film second, but the film is hardly at all humorous. You can almost picture David and Courtney laughing hysterically behind the camera, as if they too were on drugs, but of course nobody else on crew, along with the films future audience, is unfortunately laughing with them. Maybe the humor was just not my cup of tea...but my girlfriend didn't chuckle at least once either.

Now, the actors in the film all do a credible job, the cinematography is fantastic, and the camera work is all fine and good....but if you don't find the anti-republican humor to be the least bit funny, and it's not, you will find yourself to be completely disappointed with the outcome. In order to understand the rest of the political attributes to the film, you'd also have to have further knowledge of Reagan's administration. If you do understand the references and such, you also might let out a big yawn and wonder why the story was ever created decades after Reagan's presidency. Ugh!

The DVD is packed with many excellent extras, including interviews, commentary, bloopers, and everything else that makes this an otherwise essential package to have in your collection, however; If I had to give you one word to describe this film it would be..."unnecessary." Especially after reading a lot of positive reviews, from critics I admire, I was even more disappointed with this film. Sad but true.

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