A killer in a Ronald Reagan mask holds an axe in 'The Tripper'Image via NaVinci Films
By
Shawn Van Horn
Published Mar 1, 2026, 5:55 PM EST
Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies.
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Wes Craven's Scream changed slasher movies when it came out in 1996. The meta horror film winked at the history of the subgenre and created an iconic new franchise. Along with Neve Campbell as the final girl, Courteney Cox and David Arquette were there for nearly every movie (we'll just try to forget that one of them was killed off). For Cox and Arquette, Scream resulted in a real-life relationship that led to marriage and children. Sadly, the pair divorced, but during their time together, they collaborated on another slasher you may have missed. 2006's The Tripper stars Jaime King, Thomas Jane, and Lukas Haas in a political horror comedy about a killer in a Ronald Reagan mask. Although they have small roles, Arquette and Cox aren't the stars here. They were two busy working behind the scenes, with Cox as a producer, and Arquette as the co-writer and director.
What Is 'The Tripper' About?
David Arquette got the idea to direct his first feature film from Scream director Wes Craven, telling FirstShowing in 2007 that seeing how the legendary filmmaker lit up in response to how Scream was received "was really fun, fun to watch and fun to be a part of. And so I wanted to do that as well." A fan of horror films himself, and knowing they were easier to get financed, Arquette decided to make his own. He told the outlet the idea for The Tripper came to him when he was wasted at an outdoor music festival with his friends at night near some dark woods. "I thought, 'wow it'd be crazy if a killer came out of these woods and started hacking up all these hippies.'"
Arquette expanded on the idea by adding a political message. Having grown up in California when Ronald Reagan was president, the actor remembered all of the homeless and mentally ill people he saw. Somehow, he wanted to put that social commentary in his first film. Then Arquette saw a Ronald Reagan mask, which made him think of the terrifying William Shatner Michael Myers mask. He now knew what to do.
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Posts By Shawn Van HornThe Tripper was financed by Arquette and his then-wife, Courteney Cox. The film starts with a nod to Halloween, with a boy killing a hippie with a chainsaw before being locked away in a psychiatric hospital. Nearly four decades later, a music festival is being put on by a man named Buzz Baker, played by Pee-wee Herman himself, Paul Reubens. A group of friends, led by Jaime King's Samantha, attend the festival, where a killer, wearing a Ronald Reagan mask and a suit, shows up and starts dispatching with the attendees, as Samantha and Sheriff Buzz Hall (Jane) try to stop the mysterious assailant.
David Arquette and Courteney Cox Have Small Roles in 'The Tripper'
David Arquette and Courteney Cox do appear in The Tripper (Cox especially has a hilarious cameo), but they are mostly the forces behind the camera. In front of it, King and Jane do much of the heavy lifting. They're not alone, though. Not only does Paul Reubens have a role, but so do some other notable names, like Haas, and, because this is a stoner flick, Jason Mewes. Even Wes Craven himself plays a hippie!
The Tripper is nowhere near as good as Scream. It's not supposed to be. It knows exactly what it is and leans into it. For example, the movie came out on April 20 (4/20), and a poster showing a cut-off hand dropping a joint is a deliberate rip-off of Saw. Reviews were mixed, with the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer currently at 40%. It's meant to be silly and filled with gore, not genuinely scary. However, Arquette wanted his audience to think as well. He told FirstShowing.net that The Tripper was meant to speak about then-President George W. Bush.
"There's a little commentary on war, to me war is the ultimate act of violence. And just being a country that's engaged in one right now is pretty intense of a situation. I totally support our troops and the men and women that are fighting for our country and allowing me the freedom to be able make a movie, but I don't believe in this president and their administration and the reason why we're there, I think they lied to us. I wanted to make a correlation with that and Vietnam and politics and the effects of policies on the world around us. But at the end of the day, it's really just a psychedelic slasher movie with the political satire going on. A lot of humor in it and what not, it's not really that deep."
All movies are political, and no genre does it better than horror. The Tripper isn't on the level of Halloween or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it doesn't have a message as clear as the best works of George A. Romero or Jordan Peele, and it can't hang with what Wes Craven accomplished. But if you want a silly little slasher about a killer wearing the mask of a President hacking up stoners, and a bunch of Hollywood stars having fun with it, The Tripper is a fun example of how to combine horror, comedy, and the woes of the real world into one.
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The Tripper
Like Follow Followed R Horror Comedy Release Date April 20, 2006 Runtime 93 minutes Director David ArquetteCast
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Courteney Cox
Cynthia
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David Arquette
Muff
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Richmond Arquette
Deputy Cooper
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Paz de la Huerta
Jade
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The Tripper
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David Arquette
Subscribe for deeper dives into cult horror films
Sign up for the newsletter to get curated coverage of cult slasher cinema—behind-the-scenes anecdotes, director intent, and political readings that illuminate films like The Tripper. Subscribe to keep uncovering underrated horror and its stories, all in one place. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.What To Watch
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