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Tripper, TheAny movie that goes about such unabashed George W Bush-battering as David Arquette's The Tripper deserves investigation, even if such rebelliousness is in the form of a trashy personal homage to 1980s slasher movies. Arquette takes swipes at the cruelty of the American healthcare system, the ridiculousness of Reaganomics and the Republicans' ruining of the environment, in between bouts of cheap, gory horror and twee, trippy psychedelics.
The political satire of The Tripper is as subtle as a sledgehammer, with lines like "George Bush hates black people" and "One big arsehole turns the whole world to shit". Arquette is no Mark Twain, but the straightforward, no nonsense attacks are bold in the current McCarthy-like climate. With Nick Broomfield's Battle For Haditha and Brian De Palma's Redacted tagged "Bin Laden cinema" by American right-wing groups, to have a dog named Nancy and a pig named George W in your film is to lay your cards on the table. These criticisms of contemporary America are stuck in the film like blades in candy apples.
It's all schlocky stuff, but the softly, softly approach to political comment in films such as 28 Weeks Later... doesn't make an impact. Film critics might dedicate a couple of paragraphs to such nuances but the audience is only there to see the blood and guts and feel scared. And they don't know that they want to feel scared because of their sublimated awareness of the torture at Guantanamo Bay. Arquette's comments are the stuff of pub conversations and his movie is a jokey take on the films he loves watching.
Horror films have a tradition of reflecting the angst of contemporary culture. When a country is at war we flock to the cinemas to experience some fear. The Tripper crosses the 1980s Reagan administration with the present day Bush era and mixes in some Vietnam comparisons, and comes up with a Reagan-obsessed serial killer who stalks a modern-day Woodstock festival filled with new age hippies. The killer wears a Reagan rubber mask and a shiny business suit and leaves tell-tale jelly beans at the murder scenes. The film begins with news reel footage of the Vietnam War, and ends with a speech about the damage done to the environment by America's consumer culture.
Arquette also points out Reagan's part in increasing the number of homeless in California when he closed many of the hospitals and care homes for those with mental problems across the state, releasing them without support into the cities. The serial killer in The Tripper is suggested to be a result of this policy.
The film is from David Arquette and Courteney Cox's production company, Coquette Productions, which also produced the television series 'Dirt', a critical look at the celebrity gossip magazine industry. Both starred in Wes Craven's Scream series, self-reflexive parodies of the horror genre. Hollywood's odd couple - she is sleek, skinny perfection, he accompanies her to premieres in eclectic, clownish ensembles - they only take occasional roles and keep out of the magazines. All of which makes The Tripper an intriguing venture.
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