Two Scream Stars Reunited for a Reagan-Masked Slasher

Courteney Cox and David Arquette reunited on The Tripper, a 2006 slasher built around a killer who wears a Ronald Reagan mask. Both have small on-screen parts, but worked mainly behind the camera: Cox as a producer and Arquette as co-writer and director, with the pair financing the film.

The story opens with a boy who kills a hippie with a chainsaw and is confined to a psychiatric hospital. Nearly four decades later, a music festival organized by Buzz Baker (Paul Reubens) becomes the scene of a new string of murders as the Reagan-masked assailant picks off attendees.

Jaime King’s Samantha and Sheriff Buzz Hall, played by Thomas Jane, try to stop the killer; Lukas Haas, Jason Mewes and a cameo by Wes Craven also appear. Cox’s brief on-screen turn is noted for its comic timing. Arquette has said the idea came to him while he was wasted at an outdoor festival and that Wes Craven’s reaction to Scream inspired him to direct.

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