David Arquette may be best known for his work in Wes Craven’s Scream trilogy and the B-movie spoof Eight Legged Freaks, but most recently he has taken his talents behind the camera and directed The Tripper - his very own slasher picture. Arquette’s opus spins a tongue-in-cheek story about a psycho who thinks he is Ronald Reagan and should prove essential viewing for any 80s horror movie buff. Calum Waddell caught up with the erstwhile Mr. Courtney Cox for the following Q & A.

So why did you choose to make a movie about a killer who dresses up like Ronald Reagan?

It was mainly just because Reagan is such an interesting and iconic figure and he has a lot of humour to him. I always thought that he had a great personality for spoofing. But it was not so much Ronald Reagan in particular… it just had to be a world leader. In my opinion it is the leaders of the world, who condone wars and who send soldiers off to fight, who are the true psychopaths of our society. I think The Tripper indicates that – but with its tongue in its cheek.

Is it safe to assume that this is your anti-Republican statement?

Not necessarily. I mean there are a lot of things that Ronald Reagan did which I respect and a lot of things which I do not. I am certainly not a fan of our current president at all - I think he has completely sold out our country. But I also think there are good Republicans and bad Democrats and vice versa. But I did want to show a psychopathic politician!

And there is a dog called Nancy too…

That was my little hip-hop thing – Nancy is his bitch, you know? I mean, that is the one character that he loves the most in the movie. And I knew it would be funny.

Do you have a favourite scene from the film?

Yeah, there is an acid freak-out scene that was fun to film. It has all of these crazy elements in it and I think it is very funny. And there’s a sequence where Ronald Reagan attacks all of these youths, which was pretty cool. We found this old 80s punk rock band called The Reagan Youth and we got the rights to put their music in the film which was fitting. I also like the concert scene by Fishbone because I’ve always been a fan of theirs, and filming that was like having our own private concert in the woods!

How did you know that Thomas Jane, who is most famous for his action roles, would be so adept at playing a comedy part?

Well Thomas is my brother-in-law so I know his personality quite well, and he is one of the funnier people I get to hang out with. He has a great, gruff hilarious personality so I knew he’d be tremendous at comedy.

Let’s talk about another member of your cast – Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Reuben: what was he like to work with?

Paul is great. We first met on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and we have been close friends every since. I think he is one of the great comic minds of our generation. For The Tripper we worked out his character on the set and he became this funny, filthy mouthed promoter guy. I laughed like crazy at every one of his scenes.

Your wife Courtney Cox has a small cameo in The Tripper. Was there ever any temptation to have her as one of the leads?

Yeah, that was always on my mind, but I like her little cameo in it and that is what she wanted to do. But I think she is really funny in it and some people don’t even recognise her.

Did the movie have much of a theatrical run in the US?

No – in fact, no one really saw it. And those that did - no one really knew what to make of it! I mean, it’s a horror comedy; it’s a hard sell, you know? It was hard to find someone to get behind the promotion of it so we did everything ourselves. But, then again, it was also really challenging to get this film made - it took quite a while for us to finally get all the money that we needed. However, I’d like to make some more movies in the horror genre and we are currently trying to get a few produced.

Did working with Wes Craven on the Scream films help when it came to mixing humour and horror in The Tripper?

Oh yeah – for sure it did. I paid a lot of attention while I was working with Wes on the Scream trilogy and I learned a ton about filmmaking from him. Just watching how he interacted with the cast and the crew was great. But, also, Kevin Williamson, the writer of Scream - I really love his stuff and I think he has a very original voice. I took some notes from working with him as well.

Would you be interested in doing Scream 4 if the opportunity arose?

Yeah – in fact Courtney and I would both love too do a fourth movie. They just haven’t called us yet!

You certainly don’t skimp on the gore in The Tripper. Are you a fan of splatter movies?

I’m not a big fan of the torture stuff that we have been seeing. I know some people love it and there are elements of it that are cool - but it really is not my thing. But if a horror film is a bit campy and tongue in cheek then I’m all for having blood and gore in there.

You are obviously a big fan of the genre. So what horror films have scared David Arquette?

I thought High Tension [AKA Switchblade Romance] was one of the great recent ones and I liked the original Halloween too.

The Tripper is available on region 2 DVD from 31st March 2008.