Movie Review: Trippin' (2010)

Occasionally when I have that rare chance to get out I love to hit local film festivals. The only problem is, is that they rarely come to Phoenix. Horror film festivals even more so are few and far between. A couple years back we had a genre festival in which I went to a showing of Devi Snively's Trippin'.  I unfortunately only got a chance to see about 20 minutes of it. What I saw was fun, so it was very cool to see that Alternative Cinema had picked it up for distribution. Was it good beyond the 20 minutes? Let's see.

A group of young campers set out to enjoy some sex, drugs and well...more drugs. The kids seem to be purposely cliché: virginal girl, slut and of course a stoner named Zed (Zed Wilson). Everything seems to be going fine until the group crosses paths with a creepy fellow lugging around a rolled carpet with some red substance dripping from it. Could it be a body? Well, a couple of the kids think so.



The vacationers arrive at the cabin where they begin to start off their planned fun until one of the fellas has to ruin things by telling a story about the murderous deeds of Mr. Eagle Eye (Bill Redding). Naturally, our group of horny young adults start meeting their demise, but the question is, is it really Eagle Eye? Trippin’ is rarely predictable, and that’s the beauty of it in the sea of DTV sludge that’s available to the home entertainment market.

The two-disc edition of Trippin' has a wealth of extras. The main supplements come on the second disc in the form of a compilation of several short films from Ms. Snively that range from ok to fairly polished. You do see a progression in her skill from film to film. My favorite short was easily the comedy-horror short I Spit On Eli Roth. This one slams Roth pretty good but provides some laughs and gore in the process.

Trippin' is a clever satire of teen horror that's sure to surprise folks expecting the routine hack 'n' slash. This is easily one of the best independent horror releases Alternative Cinema/ Camp Video has put out in a while, so don’t miss it! Here's hoping for more films from the talented Ms. Snively. Recommended.