Multitasking Arquette follows family tradition

LOS ANGELES — David Arquette is an entertainer of all trades.

Not only did he write, produce, direct and star in his new film, "The Tripper," he's also distributing and marketing it himself.

The 35-year-old is on a nationwide bus tour to spread the word about the movie, a bloody political satire about a serial killer with a thing for concertgoing hippies. He's chronicling the trip on the movie's MySpace page with little films of assorted silliness.

But there's clearly a more serious side inside Arquette, too. The "Scream" star has been expanding his artistic boundaries for the past year. He directed an episode of "Medium," the CBS drama starring his sister, Patricia Arquette. He executive produced several episodes of "Dirt," the FX show that stars his wife, Courteney Cox. He plays a leading role in the TV pilot "In Case of Emergency" and even started a rock band. Plus he's dad to nearly 3-year-old Coco.

AP: How did you come up with "The Tripper"?

Arquette: The story is a group of drugged-out hippies go to an outdoor music festival and they get attacked by a killer who's obsessed with Ronald Reagan. ... I was at a concert in northern California that was called Reggae on the River, but now it's called Reggae Rising, and I'm sitting there and the stars are out, the sun went down and it's dark. We're surrounded by redwood trees, and the redwood trees are always so creepy anyway. And I thought it would be crazy if a madman came out of the woods and started hacking up all these hippies.

AP: Why Ronald Reagan?

Arquette: I grew up in Los Angeles when Reagan was governor and then president. I remember distinctly the day I went outside and saw homeless people, you know, mad people everywhere. You'd see a drunk once in a while, but this was a whole different thing, and I didn't really understand it. We were really kind of taken aback. My mother explained to me that Reagan had made some cuts in mental health and that's why a lot of these people were out there. That started the wheels turning in my head and I knew I wanted to make a statement about that at some point.

AP: You've got a thing for horror films. What's the appeal?