Trauma
April. 20,1994 RA young Romanian woman and a recovering drug addict launch an unlikely investigation after her parents are murdered by a vicious serial killer known as The Headhunter.
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Reviews
Thanks for the memories!
People are voting emotionally.
Admirable film.
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Somehow, after Argento's real masterpieces in the seventies and eighties he fully lost his genius. All his movies after Opera in 1987 cannot be taken fully seriously. Shure, Trauma includes all the classical Argento-tropes and cinematographic techniques his is know (and loved) for. But still, Trauma is not on the same top level like his earlier work. And I am not sure where actually the real contribution of Tom Savini was. The gore scenes are too clean and stay below expectation if you are familiar with Tom's and Dario's earlier work. So obviously Argento interfered in a negative way with Savini's Special-FX contribution. The solution to the who-dunnit-aspect of the movies is also - although weird enough - not really effective.
Trauma is a particularly significant horror in that it was the first film to be made by Italian genre master Dario Argento on American soil. Following a string of eye-catching, kaleidoscopic gialli and superior supernatural tales, Argento found himself at the door of Hollywood, an industry which, at the time, was struggling to churn out much in terms of originality in the horror/thriller genre. While he had employed English-speaking actors before, such as Jennifer Connelly, David Hemmings and Karl Malden, their roles were often crudely dubbed, and Trauma offered the director a chance to reach a broader audience with his unique - if obviously Hitchcockian - blend of build-up and terror.Disappointingly, Trauma, if anything, represents the beginning of Argento's drastic career decline. The opening is full of promise, as a familiar black-gloved killer stalks a victim before killing her in a brutal and stylish fashion, here with a device which allows the victim to be garroted with relative ease. Bolstered by a POV style and traditionally great effects work by Tom Savini, it's a scene that could have easily been taken from one of Argento's native works. However, as popular as the giallo craze was, it didn't quite reach the general American audience, and so Trauma gets watered-down and peppered with horror clichés in an attempt to cast a wider audience net. While the tropes are there - an everyman (Christopher Rydell) is forced into sleuthing while dodging the police - it does little but frustrate as you realise that somewhere, deep down, there's probably a great giallo trying to get out.So while the film has it's odd moment, the result is an incoherent, and somehow quite boring, mess of ideas and clashing styles. Starting promisingly, the story goes on to place anorexia sufferer Aura (Asia Argento, the director's then 17 year-old daughter) in the hands of illustrator David (Rydell) after her parents are murdered by the masked killer, and it is during this period that the film does nothing but lay out a string of red herrings, as well as creepily leering at Argento's youthful beauty. The final third is an exhausting conveyor belt of anti-climaxes, before the ludicrous (and not in an entertaining way) reveal that feels like it was made by a sub-par Tobe Hooper or Wes Craven arrives. While it's nowhere near the level of atrociousness that Argento would vomit out in 2009 with Giallo, Trauma feels like it was made by a once-great visionary who had tiredly given in to the producers' voices in his ear.
First and foremost, if you plan to watch this movie because you see Tom Savini's name under special effects, prepare to be underwhelmed to the point of coma-inducement. As we might expect of Fearless Leader, he had great plans for the gore in this movie. He created the electric garrote, and there is no shortage of head removals for him to play with. Unfortunately, Dario Argento must have been high or half-asleep when he decided to hire Savini. Anyone familiar with Argento's previous work(and maybe Argento himself had briefly forgotten what were his trademarks) will know that while the films can have some intense bloody moments, they aren't filled with the supreme gorefests that Savini is know to deliver. Argento wanted a suspenseful film, not a bloodbath, so it is very surprising, probably most of all to Tom, that Savini was hired. There is almost no gore in this picture. You will see a very small amount of blood, the wire slightly beginning to cut into tender flesh, and a few rolling heads with lips moving, but this is kid's stuff. Any amateur FX team could pull that off(and have, sadly). I feel bad for Savini that he was so hamstrung on this project.Piper Laurie also appears in this movie, as Asia Argento's nutty mom. While she almost plays it to the hilt like her role in Carrie, and she is a bit of alright, she is hardly seen at all in the movie, which is a disappointment. Brad Dourif basically has a walk-on role, so his insane antics are also wasted. Asia Argento struggles to carry the lead role and the notion that her dad had her perform a scene topless is not artistic and beautiful(no thank you, Thora Birch) it's just disturbing.Now that I've sliced and diced on the film, let me give it a bit of praise. The pace of the film is pretty good, and there are several POV shots from the killer's perspective which I love, of course. Also, another of Argento's trademarks, the use of color, is subtle and masterful. If you don't know much about him, or film study in general for that matter, you probably won't catch it. But I was looking specifically for his control of color in the film. The killer only murders when there is a rainstorm, and as most people often associate water with blue, that color is quietly present in more scenes that I can count. More often than not, the blue color comes from lighting a scene as opposed to an item specifically colored blue. Also of note, there are a few strange scenes that remind me of some early morning forest. It will probably sound strange, but a few scenes take place indoors where walls are paneled with thick wood and plenty of plain wooden furniture adorns the rooms, while a dreamlike, dusty, foggy hue softens the entire shot and the characters, as if they are wondering in some strange forest. Very unusual. I never noticed it on previous viewings.Argento's last decent work to date. Recommended only for fans.
Dario Argento's "Trauma" of 1993 is definitely one of this great director's lesser films, but it is nevertheless a more than decent Thriller and better than most 90s Horror films. The 90s were a bad decade for Horror in general, and definitely also the worst decade in Dario Argento's career, with his doubtlessly worst movie "Il Fantasma Dell' Opera" in 1998. "Two Evil Eyes" of 1990 which he made with George A. Romero, was also a good Horror film, but not nearly as great as a film by Romero and Argento could have been. "Trauma" is definitely not comparable to Argento's masterpieces from the 70s and 80s. As far as I am considered, however, Argento is one of the greatest Horror directors of all-time, and films like "Suspiria", "Profondo Rosso" or "Phenomena" range high in my personal all-time favorite list. Even Argento's weaker films are usually above average, and "Trauma" is a more than decent film that easily outshines the majority of 90s Horror efforts.Director Argento's daughter, then 18-year-old Asia Argento stars as Aura, a teenage Romanian girl who has escaped from a mental hospital where her parents sent her, supposedly to cure her anorexia. What Aura is really fleeing from, however, is a serial killer who only operates when it rains. Journalist David (Christopher Rydell) wants to help the girl...Generally speaking, "Trauma" has everything decent Horror films need - it is stylishly filmed, atmospheric and very suspenseful from the beginning to the end. What Trauma sadly lacks, are many of the brilliant trademark Argento elements. Most of Argento's masterpieces from the 70s and 80s had brilliant scores by Progressive Rock band Goblin. "Trauma" unfortunately hasn't, which is one of the elements that I missed most. The change of scenery from Europe to the United States doesn't compliment Argento's style of film-making either. Then again, the camera work is, as usual, great, and even though the film is not quite as ultra-violent as some other Argento films, there is quite an amount of stylish, gory bloodshed. The performances are fine too (although not breathtaking), especially young Asia Argento convinces in her first leading role. The supporting cast contains Frederic Forest, Brad Dourif and Piper Laurie.As mentioned above, "Trauma" is certainly not one of Argento's masterpieces. But even this ingenious filmmaker's lesser films are above average, and "Trauma" is definitely a more than decent 90s Giallo that Horror fans should not miss! Recommended!