Customer Reviews

Trauma

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why are there reviews for this release that date 3 friggin years ago?? This is a totally different release with the uncut footage, widescreen transfer, extras whatever. If you like Argento get this, you won't be disappointed it is good whether or not it's his best. Don't listen to people that haven't even watched this cut of the film.

Trauma (Dario Argento, 1993)

Dario Argento has been making stylish, intelligent thrillers for four decades now. As is to be expected with a director who has close to twenty films in the can, his output has been a little inconsistent over the years. Trauma is on the up side of things, but it's not one of his best efforts.

David Parsons (For the Boys' Christopher Rydell) is an ex-junkie working as an artist for the local TV station. On his way home from work one night, he sees Aura Petrescu (Asia Argento of xXx and b.Monkey) getting ready to jump off a bridge. He stops her and convinces her to go for coffee with him. This does not work well, and she is accosted after running away from him. She is taken back home to her parents, spiritualists Adriana (Carrie's Piper Laurie) and Stefan (L'Ange's Dominique Serrand) after begging her accosters not to take her back to the Faraday Clinic, from which she had escaped just before the suicide attempt. On her first night home, however, not only do her parents call the clinic's head, Dr. Judd (Frederic Forrest, of Hammett fame), but during a séance, a series of confusing events occurs that leads to Adriana and Stefan's death. With nowhere else to turn, Aura goes back to David, and the two of them try to figure out who the killer is before he gets to Aura.

While the cinematography is pure Argento, much of the rest of the atmospheric trappings that make Argento films so wonderful are missing; most notably, the music is nowhere near the quality Argento got when working with Goblin. But a thriller doesn't have to be an Argento film to be good. How's the rest of it? The acting is a mixed bag; Frederic Forrest, especially, is painfully bad, the polar opposite of the brilliant, engaging actor who made Hammett such a treat. Piper Laurie reprises here Carrie role well, and while Argento's acting is not on par with movies she would make later in her career, she's acceptable. Brad Dourif also scores a role that's little more than a cameo, but he milks it for what it's worth. The plot can be a bit on the confusing side if you're not paying close enough attention, so be warned, but it does all come together in the end.

What will most disappoint diehard Argento fans, likely, is the almost complete lack of gore. Blame Argento's having made this film in America. He does get away with a decent amount, but it's a far cry from Profondo Rosso or even Non Ho Sonno.

All that said, I rather liked it; certainly more than I expected to, given the generally negative views of the film one finds in various places on the net. It'll probably be enjoyed more by those who aren't already students of Argento than those who are. ***

Well I thought that this film was just average, although the film can be quite silly its still good and Dario has a different style of directing this time so its a departure from his usual style that he used before. The story is about a distraught anorexic played by Asia Argento whose life turns upside down when she witnesses the murder of her parents including the decapitation of her psychic mother played by Piper Laurie I must say that her performance was way over the top check out that hilarious sceance. Soon Asia's character must uncover the serial killer's identety before its to late, she is also joined by a T.V. journalist who both investigate the crime together. Despite the film being shot in the U.S. it still has an Italian tone to it making it a combination of American and Italian gialo. The killer uses a particular device that is used to decapitate his victims which I thought was awsome. Overall I think you should check it out especialy if your an Argento fan like myself but I didn't think that it was his best effort.

While not his best work of course, I enjoyed this film. I am an Asia fan and she did a good job here. It's different than his previous work of course, but it really kept my interest and was entertaining. It's worth a watch.

Throughout the 1990's the output of Italian horror specialist Dario Argento began to increasingly look as though it was tailored for his daughter Asia. This tailoring also coincided with a general downturn in both quality and inspiration. The three films he made with Asia "Trauma", "The Stendahl Syndrome" and "Phantom of the Opera" are all quite notable for an unusually dour and drab visual quality. Argento regularly took liberty with his narratives, but even by Argento standards this trilogy of below par films are riddled with absurd contradictions and discontinuities. Of the three I prefer "Trauma", simply because like "Opera" before, it is based on a very good method of murder and is aided by some notable actors. Like most post 1980 horror films it is basically a series of set pieces connected by a gossamer thread of narrative, in this case a lot of nonsense involving dead children and vengeful mothers. Unlike other Argento efforts the culprit of much decapitating chaos is screamingly obvious, and the whole thing unravels into a rather a soppy love story. Asia Argento is given much material to work with; anorexia, a psychopathic mother and suicidal tendencies, she does little of note with this potentially intriguing material and neither does Dario. The usual bag of tricks are present (subjective camera angles - even from the P.O.V of a butterfly!! And well executed death scenes), but at this point in Argento's career one can't help thinking he'd lost the plot a bit.

This Dario Argento movie is not as bad as people say it is. But it's definately not his best film. I think the main reason is the acting. Asia Argento and Piper Laurie are pretty bad in this film. Asia's english wasn't as good as it is now and she seems to mumble her lines which can get pretty annoying at times. Piper Laurie seems to try to capture her amazing performance as the "crazy" mother in the classic "Carrie" film, but she fails. She's just so over the top and it hurts the film. But I'm glad Anchor Bay finally released the Uncut version of this film. The VHS version had a lot of the gore created by the great Tom Savini edited out. I give 3 1/2 stars for the film and 4 for this DVD release. And by the way, "The Stendthal Syndrome" & "Sleepless" aren't bad movies. I think "Sleepless" was his best film since "Suspiria" but the horrible American Pan/Scan release of this film just butchers the film!

Dario Argento movies are kinda stupid, but stupid in an interesting way. As with "Suspiria", the best way to approach "Trauma" is as a fairy tale, though here neverland is not a girls' school out of a Brothers Grimm story but rather the early 1990s. Sounds weird, but it works: the general clunkiness adds to the air of mystery. Asia Argento hasn't quite got the charisma to carry her part, but it's still interesting to see her when she was very young. (Though there's a brief gratuitous topless scene during which it's impossible to think of anything other than her father standing behind the camera.) Piper Laurie is, as always, a hoot. But who cares, right? The decapitations are the star of this movie, and they're well done. Plus the final operating room twist is impressively grotesque.

Dario Argento directed "Trauma" as well as the masterpiece "Deep Red," one of the most superior Italian gialli ever made. The most gruesome scene in "Deep Red" is the slow decapitation death of the serial killer when a chain is slowly pulled through his/her neck. This scene is repeated many times in "Trauma" when the black-gloved killer, known in the newspapers as "The Headhunter," leisurely decapitates his/her victims with mechanically operated piano wire. What is the connection between the victims and why is the killer doing it?

Asia Argento (daughter of Dario Argento) is a bulemic who must hunt for the person responsible for beheading her two parents. Laurie Piper (who played Carrie White's mother in "Carrie") is Asia's strange mom who was performing a séance on the night she lost her head. Christopher Rydell is the young man who risks everything in order to help Asia track down the serial killer before he/she can kill the last victims.

"Trauma" takes a serious departure from reality when a decapitated head utters the name of a doctor before "dying" and another head screams as it falls down an elevator shaft. This last scene was almost comical in its implausibility. However, this modern giallo does offer some mystery and suspense even if the murders are repetitious. A nice rock n' roll score would've helped. Perhaps a score from "Talking Heads?"

Well, this is THE movie that trapped me into Dario Argento's horror world in no time-- the first one of his I've ever seen (not counting Demons which wasn't directed by the master himself.) Filled with bloody violence, sickly twisted family liaison, and absolutely over-the-top campy fun. A masterpiece? Depends what your definition is. I think it's one of it's own kind. Asia was adorable (and still is.) Above all, I love Piper Laurie in this movie, period. Can't wait for the DVD to come out.

Like most Dario Argento films, TRAUMA revolves around a Giallo-style killer. In this particular film, the killer decapitates people and keeps their heads as trophies. In TRAUMA, the acting powerhouse Asia Argento (star of XXX, MOTHER OF TEARS and daughter of the film's director) stars as Aura, an attention-seeking teenager with an eating disorder. She meets a man named David, and shortly thereafter Aura's parents fall victim to the serial killer who the media calls the "Headhunter". The rest of the film revolves around Aura and David trying to find out the identity of the killer as well as the method to his (or her) mayhem.

I haven't seen all of director Dario Argento's films yet so it would be unfair to call this film his "sloppiest", but it still is a sloppy movie. Not only because it fails to capture the creepy atmosphere like his other films, but even as a standalone movie it's not very good. It's entertaining, but the overall product leaves much to be desired. You can see the Boom Operator's hand in one of the shots, the dialogue in the film is a bit ridiculous, and one of the green screen effects used in the film is horrible (it's the scene where a severed head is falling down an elevator shaft). Also the score doesn't really fit the movie and it sounds like music from HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS or some ridiculous kids movie. However, on the flip side there are some good things about TRAUMA. From a filmmaking point of view it's a bad film, but from an entertainment perspective I actually enjoyed TRAUMA a lot. The unknown, faceless killer storyline is always great because it keeps you interested and in most cases the killer's identity or motive isn't revealed until the end of the film, and TRAUMA is no different. In the movie, the killer only takes out a handful of people (usually Hospital employees) and only kills when it's raining. When everything is revealed, it gets pretty bizarre to say the least. As a matter of fact, the whole MOVIE is pretty bizarre. From Aura's eating disorder and unusual antics to David's obsession with Aura to the unusual twist at the end. And for some reason, every severed head in the film has the ability to talk for a few seconds after it's been removed from its body. The key to what made me enjoy this film is definitely Asia Argento's outstanding portrayal of Aura, which has to be seen to be believed.

So, overall I found TRAUMA to be entertaining, bizarre, and silly, yet sloppy at times. Since this is a pretty obscure movie I'm sure only three types of people will watch this movie: hardcore Dario Argento fans, casual Dario Argento fans who are looking to get to know the director's filmography, and Asia Argento fans. With that being said if you're a hardcore Dario fan you'll either love or hate this movie. You'll love it if you're one of the people who worships at the altar of Dario Argento and sees everything he does as golden, or you'll hate it because it fails to deliver the goods compared to his classic films like SUSPIRIA or TENEBRE. If you're a casual Dario Argento fan, I would recommend you skip this one. If you're an Asia Argento fan then you'll be in for a treat because not only do you get to witness her awesome acting ability, but she does get topless in a scene also. Hooray for boobies.

2.5 stars