tomgillespie2002 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.

preppy-3 David Parsons (Christopher Rydell) saves Aura (Asia Argento) from committing suicide after witnessing her parents being murdered. He tries to take care of her but the murderer goes after Aura and others. Who's doing it and why? Dario Argento's first American film is very very good but not great like "Deep Red" and "Suspiria" were. Still even lesser Argento is at least 90% better than most American horror films. All of his trademarks are here--the beautiful camera work, a story that makes little sense, it moves VERY quickly and has bursts of graphic violence (although not as graphic as his other pictures). The acting is pretty good too. Rydell and Argento are attractive and OK in their roles. In smaller roles Piper Laurie (with an atrocious Italian accent), Frederic Forrest and Brad Dourif REALLY chew the scenery. When they're on screen they're lots of fun.The debits--Argento didn't seem comfortable filming in America. The camera-work is still amazing but he seems real off sometime. Worst of all is the score. Argento wanted to work his group Goblin who did downright terrifying scores for most of his pictures. However the American investors wanted someone more tame and had Pino Donaggio to do the score. It's terrible--it doesn't fit the film at all. Also the last 20 minutes or so are really hard to follow. So good but not great Argento.

Red-Barracuda I first saw this movie back when it was released in '93 and I disliked it a lot. I never made any attempt to re-watch it for the next nineteen years so underwhelmed was I by it. Well, I decided to give Trauma another go just the other night and I have to say I may have been unduly harsh on it, all things considered. Maybe it's because I have seen most of Dario Argento's films made since then, and came to the realisation that this one wasn't so bad after all. But in all honesty I think my re-assessment is based on the simple fact that the movie itself, while not great, is really not all that bad.The main issue I had before, sort of remains the same, except it concerns me less now and that is the lack of cinematic style. This was Argento's first American movie and the result is a film that has a lot less visual flamboyance and violence. It's a much more restrained affair, with the drab Minnesota setting adding a different more sombre ambiance to proceedings. The music too is quite a bit different to Argento's usual selection; he wanted Goblin but his new producers vetoed this and chose the more mainstream sounds of Pino Donaggio. The soundtrack to Trauma definitely remains one of its most obvious flaws. Donaggio's score is nice enough but out of place too much of the time, it certainly does not accentuate proceedings in the way that you would expect in a giallo soundtrack. So audially and visually things are more muted here.But once you accept this it's not so bad. The mystery itself is quite good, if nothing too original. It's compelling enough and told at a good pace. Its not one of the director's more bloodstained efforts; for even though the story is about a serial killer who decapitates victims with a home-made garroting device, the violence is relatively restrained. It's more of an exercise in suspense and amateur sleuthing. For the most part it is nothing to get too excited about but the final scene where the protagonist approaches the killer's house and finally confronts them in a room full of net curtains is very good and memorable. While the killer's compulsion to only kill in the rain is the kind of psychotic madness we like to see in these films. There are some WTF moments such as severed heads that can talk and a particularly awful special effect of a head falling down an elevator shaft. But all-in-all, it holds together quite well. This is also the fourth time Argento employed the idea where someone witnesses a murder and only at the end of the film realises that what they saw was misleading. The device was used in The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red and Tenebrae; it's used here too, although in a much less satisfying way admittedly.Chris Rydell leads the picture and he was pretty good in my opinion. He does well with what he has and is a likable lead. Asia Argento isn't too bad either; she definitely has some charisma to burn. There's also a trio of pros too – Piper Laurie, Brad Dourif and Frederic Forrest. Laurie isn't in the film too much but she's more or less reprising her character from Carrie but she is good enough, if a little underused. Dourif has no more than a cameo appearance and has no time to register anything; he more or less appears and is killed. While Forrest was really fairly terrible, amazing to think in the same year he would turn out such a great performance in Falling Down.So overall, Trauma is a lesser Argento but a fairly enjoyable one. Nowhere near as bad as I remembered it. I'm happy I gave it another chance.

ManBehindTheMask63 "Trauma" doesn't quiet fall into that category of "so bad it's good"...it's more like "so contrived it's excellent". It's like watching a train wreck. The plot holes alone left me scratching my head and questioning whether I accidentally skipped past scenes of exposition. There are several loose ends that never get tied up and the whole "twist" ending is absurd to the point that it's almost offensive to viewers.You might be asking "then how can this be your favorite Argento film?" Or "why rank it a 9?" Because Argento films, and rather Italian horror films in general, are usually more focused on visuals and imagery rather than plot and story. And "Trauma" does have beautiful images, great symbolism, and a unique narrative. The plot revolves around an anorexic teen who witnesses "The Head Hunter" murdering her parents, who just happen to be psychics. The teen teams up with a young American man, who may not be aware of statutory rape laws, to catch the killer. Many bizarre subplots and decapitations ensue.Trauma was suppose to be Dario Argento's big break in America and was suppose to be his bloodiest film to date...but the producers heavily edited the film's gore scenes and it shows. Which is a shame because Tom Savini was involved in the film and you can feel that the gags/setups never pay off like they should.Overall, "Trauma" is a mixed bag. There's good acting (Christopher Rydell) and bad acting (Asia Argento). There's some good death scenes than there are some absurd death scenes. I was very pleased to not have to deal with terrible dubbing in an Argento film for once and seeing Asia's breasts are always a nice treat. Check it out.