Trauma [Region 2] | ![Trauma [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JM7Z5M5BL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Dario Argento
Actors: Christopher Rydell, Asia Argento, Piper Laurie, Frederic Forrest, Laura Johnson
Category: DVD
Buy Used: $34.85
Used (3) from $34.85
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 213912
Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5023965333322
ASIN: B0000634AH
Theatrical Release Date: August 10, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 For fans of Asia Argento or piano wire April 29, 2009
William P. Mcneill (Seattle, Washington USA)
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 the disbelief-suspending neverland is not a girls' school out of a Brothers Grimm story but rather the early 1990s. Sounds funny, 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.
A young Asia Argento hunts down a serial killer. December 24, 2008
Aaron Von Raschke
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
 Argento's best post-1987 work... November 21, 2008
Grigory's Girl (NYC)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm a huge Dario Argento fan, but like most of his fans, have been very disappointed by his post-1987 work, which ranges from mediocre to abysmal. This film, finally available in its uncut form at 106 minutes (most VHS version ran around 86 minutes) and widescreen, is a lot better than almost all of Argento's work after 1987. It isn't perfect, but it's very watchable and quite extraordinary at times.
This was Argento's first foray into American filmmaking, and while that could have been a recipe for disaster, it's not. The film is extremely well shot, with some fantastic camera work (it wouldn't be an Argento film if it wasn't), a surprisingly good performance by Dario's daugher Asia (most of Dario's films have mediocre to bad acting), and a somewhat coherent plot. It's also nice to see actors who aren't badly dubbed into English for once in his work. All of the dialogue is in English here. Christopher Rydell, the lead actor, is pretty good, and some of the supporting actors (especially Rydell's boss at the TV station) are surprisingly good. Unfortunately, the dialogue isn't very good, the music score is very, very conventional, and James Russo's police detective has some scenes that just jump into the film without a moment's notice. There are highly questionable character motivations, and the fact that Asia Argento's character is anoxeric really doesn't have any point other than she's anoxeric. Dario doesn't really explore this plot point at all, other than a striking shot from a moving car that focuses on overly thin women. But the revelation at the end of the film is quite shocking and strikingly shot, and it does pack quite a jolt. There are some intense scenes, especially when a boy from the neighborhood is spying on a person who might be the killer. There's not much gore here, and Tom Savini's effects don't really stand out like they do on other films. The only really memorable gore scene is when a woman's head is sawed off, and the head still manages to talk to Rydell. There's also a scene in an asylum that's really surreal and memorable.
If you are a Dario Argento film, you should really watch this. There's a lot in it to enjoy, especially since this DVD is the uncut version. Dario has always had problems with distributors in this country on almost every movie he's made, and it hasn't been gore that's the problem. They always leave all the gore in; they just hack up the plot, making the films even more incoherent. Make sure you check this one out. It's one of Argento's most underrated, and the best film from his later period (even though I haven't seen everything from that period).
Repetitious, Unrealistic Giallo From Dario Argento April 9, 2008
J. B. Hoyos (Chesapeake, VA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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 seance 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?"
 An OK movie with a ludicrous ending March 25, 2008
Genevieve Hayes (Australia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I feel very indifferent about "Trauma". It's not a great movie, but it's also not so bad that I feel like ripping it apart for 300 words. "Trauma" was made after, what is considered by many to be, the peak period of Dario Argento's career (the period between "Deep Red" and "Opera", which also includes "Suspiria", "Phenomenon" and "Tenebrae" - let's just pretend that "Inferno" doesn't exist), and is the beginning of a period of films that are not so much bad, as simply inferior to their great predecessors.
"Trauma"'s plot is very simple. Anorexic teenager, Aura (played by Argento's teenage daughter, Asia Argento), witnesses the deaths of her psychic parents at the hands of the Head Hunter, a serial killer who, as the names suggests, decapitates his victims. With the help of a news artist (Christopher Rydell), Aura then sets about solving the murders. You can probably fill in the rest. Nothing about this film really stands out: the acting is mediocre, the plot is mediocre; the only exception to this is the ending, which is so ludicrous that it is (unintentionally) laugh-aloud funny. This film is basically of the caliber of your average straight-to-DVD movie or tele-movie, and is only disappointing when you realize just how brilliant some of Argento's previous works truly are.
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