Review of Trauma

Introduction

Horror movies are designed to chill the blood, freeze the spine, and have the audience cowering behind the nearest piece of furniture at the sight of grisly murders and horrific monsters, or covering their ears at the piercing shriek of another doomed victim. They usually have the effect of putting me to sleep though. I might have mentioned this before, but I`m not a horror fan, and the arrival of Dario Argento`s Trauma to review wasn`t any particular cause for excitement. Indeed, it moved to the top of my review list to get it out of the way quicker.

David Parsons is an artist working for the local news station, who one day interrupts Aura Petrescu in the process of committing suicide. Aura is a troubled teen, suffering from an eating disorder and who has escaped from a clinic where she had been sent for treatment. Before David can help her though, she has stolen his wallet and been picked up by Social Services, who return her to her parents. Her parents run séances to contact the dearly departed, and that night they once again provide that service while Aura is in her room. But this séance contacts someone else entirely, a recent murder victim that had been brutally decapitated. As a storm rages, Aura`s mother Adriana flees outside in her hysteria, followed by her husband. There they run into the murderer who proceeds to attack them. Aura, shocked by what she witnesses has nowhere to turn, until she calls the number she finds in the wallet she stole. But helping Aura may be a mistake for David, as he finds death follows in her wake.

Video

Optimum presents Trauma with an excellent 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. The image is clear and sharp throughout, and there is hardly any evidence of print damage. There is a hint of grain, but the detail levels are good, especially in darker scenes. The quality can also be seen in the film`s production values. The direction is economic and effective throughout, and the lighting and production design is atmospheric, adding to the mood of the film.

Audio

The sound on the other hand is less impressive, in the form of a simple DD 2.0 English track. The dialogue can be a little muted at times, and the rather centralised Stereo sound is not much aid to atmosphere. The music is suitably spooky, if a little generic. Also subtitles were sorely lacking on the disc.

Features

If you count animated menus and a theatrical trailer as suitable extras, then this disc may just satisfy.

Conclusion

It`s a horror movie, none too original either. The direction while effective is unoriginal, but I suppose there are only so many ways that scares can be delivered via a camera. Whenever the Headhunter attacks, we get the attacker`s point of view, spooky scenes are more often than not cued by a tension in the music, and of course there are the requisite red herrings and reversals. The story touches all the bases on its way to a bloody climax. There`s a séance, a mad psychiatrist who conducts experiments at a creepy clinic, Aura and her family are from Romania (nothing good has ever come from Romania when it comes to horror movies), the victims all have a common past and they all share a common dark secret. Put it all together and it`s everything I hate about horror movies, including some occasionally dreadful performances. The end result is that I enjoyed Trauma without reservation. I hate it when that happens.

There is a cheap and cheerful feel to the film, especially when it comes to the effects, but what Trauma succeeds in that many other similar films fail at, is at telling a decent story. From the first moment, when the first victim was brutally separated from her head, I was compelled to watch the story unfold, to find out what was going on. The main characters are all interesting, they all have dimension to their personalities and mysteries in their lives that add to the main enigma of the serial killer. There are some cheesy performances though, especially among the supporting cast, and moments of ill-advised melodrama that seem out of place in the context of the story. There are some excellent performances too, especially Piper Laurie as Adriana, and blink and you`ll miss Brad Dourif.

When it was first released in the UK, Trauma suffered some six seconds of cuts at the hands of the censor. Those cuts have been waived for this release, so it is the full theatrical version. According to IMDB, there is a longer version around with 7 minutes of character building scenes. You may want to consider looking it up if you are a fan of this film, but as a first timer I found this disc enjoyable.

The disc`s strong point has to be the excellent image quality, but the lack of extras, subtitles or surround sound isn`t going to do it any favours. It`s a long time since I found a horror film to be fun, but the well considered story, the demonstrative performances, and the well constructed thrills all come together to make Trauma an enjoyable film. It`s well worth considering if you want to try an alternative to I Know What You Screamed Last Summer IV.