Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Christopher Rydell | ... | David Parsons | |
Asia Argento | ... | Aura Petrescu | |
Piper Laurie | ... | Adriana Petrescu | |
Frederic Forrest | ... | Dr. Judd | |
Laura Johnson | ... | Grace Harrington | |
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Dominique Serrand | ... | Stefan Petrescu |
James Russo | ... | Capt. Travis | |
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Ira Belgrade | ... | Arnie |
Brad Dourif | ... | Dr. Lloyd | |
Hope Alexander-Willis | ... | Linda Quirk | |
Sharon Barr | ... | Hilda Volkman | |
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Isabell O'Connor | ... | Georgia Jackson (as Isabell Monk) |
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Cory Garvin | ... | Gabriel Pickering |
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Terry Perkins | ... | Mrs. Pickering |
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Tony Saffold | ... | Ben Aldrich |
An anorexic young woman escapes from a psychiatric clinic and meets a young man who wants to help. She is caught and returned to her parents, who are soon beheaded by a garrotting stranger making the rounds about town, apparently striking only when it rains. The orphaned young woman and her new lover launch their own investigation and are endangered when a link is discovered with the victims and a particular operation performed years before. Written by Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>
Dario Argento makes a clunky transition to film-making in the United States with "Trauma," but still succeeds in creating an atmosphere of suspense and menace. The cast, while well-chosen, is prone to overacting (with Piper Laurie and Frederic Forrest being the key offenders), and the plot revolves heavily around coincidence. Despite this, Argento's skillful POV shots (the hospital sequence is especially impressive) imbue the film with an efficient mood of dread, and the story, once fully revealed, makes a bit more sense than the director's earlier, more artistic efforts. Tom Savini's makeup effects are well-done, but underutilized (even in the uncut version).