Trauma (1993)

A young man tries to help a teenage European girl who escaped from a clinic hospital after witnessing the murder of her parents by a serial killer and they try to find the killer before the killer finds them.

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Franco Ferrini (story), Gianni Romoli (story) (as Giovanni Romoli)

Stars:

Christopher Rydell, Asia Argento, Piper Laurie

Cast

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
Dominique Serrand	...	Stefan Petrescu
James Russo	...	Capt. Travis
Ira Belgrade	...	Arnie
Brad Dourif	...	Dr. Lloyd
Hope Alexander-Willis	...	Linda Quirk
Sharon Barr	...	Hilda Volkman
Isabell O'Connor	...	Georgia Jackson (as Isabell Monk)
Cory Garvin	...	Gabriel Pickering
Terry Perkins	...	Mrs. Pickering
Tony Saffold	...	Ben Aldrich

Storyline

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

murderess | investigation | hospital | rain | serial killer | 

---

Taglines:

Some Nightmares Haunt You. Some... Can Kill You.

---

Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and terror, and for some sexuality and language

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 1993 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Aura's Enigma

Filming Locations:

Hopkins, Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ADC Films, Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Grace was originally offered to Bridget Fonda.

---

Goofs

Severed heads cannot talk. One needs lungs in order to talk.

---

Alternate Versions

A special uncut version reportedly available on video features 7 minutes of footage omitted from foreign prints including:

• a new introduction of the Aura and David characters: David (Chris Rydell) drives Grace (Laura Johnson) at the airport and sees Aura (Asia Argento) being beaten by a man whose plane ticket she tried to steal;
• a new scene features Grace visiting David at the TV station and asking him about Aura; David invites Grace to his house and then calls Aura at home to ask her if she needs any food; Aura lies to him and tells she's already eaten;
• Aura visits a market and is spotted by Dr. Jarvis (Frederic Forrest), who tries to catch her;
• After David and Aura escape from the Marigold, she tells him she's taken a little souvenir from Nurse Volkmann's purse; another new shot shows the Marigold's owner talking to the police;
• David checks into a hotel after following Linda Quirk's car and asks for a room overlooking the parking lot;
• David asks for information about Dr. Lloyd in a saloon;
• After David calls Grace and asks her for prescription forms, she meets and confronts him, trying to make him face the fact that he's become a junkie;
• The death scenes of Linda Quick and of the killer are more graphically explicit (the wire is seen cutting through Linda's neck).

---

Connections

Referenced in Dario's Murderous Moggy: Remembering Cat o' Nine Tails (2011)

---

Soundtracks

The Loss
Music by Andrea Bandel and Pino Donaggio
Arranged by Andrea Bandel
Score Conducted by Gianfranco Plenizio
Arranged and Orchestrated by Pino Donaggio and Natale Massara
Keyboards Programming and Performance by Paolo Steffan
All music published by Bixio C.E.M.S.A.

User Reviews

Not one of Argento's best

"Trauma" is definitely not the best film he's ever done, and by no far the worst either, but it's just not up there with (Deep Red, Suspiria, Tenebre and A Bird With A Crystal Plummage).

The set up is good and the acting is top-notch especially Asia Argento, she's a talented actress. The movie starts off good and the storyline is interesting and has a good twist at the end, it's just the middle I found a bit muddling. TRAUMA is occasionally a pleasingly twisted film, but whilst watching it I couldn't shake the feeling that it could have been all the more gloriously twisted if it were not for one thing- that it was trying to please its (perceived) American audience. As I've said (several times!) there is no way you can disguise Argento's intrinsic strangeness, but here it seems, well, kind of muted. Explaining why it fails somewhat, the film (and hence Argento) seems uncomfortable in its setting; especially in its attempts to transport some of giallo elements to a foreign setting.

All in all "Trauma" isn't a bad film, just mediore at times.