I'll invest my time in any Argento, even the gawd-awful Giallo. In the case of Trauma, this is a movie that I avoided watching since it was released and had no interest in. I recently saved an airing on Flix that turned out to be a very nice widescreen print, a big help to inducing me to watch it. Because of personal time constraints, I only watched 15 or 20 minutes at a clip. I mention all this because I'm the first to watch any Dario film straight through. As with most of his films, reality and logic have no real place in his fantasy construct. Trauma is a ridiculous film that makes no sense whatsoever with more holes than a spaghetti strainer. The good points: An atmospheric seance. An unusual decapitation machine that's not well shot during the kill scenes. An atmospheric lake scene and a few other interesting moments. The bad: Bad acting. After the use of leading men like Franciscus, Musante, Hemming and Franciosa in previous classics, Chris Rydell tries but doesn't succeed. He's like a neurotic Judge Reinhold. The cop is REALLY bad. Asia is an acquired taste I don't have although I can appreciate Poppa wanting to give his kid a paycheck. The only redemption in the acting comes from Laurie, Dourif and Forrest. Scenes with the kid are horrendous including what he manages to do at the end. Laura Johnson is completely wasted. The unintentional laughs come from the drugstore scene (hilarious), Rydell's chasing the lesbians, how Rydell finds the killer's house and Rydell accosting Dourif.

"Dario Argento's Trauma" is better than expected, even if it doesn't match his previous works.**SPOILERS**After failing a suicide attempt, Aura Petrescu, (Asia Argento) is captured and returned to the Farraday Clinic, where her mother Adriana, (Piper Laurie) is concerned for her behavior. Following a murder attempt on the clinic by a psychotic killer, she escapes and returns to David Parsons, (Christopher Rydell) who had initially saved her. Concerned for her when it appears that the deranged serial killer is following her, they soon realize that the killer is directly involved in a past incident in her life and is wiping out those that were formerly apart of that, forcing them to find what the connection is and use them to discover the killer's identity and stop them before the killer tracks them down.The Good News: There was some good stuff here that really helped it out. One of the better areas in the film is that there's a series of the usual artistic flair that Argento is known for that shine through, creating brief moments of breath-taking stylistic flourish. One of the better ones is where a little kid can't sleep because a woman keeps staring at him from a window in the house across the way, unaware that the eyes are contained in a decapitated head. Perhaps the most novel one is a scene where the heroine stumbles across a murder scene in the middle of the woods during a heavy rainstorm, and then turns to see the killer making off from the scene carrying two severed heads in front of their face, leading to a round of hysterical screaming, as well as forming the basis for the rest of the film to solve. It's one of the best scenes in the film as well. Also a scene where the freakish sight of a freshly decapitated head utters a few essential words with its death rattle are all vintage Argento. There's more in that woodland-setting scene, as there's an incredibly fun séance witnessed just beforehand that makes it all the better with the visuals and sound gags which really just make the whole scene a stand-out. Another excellent scene is the initial escape from the hospital during a strike by the killer, leading to general pandemonium when the victims are discovered among the residents and the stalking by the killer makes for plenty of great times. Even more fun is at the end, with the confrontation in the basement being quite entertaining. From the revelation about the kills, which is handled by an incredibly well-done flashback scene that certainly scores for how moody and original it is, to the suspense found within to the fun of it all, this is a great way to end off the film. The film also manages to work in one of the greatest weapons in slasher-filmdom, the mechanical noose that the killer uses here. Not only is it an ingenious device that allows for some spectacular kills, but looks realistic and performs well, which is a nice accomplishment. That alone leads to plenty of great kills with it, where the victims are decapitated with it in pretty gruesome ways that are quite fun and exciting. These here provide the film's best qualities.The Bad News: There was a couple problems with this one. One of the bigger flaws is the film's series of scenes that don't really offer up much in the way of suspense, really just making the film longer than it should be. This one has plenty of scenes that feature this part, mainly the subplot with the neighboring child. There's nothing worthwhile about it as it adds nothing to the film beyond the one key scene with the eyes, the different scenes with it don't offer up anything and the one attempt at suspense, the walk-through of the house after the lizard, is just utterly terrible and has no value to the film, and being taken out, as well as most of the scenes involving the kid as well, really should've been taken out of the film. The other flaw is the fact that, as well as the previously-mentioned kid scenes, is that the opening portions of the film concentrating on the numerous attempts to help out with the disease. While important for establishing character, these do nothing for establishing the pace of the film, offer up nothing to help solve the killers' identity and are just part of the attempt to make the film longer than it should be. While not at all detrimental to the film, and is barely noticeable at all, is the film's lack of Argento's style, being really toned down in visual prowess compared to his other efforts, but this isn't anything to hold the film down at all, and is barely noticed at all in most areas.The Final Verdict: With some good stuff here and a couple of minor, mild flaws as well, it has a lot going for it and is better than expected. Really give it a shot if you're an open-minded Argento fan or into these kinds of films, while those looking for more of Argento's Italian-style should stay to those films.Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity and a mild, shadowy Sex Scene

"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.

Dario Argento's "Trauma" of 1993 is definitely one of this great director's lesser films, but it is nevertheless a more than decent Thriller and better than most 90s Horror films. The 90s were a bad decade for Horror in general, and definitely also the worst decade in Dario Argento's career, with his doubtlessly worst movie "Il Fantasma Dell' Opera" in 1998. "Two Evil Eyes" of 1990 which he made with George A. Romero, was also a good Horror film, but not nearly as great as a film by Romero and Argento could have been. "Trauma" is definitely not comparable to Argento's masterpieces from the 70s and 80s. As far as I am considered, however, Argento is one of the greatest Horror directors of all-time, and films like "Suspiria", "Profondo Rosso" or "Phenomena" range high in my personal all-time favorite list. Even Argento's weaker films are usually above average, and "Trauma" is a more than decent film that easily outshines the majority of 90s Horror efforts.Director Argento's daughter, then 18-year-old Asia Argento stars as Aura, a teenage Romanian girl who has escaped from a mental hospital where her parents sent her, supposedly to cure her anorexia. What Aura is really fleeing from, however, is a serial killer who only operates when it rains. Journalist David (Christopher Rydell) wants to help the girl...Generally speaking, "Trauma" has everything decent Horror films need - it is stylishly filmed, atmospheric and very suspenseful from the beginning to the end. What Trauma sadly lacks, are many of the brilliant trademark Argento elements. Most of Argento's masterpieces from the 70s and 80s had brilliant scores by Progressive Rock band Goblin. "Trauma" unfortunately hasn't, which is one of the elements that I missed most. The change of scenery from Europe to the United States doesn't compliment Argento's style of film-making either. Then again, the camera work is, as usual, great, and even though the film is not quite as ultra-violent as some other Argento films, there is quite an amount of stylish, gory bloodshed. The performances are fine too (although not breathtaking), especially young Asia Argento convinces in her first leading role. The supporting cast contains Frederic Forest, Brad Dourif and Piper Laurie.As mentioned above, "Trauma" is certainly not one of Argento's masterpieces. But even this ingenious filmmaker's lesser films are above average, and "Trauma" is definitely a more than decent 90s Giallo that Horror fans should not miss! Recommended!