Cheap Trauma [Region 2] (DVD) (Dario Argento) Price

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Customer Reviews of Trauma [Region 2]

Asia's unimpressive debut
This movie just doesn't hold a candle to some of Argento's previous work. I was most interested in Asia Argento's performance as this was her debut film. It's pretty obvious that she's a 16-year old with little acting experience. She's not terrible by any means, but she spends most of the film using the same mannerisms over and over again. When she bursts into tears for the fifth time, it's hard not to roll your eyes. Overall, this movie just had too many flaws in the plot to be all that enjoyable. Not to mention that I found Argento's willingness to have his 16-year old daughter appear topless in one of his films rather creepy.

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Excellent Giallo by Dario Argento
When it came to the 90s most horror filmmakers who got their start in the late 60s and the 70s featured a major drop off in their work in the 90s. Most filmmakers as they get older don't get better. Of course there are always exceptions.<
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>In the case of Dario Argento's Trauma where most filmmakers from his era were on the decline, Dario was one of the few who still managed to put together a solid film.<
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>From the 90s to even now, some of the great horror filmmakers made their weakest and even worst films of their career. Argento isn't free of that either. But Trauma in my opinion is a very solid Giallo by Dario Argento. Of all the films by Iconic horror filmmakers in the 90s Trauma I believe is one of the best.<
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>As fans we cannot help, but compare a filmmaker's later work to their early work. Trauma doesn't have the tension and dread of films like Deep Red or Tenebre; While visually Trauma is well done, it's Argento so that goes without saying, but no the film isn't as visually stunning as Suspiria and Inferno.<
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>But even with those factors it doesn't make Trauma a bad film at all. Several times through out Dario Argento shows flashes of what made him such a loved filmmaker. There are moments with some solid tension even if it isn't as solid as Argento's prior work.<
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>The script by Dario Argento & T.E.D. Klein is well written; I think that even the biggest of Dario Argento fans can agree that while, not a bad writer by any means the screenplays weren't the strongest parts of his movies.<
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>Even though Trauma may not be his best picture, I do believe it's one of Argento's better written movies. As I stated before the tension and dread isn't as well done as some of his other movies, but there is still some solid suspenseful moments in Trauma.<
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>The scenes are well paced there are some slow moments, but Argento never lets it get boring. The pace of the movie moves well and Argento creates some decent tension.<
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>The acting is pretty good; while none of the performances will blow you away the actors do a fine job. Christopher Rydell delivers a solid performance and Asia Argento shows great promise, which I believe she lived up to.<
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>Both Rydell and Asia Argento are able to make their characters very likeable and have a rather solid script to work with. The anorexia aspect of the movie actually plays out well. Its obvious Argento took the time and put care into it.<
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>I personally think that helped add a lot more depth to the movie and added the depth of the characters.<
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>The score by Pino Donaggio is well done, but it does sound too much like the typical American thriller. While I did like the score, I have to be honest I would have preferred Goblin, which is what Argento originally wanted.<
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>The look of the movie is quite well done, which is something Argento's movies are known for. Good movie or not they always have a great style to them. Like I stated earlier from a visual side you won't find another Suspiria or Inferno, but regardless the visual style is well done.<
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>My only real complaint is the gore. Despite what a lot of people say, Argento movies really aren't known for their gore. While yes, some of his work does feature gore, but I wouldn't in any way call them gore movies, and quite honestly Argento doesn't need gore to make his movies work. Most of the time the murders are so beautifully shot the last thing on our mind is the gore.<
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>But the reason it bothers me here a bit is logic would tell you if you get bashed in the head with a hammer you will bleed. When dealing with decapitations well you are gonna bleed. <
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>Even though the make up F/X were done by Tom Savini there isn't very much of the red stuff. But the decapitations look great. In no way do they look fake; it's just that when dealing with murders like that you need more than just some blood running down the neck. Despite all that the F/X looks excellent.<
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>In my personal opinion Trauma is an excellent and much underrated movie by Dario Argento. Granted it may not be as solid as some his earlier work, but it can stand proud next to them even if not as good.<
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>I think fans of Dario Argento should give this another try, while it's hard not to compare this to his earlier work if you take the movie for what it is you'll see it is a solid movie in a time when most of the Iconic horror filmmakers were on a major decline in product. For those new to Argento I would recommend watching his earlier stuff first and working your way up to Trauma.<
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>In closing, while Trauma may not be one of Dario Argento's best movies, it still is well done and some what suspenseful Giallo with an excellent mystery.<
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Below Par Argento, But Still Worth a Watch
Throughout the 1990's the output of Italian horror specialist Dario Argento began to increasingly look as though it was tailored for his daughter Asia. This tailoring also coincided with a general downturn in both quality and inspiration. The three films he made with Asia "Trauma", "The Stendahl Syndrome" and "Phantom of the Opera" are all quite notable for an unusually dour and drab visual quality. Argento regularly took liberty with his narratives, but even by Argento standards this trilogy of below par films are riddled with absurd contradictions and discontinuities. Of the three I prefer "Trauma", simply because like "Opera" before, it is based on a very good method of murder and is aided by some notable actors. Like most post 1980 horror films it is basically a series of set pieces connected by a gossamer thread of narrative, in this case a lot of nonsense involving dead children and vengeful mothers. Unlike other Argento efforts the culprit of much decapitating chaos is screamingly obvious, and the whole thing unravels into a rather a soppy love story. Asia Argento is given much material to work with; anorexia, a psychopathic mother and suicidal tendencies, she does little of note with this potentially intriguing material and neither does Dario. The usual bag of tricks are present (subjective camera angles - even from the P.O.V of a butterfly!! And well executed death scenes), but at this point in Argento's career one can't help thinking he'd lost the plot a bit.