Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Trauma (1993)

Director: Dario Argento

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This rarely seen gorefest from Italian horror director Dario Argento failed to get a UK cinema release, despite containing all the best and worst elements of his uncompromising style. David Parsons (Rydell) is a journalist who takes young anorexic Aura Petrescu (Argento) under his wing after her parents are apparently murdered by a serial killer wielding a decapitating machine. As the unstable Aura and David become closer, a pattern to the killings emerges. Argento's first American backed film pays homage to Psycho, yet he conspicuously lacks Hitchcock's ability to direct actors - there isn't a half decent performance to be found here, and his own daughter in the female lead is particularly awful. Also, a barely credible plot and uneven pacing don't help. Yet Argento's occasionally brilliant camerawork and the evident glee with which he sets about the decapitation scenes make this just about worthwhile.

Author: TH 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Dario Argento

Producer: Dario Argento

Cast: Asia Argento, Christopher Rydell, Frederic Forrest, James Russo, Laura Johnson, Piper Laurie, Brad Dourif, Hope Alexander-Willis full cast

Genre(s): Horror

Duration: 105 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.