Heads You Win! Dario Argento's 1993 Giallo is
John Chard
Heads You Win! Dario Argento's 1993 Giallo is a mixed bag, it's a film on his CV that his fans readily accept shows the best and worst of the goremeister's…
Heads You Win!
Dario Argento's 1993 Giallo is a mixed bag, it's a film on his CV that his fans readily accept shows the best and worst of the goremeister's bent.
Asia Argento plays a troubled young woman with a eating disorder who runs away from a psychiatric hospital. Teaming up with a hero in waiting, she is drawn into the hunt for a serial killer known as "The Headhunter", a hooded killer who has a penchant for decapitation.
Backed by American dollars for the first time, Dario Argento is in a mischievous mood here. Pumped by Pino Donaggio's chipper musical compositions, Trauma struggles to get the audience to take it seriously as a horror film. Conversely, it's still a bunch of fun, intentionally or otherwise, with the director blending gore and suspense with his playful peccadilloes.
The murder scenes are handled with the customary Argento skill, where we even get introduced to what can only be described as Garrote-O-Vision! His camera work quite often borders on the brilliant, but elsewhere the acting is poor across the board and the uneven tone destabilises the pic as a "horror" film of substance.
Roll the dice and take your chance here really. It's fun not scary, bloody yet playful, classy yet amateurish, gotta love those red berries though. 6.5/10
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★ 7 / 10
Not One Of Argento's Masterpieces - But Definitely Not Bad
Witchfinder-General-666
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…
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!
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Sounds like it must be the restoration cut if there are scenes in Italian. Those scenes were cut from the English dub so weren't dubbed.