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Trauma [1993]
Starring: Christopher Rydell , Asia Argento , Piper Laurie , Frederic Forrest , and Laura Johnson Director: Dario Argento Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0006M4SGY Release Date: 2005-07-25 ![]() |
Customer Reviews:
synopsis does not match film- .......2006-10-29
Amazon.co.uk Review
Trauma was director Dario Argento's big crossover attempt at combining the Italian giallo genre with the American stalk 'n' slash. His fans may debate whether the result was a complete success, but the film certainly put his name in front of a wider international audience. Essentially the story is a psycho-murderer-mystery, with the audience made to piece together clues towards the identity-revealing denouement. The movie comes alive as a result of suitably intense performances, even while the characters die.Piper Laurie and Brad Dourif supply atypically explosive cameos. The leads are contrastingly subdued for the most part, no doubt because of their characters' involvement with drugs. Asia Argento (the director's daughter) is an anorexic who witnesses her parents' decapitations among a series of similar murders by the notorious "Headhunter". Christopher Rydell plays the ex-junkie who takes her in and helps track down the killer. Backing them up are some even greater performances from Tom Savini's eye-boggling special FX. With the aid of a motorised garrotte, the beheadings are gruesomely real, especially the one that leaves a head still able to talk.
On the DVD: Trauma comes to disc in full 2.35:1 widescreen, though this isn't the clearest of transfers (plenty of artefacts present). The sound is in an unspecified Dolby mix. An interesting selection of extras almost makes up for the lack of a commentary. There are filmographies of Dario and Asia, a gallery of behind-the-scenes stills, and trailers for the movie Phantom of the Opera and several more in this series of releases. More interesting are the text features: interviews with Asia on her memories of the shoot and with renegade horror director Richard Stanley surreally recalling his long-term fandom of everything Argento. Most fascinating, there's a mini-essay on what was cut and why by the BBFC for the original UK video release. --Paul Tonks
Customer Reviews:
For Argento completists.......2007-12-15
Slightly disappointing, but..........2003-06-05
The murder weapon is fantastic, for one thing. Basically a rectangular box with a wire loop, it electronically constricts around the neck until the head is severed- needing no strength, and giving the impression of a gruesome inevitability... The murderer is also able to improvise (The device is broken? Why not use the lift for decapitation?) and is psychotic because of a horrifying event, which to some viewers justified the rampage.
So where did this go wrong? Argento is muted. I don't mean that it isn't gory enough, as Argento doesn't need gore to be Argento (it merely helps), but florishing touches are missing, or not quite as evident as elsewhere. There seems to be a curious slackness, a lack of enthusiasm for it all. Perhaps, since it was made in America, Argento felt he should play it safe stylistically. He certainly hasn't shown any eagerness to go back.
Another reservation is the music. Argento's films try above all to provoke an emotional response from the audience- see, again, 'Suspiria' for a superlative soundtrack. But the music here is bland and uninspired- like you'd get on a bad TV movie. And that completely kills any atmosphere Argento builds up.
But- the automatic garrotte! I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE!
If you like Argento, go for it. If you don't know him, go for 'Sleepless' or 'Cat O'Nine Tails'. If you don't like him, stay away. This one will do nothing to change your views.
Maligned shocker is ripe for rediscovery.......2002-10-03
Asia Argento (the director's daughter) plays a distraught anorexic whose life is turned upside down when she witnesses the decapitation-murder of her psychic mother (Piper Laurie) at the hands of a vicious serial killer. As in so many previous Argento movies, Asia resolves to uncover the killer's identity, aided by a sensitive TV newsroom artist (Christopher Rydell, son of actor-director Mark Rydell) who's taken pity on her circumstances, prompting a number of other murders and culminating in a Grand Guignol climax, one of the finest sustained set-pieces in Argento's long career.
Despite the fact that TRAUMA is an American film, the style is distinctly Italian in tone and execution: The ultra-wide scope framing, constantly inventive camerawork (including a bizarre shot from the point-of-view of a butterfly!!), ornate narrative structure and eccentric characterisations have more in common with the excesses of European cinema than the formal elegance of most Stateside productions. It's no wonder that some of the supporting American players seem a little disconcerted by the scriptwork and the director's unconventional filmmaking technique (including Frederic Forrest [FALLING DOWN] as a doctor sporting an unexplained neck-brace, and James Russo [DANGEROUS GAME] as a typically hard-boiled cop, always one step behind the film's youthful protagonists). But the script - co-written by Argento and celebrated fantasy author T.E.D. Klein - adheres faithfully to the giallo template, punctuating its convoluted storyline with several grisly murders (though not THAT grisly, considering the involvement of makeup wiz Tom Savini), and a number of compelling set-pieces: The seance which ends in murder; the mental institution where the killer disposes of an important 'clue'; the room full of billowing drapes (an authentic stroke of genius); and the climactic revelation of the killer's motive, which is so utterly horrific, it almost justifies his/her gruesome rampage. The movie isn't called TRAUMA for nothing!
At least two other versions of this film have surfaced in bootleg video form over the years, one running 109m, the other 113m (at 24fps), and these variant editions plug a numper of gaping editorial gaps in Tartan's official 'director's cut' (note, for instance, the abrupt introduction of Rydell and Asia at the beginning of the film) which indicates either distributor problems or a rushed post-production schedule. This may also explain why Pino Donaggio's half-hearted score sounds like it was written and recorded before completion of principal photography and subsequently tailored to match the finished product, rather than the other way around. Of the cast, only Asia fails to impress, portraying the same joyless harpy she's played in all her collaborations with Argento to date (including THE STENDHAL SYNDROME and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), leaving Rydell to shoulder most of the film's emotional burden in a hugely sympathetic role as a young man who learns to accept Asia's flaws whilst simultaneously falling in love with her (few) virtues. Frankly, she doesn't deserve him! Piper Laurie (THE HUSTLER) dominates proceedings during her limited screen time, and Brad Dourif (the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) makes an unlikely cameo appearance as a former doctor whose guilty conscience comes back to haunt him in the worst possible way. Watch out for former "Falcon Crest" star Laura Johnson in a brief but creepy performance (her final scene is genuinely chilling) as an ambitious TV news anchorwoman who tries to stake her claim on Rydell in no uncertain terms. Far from providing evidence of creative decline, TRAUMA is actually a fine addition to the director's filmography. It may not constitute 'one of Argento's greatest achievements' (as per Tartan's video packaging), but it's certainly an impressive piece of work, and this DVD provides a welcome opportunity for fans and novices alike to rediscover its sublime pleasures.
Tartan's code-free disc restores the brief gore that was cut from all previous UK versions by order of the BBFC (which is so innocuous, you'll be astonished to discover what was missing!), and runs 102m 1s in the PAL format (106m 16s at 24fps), including the Overseas Filmgroup logo at the beginning (13s). The letterboxed (2.35:1) image is clean and vivid, though prone to solarisation during some of the darker shots, and the terrific Dolby soundtrack is reproduced in 2.0 surround for the first time on home video. There's an effective US trailer and some text-only interviews with Asia Argento and director Richard Stanley (DUST DEVIL), amongst various other bits and pieces, but there are no captions or subtitles of any kind.
a departure for dario..........2002-01-25
confused story of decapitation.......2002-01-10
Average customer rating:
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Trauma [1993]
Starring: Christopher Rydell , Asia Argento , Piper Laurie , Frederic Forrest , and Laura Johnson Director: Dario Argento Manufacturer: Tartan Video ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0000634AH Release Date: 2002-07-29 ![]() |
Amazon.co.uk Review
Trauma was director Dario Argento's big crossover attempt at combining the Italian giallo genre with the American stalk 'n' slash. His fans may debate whether the result was a complete success, but the film certainly put his name in front of a wider international audience. Essentially the story is a psycho-murderer-mystery, with the audience made to piece together clues towards the identity-revealing denouement. The movie comes alive as a result of suitably intense performances, even while the characters die.Piper Laurie and Brad Dourif supply atypically explosive cameos. The leads are contrastingly subdued for the most part, no doubt because of their characters' involvement with drugs. Asia Argento (the director's daughter) is an anorexic who witnesses her parents' decapitations among a series of similar murders by the notorious "Headhunter". Christopher Rydell plays the ex-junkie who takes her in and helps track down the killer. Backing them up are some even greater performances from Tom Savini's eye-boggling special FX. With the aid of a motorised garrotte, the beheadings are gruesomely real, especially the one that leaves a head still able to talk.
On the DVD: Trauma comes to disc in full 2.35:1 widescreen, though this isn't the clearest of transfers (plenty of artefacts present). The sound is in an unspecified Dolby mix. An interesting selection of extras almost makes up for the lack of a commentary. There are filmographies of Dario and Asia, a gallery of behind-the-scenes stills, and trailers for the movie Phantom of the Opera and several more in this series of releases. More interesting are the text features: interviews with Asia on her memories of the shoot and with renegade horror director Richard Stanley surreally recalling his long-term fandom of everything Argento. Most fascinating, there's a mini-essay on what was cut and why by the BBFC for the original UK video release. --Paul Tonks
Customer Reviews:
For Argento completists.......2007-12-15
Slightly disappointing, but..........2003-06-05
The murder weapon is fantastic, for one thing. Basically a rectangular box with a wire loop, it electronically constricts around the neck until the head is severed- needing no strength, and giving the impression of a gruesome inevitability... The murderer is also able to improvise (The device is broken? Why not use the lift for decapitation?) and is psychotic because of a horrifying event, which to some viewers justified the rampage.
So where did this go wrong? Argento is muted. I don't mean that it isn't gory enough, as Argento doesn't need gore to be Argento (it merely helps), but florishing touches are missing, or not quite as evident as elsewhere. There seems to be a curious slackness, a lack of enthusiasm for it all. Perhaps, since it was made in America, Argento felt he should play it safe stylistically. He certainly hasn't shown any eagerness to go back.
Another reservation is the music. Argento's films try above all to provoke an emotional response from the audience- see, again, 'Suspiria' for a superlative soundtrack. But the music here is bland and uninspired- like you'd get on a bad TV movie. And that completely kills any atmosphere Argento builds up.
But- the automatic garrotte! I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE!
If you like Argento, go for it. If you don't know him, go for 'Sleepless' or 'Cat O'Nine Tails'. If you don't like him, stay away. This one will do nothing to change your views.
Maligned shocker is ripe for rediscovery.......2002-10-03
Asia Argento (the director's daughter) plays a distraught anorexic whose life is turned upside down when she witnesses the decapitation-murder of her psychic mother (Piper Laurie) at the hands of a vicious serial killer. As in so many previous Argento movies, Asia resolves to uncover the killer's identity, aided by a sensitive TV newsroom artist (Christopher Rydell, son of actor-director Mark Rydell) who's taken pity on her circumstances, prompting a number of other murders and culminating in a Grand Guignol climax, one of the finest sustained set-pieces in Argento's long career.
Despite the fact that TRAUMA is an American film, the style is distinctly Italian in tone and execution: The ultra-wide scope framing, constantly inventive camerawork (including a bizarre shot from the point-of-view of a butterfly!!), ornate narrative structure and eccentric characterisations have more in common with the excesses of European cinema than the formal elegance of most Stateside productions. It's no wonder that some of the supporting American players seem a little disconcerted by the scriptwork and the director's unconventional filmmaking technique (including Frederic Forrest [FALLING DOWN] as a doctor sporting an unexplained neck-brace, and James Russo [DANGEROUS GAME] as a typically hard-boiled cop, always one step behind the film's youthful protagonists). But the script - co-written by Argento and celebrated fantasy author T.E.D. Klein - adheres faithfully to the giallo template, punctuating its convoluted storyline with several grisly murders (though not THAT grisly, considering the involvement of makeup wiz Tom Savini), and a number of compelling set-pieces: The seance which ends in murder; the mental institution where the killer disposes of an important 'clue'; the room full of billowing drapes (an authentic stroke of genius); and the climactic revelation of the killer's motive, which is so utterly horrific, it almost justifies his/her gruesome rampage. The movie isn't called TRAUMA for nothing!
At least two other versions of this film have surfaced in bootleg video form over the years, one running 109m, the other 113m (at 24fps), and these variant editions plug a numper of gaping editorial gaps in Tartan's official 'director's cut' (note, for instance, the abrupt introduction of Rydell and Asia at the beginning of the film) which indicates either distributor problems or a rushed post-production schedule. This may also explain why Pino Donaggio's half-hearted score sounds like it was written and recorded before completion of principal photography and subsequently tailored to match the finished product, rather than the other way around. Of the cast, only Asia fails to impress, portraying the same joyless harpy she's played in all her collaborations with Argento to date (including THE STENDHAL SYNDROME and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), leaving Rydell to shoulder most of the film's emotional burden in a hugely sympathetic role as a young man who learns to accept Asia's flaws whilst simultaneously falling in love with her (few) virtues. Frankly, she doesn't deserve him! Piper Laurie (THE HUSTLER) dominates proceedings during her limited screen time, and Brad Dourif (the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) makes an unlikely cameo appearance as a former doctor whose guilty conscience comes back to haunt him in the worst possible way. Watch out for former "Falcon Crest" star Laura Johnson in a brief but creepy performance (her final scene is genuinely chilling) as an ambitious TV news anchorwoman who tries to stake her claim on Rydell in no uncertain terms. Far from providing evidence of creative decline, TRAUMA is actually a fine addition to the director's filmography. It may not constitute 'one of Argento's greatest achievements' (as per Tartan's video packaging), but it's certainly an impressive piece of work, and this DVD provides a welcome opportunity for fans and novices alike to rediscover its sublime pleasures.
Tartan's code-free disc restores the brief gore that was cut from all previous UK versions by order of the BBFC (which is so innocuous, you'll be astonished to discover what was missing!), and runs 102m 1s in the PAL format (106m 16s at 24fps), including the Overseas Filmgroup logo at the beginning (13s). The letterboxed (2.35:1) image is clean and vivid, though prone to solarisation during some of the darker shots, and the terrific Dolby soundtrack is reproduced in 2.0 surround for the first time on home video. There's an effective US trailer and some text-only interviews with Asia Argento and director Richard Stanley (DUST DEVIL), amongst various other bits and pieces, but there are no captions or subtitles of any kind.
a departure for dario..........2002-01-25
confused story of decapitation.......2002-01-10
Average customer rating: |
Shattered Trust [1993] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Ellen Burstyn , and Kate Nelligan Director: Bill Corcoran Manufacturer: Direct Source ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD ASIN: B000GUJYG0 Release Date: 2006-08-08 ![]() |
DVD Review: