Trauma

A young man, David, prevents a teenage girl, Aura, from throwing herself off a bridge. The troubled girl steals his wallet and flees, only to be caught by staff from the clinic where she was being treated and returned to her émigré parents, professional mediums.

At their next séance, Aura's mother has visions that a killer is in the room. Then she and her husband are slain, decapitated by a serial killer.

David tracks Aura down, believing that she holds the key to the headhunter murders and begins his investigations…

More serious than the bulk of teen horrors that have dominated the market since Scream, Trauma has moments of style that betray/show the hand of its director, Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. But in general it comes across as an awkward, too-conscious attempt by the filmmaker to break into the US market. Too American to really succeed as a giallo, yet too European and personal to work as an American slasher in the Friday the 13th mould, Trauma is neither one thing nor the other.

Assorted plot points and motifs – psychic premonitions, a half-remembered childhood incident, lizards – recall earlier Argento classics like Deep Red, but invariably to lesser effect.

The score by frequent Brian De Palma collaborator Pino Donaggio references Herrmann's work for Hitchcock, but lacks the distinctive personality that The Goblins' prog-rock brought to the best of Argento's domestic work.

Being an American production does benefit the film in one area: The supporting cast, with Piper Laurie, Brad Dourif and Frederick Forrest in fine form, is a notch above the director's usual. Alas, this is more than outweighed by Christopher Rydell and Asia Argento, bland and inexperienced leads. (Like Francis Ford Coppola, Argento likes to surround himself with family he can trust. And, like Coppola's casting of his daughter Sofia in Godfather Part III, this is sometimes a bad idea. But, again like Sofia Coppola, Asia Argento has subsequently redeemed herself with better performances for her father and others and, coincidentally, a move behind the camera with Scarlet Diva.)

Not top-drawer Argento by any stretch of the imagination, Trauma nevertheless has enough in it to interest fans of the director. Casual viewers will wonder what the fuss is about and would be best advised starting with Deep Red, to which Trauma can only be regarded as a minor companion piece.

Image quality on this DVD is a mixed bag. The film is presented in its correct 2.35:1 widescreen ratio – the only way to see an Dario Argento film – but is letterboxed, not widescreen enhanced. The print used seems pretty damage free, though there is a lot of graininess. Colours and blacks are solid, but sometimes feel a little too dark. In the opening murder sequence, for instance, the features of the African-American victim are indistinct.

Dialogue and soundtrack are clear enough, but the Dolby Digital sound presentation is nothing to write home about.

The extras look impressive at first glance but disappoint on closer examination. The Asia Argento interview and Richard Stanley on Argento features are simply a few screenfuls of text, as is the information about the cuts previously made to the film in the UK. Those expecting to see the delectable Ms Argento in the flesh, or hoping for an insight into how the BBFC handles films of this type, may feel misled.

Other regulation issue extras are a behind-the-scenes gallery, comprising a whopping six pictures; trailers for the film and Dario Argento's Phantom of the Opera, both full screen and of the dumb American voice-over variety, and a trailer reel for other Tartan Terror releases. (Kudos to whoever at Tartan did Herschell Gordon Lewis showcase for capturing the naïve charms of Color Me Blood Red, The Gore Gore Girls et al perfectly.)

While it's good to see any Dario Argento available on DVD uncut and in widescreen this is not the definitive edition of Trauma by any means.