1993, dir. Dario Argento
with Christopher Rydell, Asia Argento, and Piper Laurie.
106 min, digital projection
Dario Argento’s first feature length American project, shot on location in Minneapolis, “Trauma” surrounds the lasting effects of trauma on the psyches of family members. Escaping from a psychiatric hospital, a young anorexic woman Aura (Asia Argento) finds shelter in the home of a young man David Parsons (Rydell). When Aura is caught and brought back into the hospital, a string of murders begins to befall the past and present workers of the hospital. Dubbed the “Head Hunter slayings,” this serial killer beheads each of his victims with a homemade garrote device, the “noose-o-matic,” on rainy days. After Aura’s mother (Piper Laurie) and father fall victim, she joins with David to discover the horrible family secret behind the killings.
