A writer, Daniel (Heinrich Starhemberg), arrives at an inn in a remote location near a lake. The inn is run by Veronica (Ágata Lys). She cares for her bedridden invalid husband. Daniel is married but he has run out on his wife.
Veronica and Daniel are both in unsatisfactory marriages, they’re both emotionally vulnerable and it’s obvious that an attachment is developing between them.
The arrival of a young couple disturbs Veronica. Another couple will arrive later. Veronica does seem to like having guests in her inn.
Things start to happen when these newcomers turn up.
There are grisly murders.
We know that something is being concealed from us because Klimovsky draws our attention to the concealment. We can’t be entirely sure what is being concealed or why.
We have our suspicions as to what is going on but we can’t be absolutely certain.
Veronica seems anxious and she obviously has a secret. We suspect that Daniel has a secret as well.
I don’t mind if a giallo has an incoherent plot. It can even be an advantage if the plot combines incoherence and weirdness. In this case the plot is perhaps too straightforward, with not enough weirdness.
Klimovsky doesn’t have a huge reputation as a director but I think that’s a bit unfair. Spanish gialli (and Spanish horror) were made on much tighter budgets than their Italian equivalents. The spectacular visual set-pieces favoured by Italian directors like Argento required a certain amount of time and money and directors in Spain just didn’t have those resources. Klimovsky does the best he can, and he does a pretty good job. Bringing in a movie on on time and on budget was the main priority and he could be relied upon to do that.
All the action takes place in the inn and Klimovsky uses the space effectively to keep things as visually interesting as possible. His camera is always restless which gives the film the right unsettling atmosphere.
Heinrich Starhemberg gives an odd distanced performance which works well. Daniel is a man alienated from his own life. For years he’s been just going through the motions.
Ágata Lys always seems on the edge of emotional self-destruction, which was the right way to play the part.
Regular Jess Franco collaborator Antonio Mayans is very good as always as one of the unwanted guests.
There’s no real gore but there is a fair bit of blood. There’s a lot nudity. In a giallo the killer’s motivations are usually to a considerable extent sexual so sex and nudity in such a film are by no means gratuitous.
I think this is a movie that needed to get a bit weirder and a bit more excessive.
It has to be admitted that Trauma is a lesser giallo but it is well-crafted and it’s always interesting to see the Spanish approach to the genre. It’s at least moderately entertaining. Worth a look if you’re buying the boxed set anyway.
Trauma is included in Vinegar Syndrome’s three-movie Forgotten Gialli Blu-Ray boxed set. It gets a good transfer with a few extras including an audio commentary from Troy Howarth. All these Forgotten Gialli sets are worth getting hold of.
The arrival of a young couple disturbs Veronica. Another couple will arrive later. Veronica does seem to like having guests in her inn.
Things start to happen when these newcomers turn up.
There are grisly murders.
We know that something is being concealed from us because Klimovsky draws our attention to the concealment. We can’t be entirely sure what is being concealed or why.
We have our suspicions as to what is going on but we can’t be absolutely certain.
Veronica seems anxious and she obviously has a secret. We suspect that Daniel has a secret as well.
I don’t mind if a giallo has an incoherent plot. It can even be an advantage if the plot combines incoherence and weirdness. In this case the plot is perhaps too straightforward, with not enough weirdness.
Klimovsky doesn’t have a huge reputation as a director but I think that’s a bit unfair. Spanish gialli (and Spanish horror) were made on much tighter budgets than their Italian equivalents. The spectacular visual set-pieces favoured by Italian directors like Argento required a certain amount of time and money and directors in Spain just didn’t have those resources. Klimovsky does the best he can, and he does a pretty good job. Bringing in a movie on on time and on budget was the main priority and he could be relied upon to do that.
All the action takes place in the inn and Klimovsky uses the space effectively to keep things as visually interesting as possible. His camera is always restless which gives the film the right unsettling atmosphere.
Heinrich Starhemberg gives an odd distanced performance which works well. Daniel is a man alienated from his own life. For years he’s been just going through the motions.
Ágata Lys always seems on the edge of emotional self-destruction, which was the right way to play the part.
Regular Jess Franco collaborator Antonio Mayans is very good as always as one of the unwanted guests.
There’s no real gore but there is a fair bit of blood. There’s a lot nudity. In a giallo the killer’s motivations are usually to a considerable extent sexual so sex and nudity in such a film are by no means gratuitous.
I think this is a movie that needed to get a bit weirder and a bit more excessive.
It has to be admitted that Trauma is a lesser giallo but it is well-crafted and it’s always interesting to see the Spanish approach to the genre. It’s at least moderately entertaining. Worth a look if you’re buying the boxed set anyway.
Trauma is included in Vinegar Syndrome’s three-movie Forgotten Gialli Blu-Ray boxed set. It gets a good transfer with a few extras including an audio commentary from Troy Howarth. All these Forgotten Gialli sets are worth getting hold of.
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