Trauma (1993 film)

Trauma
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dario Argento
Produced by	Dario Argento Chris Beckman David Pash
Screenplay by	Dario Argento Eibon Klein Ruth Jessup
Story by	Franco Ferrini Gianni Romoli Dario Argento
Starring	Christopher Rydell Asia Argento Piper Laurie Frederic Forrest
Music by	Pino Donaggio
Cinematography	Raffaele Mertes
Edited by	Bennett Goldberg Dario Argento
Production company	ADC Films Overseas FilmGroup
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date	12 March 1993
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7 million (est.)

Trauma is a 1993 American horror thriller film directed by Dario Argento and starring Asia Argento, Christopher Rydell, Piper Laurie, and Frederic Forrest.

Aura (Asia Argento), a young woman suffering from anorexia escapes from a psychiatric hospital and meets a young man, David (Christopher Rydell), who offers to let her stay with him rather than go back to the hospital. However, Aura is soon caught, but her return to the hospital coincides with the start of a string of murders of hospital staff members, past and present. The killer decapitates them using a home-made garrote device on rainy days. When her father is murdered along with her mother, Aura and David team up to find the killer.

In the end, it is revealed that Aura's mother (who faked her death after murdering her husband) is the killer. Years earlier, Dr. Lloyd (Brad Dourif) was given the task of delivering Aura's brother, Nicolas. However, his clumsiness combined with a power outage (caused by a thunderstorm) led to him slicing off the newborn infant's head as he was being delivered. The head nurse during the delivery convinces the doctor to forcibly subject Aura's mother to electroshock treatment against her will, hoping that it would erase all memory of the blotched delivery/death of her son, allowing for the staff to cover up their causing her child's death. Holding the two hostage, Aura's mother is ultimately killed by a young child who had discovered the mother's crimes and ultimately uses her own murder device against her to save her captives.

Shot in and around Minneapolis, United States in August and September 1992 on a budget of $7 million,Trauma is notable as Italian director Dario Argento's first feature length American production, following his collaboration with George A. Romero in making Two Evil Eyes in 1990. Adapting the treatment devised by Gianni Romoli and long-time Argento collaborator Franco Ferrini, Argento chose T.E.D. Klein as his co-writer.