Trauma

Another "Trauma"? If I put aside a dollar for (horror) movie I watched with as title - or as a.k.a. Title - "Trauma", I could at least treat myself to a lunch at McDonalds or something. It's incredibly how many movies have this title!

Anyway, this puppy is included in the fancy Blu-Ray DVD collection "Forgotten Gialli" (*), and boy does it ever belong there! It's obscure and unknown, but undeservedly so, because it features all the juicy and delicious trademarks we worship so dearly. Beautiful women, gratuitous nudity, and blood-soaked murders committed by an unseen assailant wearing black gloves and using a razorblade. The plot is thin and borrows heavily from Hitchcock's landmark "Psycho", but true Giallo-fanatics see right through that. "Trauma" is actually a Spanish Giallo, not an Italian one. Writer/director Léon Klimovsky frequently collaborated with horror icon Paul Naschy, and previously made other giallo, with "A Dragonfly for Each Corpse".

Daniel, a struggling writer with personal problems, arrives in a very remote and isolated Spanish guest house owned by the beautiful Veronica. She's often distracted by her disabled husband in the attic, but Daniel loves the place and the female owner, so he books for several nights extra. Other clients check in as well, but their stay is brutally interrupted by a vicious killer with a razor. The plot is basic and very simple to figure out, but there's enough weirdness to keep you fascinated. Although not a very handsome man, the women throw themselves at Daniel, but he seems more interested in a 14-year-old local boy. The sequence where he dries off the boy after a swim felt quite uncomfortable. All women in "Trauma" (Agatha Lys, Irene Foster, Isabel Pisano, and Sandra Alberti) are exquisite and unpretentiously show off their bodily assets.

(*) I'm probably not supposed to make publicity around here, but the "Forgotten Gialli" collection is a fantastic series! Most people know the classic gialli by acclaimed directors like Dario Argento, Mario Bava, or Sergio Martino, but this series highlights many unknown titles from equally unknown directors. "Trauma" was the only one I hadn't seen yet, but the (thus far) five volumes contain some dazzling titles, like "The Killer is one of Thirteen", "The Police Are Blundering in the Dark", "My Dear Killer", "Nine Guests for a Crime", and others.

Trauma is very similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in that we're given an outsider who shows up to a strange secluded hotel where the owner has a big secret and people are getting murdered. For a European horror film, it's low on style and gore and feels more like a cheapo exploitation film from the U. S. around that time. There's not enough insanity to make it a worthwhile watch except for completeists.

Not long after inn landlady Veronica first appeared on-screen, it became abundantly clear to me that she was barking mad, making her more than likely responsible for the series of vicious open razor murders that ensued. If it turned out that she wasn't the killer, then director León Klimovsky would be a master of deception on a par with Alfred Hitchcock (whose classic Psycho was clearly the blueprint for this film).

As I suspected, Klimovsky is no Hitchcock.

Veronica, played by lovely Ágata Lys, is easier on the eye than Norman Bates, but no less loopy, bumping off her less respectable guests in bloody fashion with the same razor that she used to do in her husband, whose persona she subsequently adopts to kill. The only occupant of the inn who she doesn't target is Daniel (Heinrich Starhemberg), a chubby, balding writer with a weak chin and terrible fashion sense to whom she takes a shine (for some inexplicable reason, he is quite the fanny magnet). Will Daniel discover the truth about Veronica before she can turn her razor on his wife Elena (Sandra Alberti), who turns up at the inn looking for her hubby?

WIth the plot providing very little in the way of genuine mystery, Klimovsky peps up his movie with plenty of mean-spirited violence (the murders aren't all that convincing, employing one of those props that squirts bright red blood from the blade, but they are still quite nasty in tone) and a fair amount of sleaze, nudity and sex: the lovely Lys gets nekkid, as does Alberti, with extra T&A from Irene Foster as pretty backpacker Anna, and Isabel Pisano as busty hooker Eva. Less appealing is the sight of Starhemberg's naked thrusting butt as he gets it on with his wife.

Trauma is a long way from a top tier giallo, but the pace is snappy and the performances fun, while the trashiness of the whole thing ensures an entertaining enough time for fans of the genre.

6.5/10, rounded up to seven for the excess of wonderfully tasteless wood panelling at the inn.

A writer stops off at a secluded bed and breakfast run by the battered wife of a mysterious man who spends all his time upstairs in his room. That is except when he's killing off the lodgers downstairs.

If you've seen more than 3 horror movies in your lifetime, the big twists in Trauma won't come as any big surprise, but it's not the worst film of its type and it keeps things entertaining. It features a lot more sexuality than expected with just about everyone in the film getting naked and having sex at some point. The gore effects are of the cheap variety with some razor slashes that don't completely convince.

This Spanish thriller from 1977 tells the story of a writer, who takes some days off to write his new novel. He's coming to a guesthouse at a lake in the midst of Spain's countryside. The owner of the guesthouse is an attractive woman with a problem: her sick husband that nobody is allowed to see except for her. Truth is that the husband doesn't exist (anymore), but she's schizophrenic. And while the author is spared, other guests fall victim to a gloved killer with a razor. Is it the schizophrenic owner or someone else?

Director Leon Klimovsky is best known for his low-budgeted straight horror films, so this solid thriller is quite an unusual work in his oeuvre, and also one of his less known efforts. Even though it's not very original and borrows heavily from films like Hitchcock's "Psycho" or even the cool Spanish horror thriller "Una Vela Para el Diablo" (1973), it's still quite thrilling and boosts some scary moments. The murder scenes are done in Italian Giallo-style and, even though simply done, quite gory. The unknown cast is not first rate, but also give solid performances. The end of the film is a bit irritating and a lowdown in a way. All in all, "Violación Fatal" is an interesting little thriller for aficionados of European horror and thriller films. Rating: 6 out of 10.