The Horror Show
Trauma
by Lucio Rojas
Obviously, I’m a horror fan. Not only am I a hardcore fan of horror, but I’m especially a fan of hardcore horror. I love getting my greasy little hands (I’m working on making them less greasy, it’s a condition) on the most brutal, depraved, inappropriate, shocking and grotesque films I can. I like the thrill and intensity of over the top carnage and torture laden shenanigans. Unfortunately, these films are not always in the heaviest supply so when my fiancé hipped me to a relatively new flick called Trauma, I was instantly intrigued. The trailer was awesome and people were calling it on par with A Serbian film. I don’t think A Serbian Film is as rough as people make it sound, but it is one of my favorites and usually if someone is comparing a film to it, it’s going to be something gnarly. So, I grabbed it on Blu Ray, knowing that no matter what, I would want it in my collection, and gave it a go.
Trauma begins back in 1978 Chile with a bloodied woman tied to a chair. From there, her wretched husband, surrounded by soldiers, implies she is mixed up with the communist effort and brings in their son who is shot up with what seems to resemble the go-juice Milos gets dosed with in A Serbian Film. Slight spoiler alert to those who want to experience the more intense moments by surprise, but essentially the boy is forced into raping his mother who is then shot in the head. This is where we open and it sets the tone for the rest of the film. The opening makes things clear right off the bat that it’s going to be a pull-no-punches ride and isn’t going to bother letting meeker audience members dip their toes into the waters first.
From there we are introduced to present day and the primary group that the film mostly focuses on. This would be a group of friends (comprised of girlfriends, sisters, and one rogue friend in for the ride) who are on a trip to rural Chile. One of their uncle’s places is there and so they are spending some time vacationing and enjoying each other’s company. They don’t have the most comfortable welcome as one trip to a local bar to ask for directions proves. The local men are instantly creepy and intimidating to them and it’s made clear that danger is not far away.
After brushing off the negative encounters, the women head to the house they are searching for and begin to unwind. That is until a man (the boy from the beginning) and his son show up to their door and everything gets kicked into high gear. After a brutal assault, the film turns into a mostly fast-paced beat-by-beat story involving the group, along with the help of a young cop, as they try to save a young girl from the grips of their attacker. It all plays out in such a way that it’s difficult to get more specific without explaining a little part that leads to the next, so I’ll keep it brief in the description department and just say that, overall, this is what the film revolves around. Occasionally we flash back to the violent moments in the man’s life that lead him down the path to bloodshed and extreme maladjustment. It’s paced well and although it only flashes back a few times, they reveal things at the right times.
The film avoids the typical rape-revenge formula by giving the characters a driving force other than retribution. They are trying to do the right thing and rescue a possible future victim from falling down the rabbit hole with these demented individuals. Someone is in danger and knowing the police will ultimately be unable to help in time they step up. It also deviates from the formula by giving the antagonist true character. He and his son don’t simply serve as evil people for the sake of just having “bad guys” in the film.
Make no mistake, the primary antagonist is a horrid, depraved and irredeemable individual, but he’s also not one dimensional. He has pains and torment and is ultimately a festering wound that has been locked away and nurtured by solitude into a human infection. All of the characters are three dimensional as a matter of fact and don’t simply feel like nothing more than setups. Even little details that didn’t need to be there are peppered in to make the characters and their various relationships feels more fleshed out and authentic. All of this is aided by strong performances all around and everyone’s willingness to commit to their roles and everything that entails.
Trauma wasn’t as brutal or shocking as I usually hope movies of the type to be, but honestly I’m almost impossible to please in that category. It was, however, impressive and filled itself with enough torture, cruelty, and creative gore to keep fans satisfied. I wouldn’t really put it in the “Shocksploitation” category, honestly. It wasn’t so much about finding excuses to be as much of an endurance test as possible and more-so was a movie that had a natural need for parts to be abrasively visceral and decided to put it all on the screen to give such material the necessary intensity. “Trauma” is an accurate word to represent the movie as each character carries with them their own trauma that leads to the actions that ultimately end up defining them. The concept is a through-line of sorts and traumatic experience is deeply nestled into the roots of what the movie is.
In the end, although it was different than I expected at times, I was satisfied with my viewing experience of Trauma. It ended up being a simpler movie than the trailer had led me to assume, but in a way, that’s part of what I liked about it. It was easy to sink my teeth into and I was able to grip onto the meat of what it was and care about the characters, at least enough to find the journey interesting. While it may be a bit much for a casual moviegoer, I think it’s a film that most fans of such cinema would have a good time with so I say give it a go. It’s well shot, well-acted and not predictable. What else could I ask for really?
P.J. Griffin, HMS
The Horror Show Menu.