TRAUMA (1993) Blu-ray Review

Trauma (1993) d. Dario Argento (Italy) (106 min)

David (Christopher Rydell), a graphic artist for a local news station, encounters a young Romanian runaway Aura (Asia Argento) contemplating suicide on a highway overpass. He convinces her to come in off the ledge, but when he tries to comfort her at a local diner, she reveals her bulimic tendencies, fleeing for the bathroom and into the waiting arms Dr. Judd’s (Frederic Forrest) Farraday Clinic cronies, from which she had recently escaped. Returning Aura to her spiritualist mother Adriana (Piper Laurie), the family reunion is spoiled when Adriana holds a séance in which she senses a murderer at the table and is herself murdered along with her husband by a mysterious serial killer known as “The Headhunter,” so dubbed for his/her decapitatory tendencies with a portable garroter. (Who knew there was a call for such things?) Aura flees again into David’s arms, and the two begin an investigation into the killer’s connections to Dr. Judd, Adriana, and the increasing number of victims, all of whom seem to be connected by a common thread…

MOTHER OF TEARS: THE THIRD MOTHER (2007) DVD Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 8
Total First Time Views: 5
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $512.16

Mother of Tears: The Third Mother (2007) d. Dario Argento (Italy) (102 min) (3rd viewing)

When an ancient urn is unearthed in Viterbo Cemetery outside Rome, the contents are shipped to prestigious artifact gatherer Michael (Adam James); in his absence, team members Sarah (Asia Argento) and Giselle (Coralina Cataldi-Tessi) open the contents to discover a trio of primitive statuettes, a crafted dagger, a red tunic, and… a whole passel of trouble. After Giselle is gruesomely (and graphically) murdered, Sarah and Michael find themselves on the run as a series of violent incidents are triggered throughout the city, with hordes of cackling eyeliner-loving females, misshapen demons, and random screeching monkeys sweeping the land.

DRACULA 3D (2012) movie review

Dracula 3D (2012) d. Argento, Dario (Italy)

When settling in to watch the latest opus from Artist Formerly Known As The Italian Hitchcock, it’s best to pay close attention to the full onscreen title. Make no mistake, this is Dario Argento’s Dracula and comparisons to either the Stoker source novel or any of the myriad screen versions that have gone before are beside the point. Recognizable character names and traits exist, but only as the most perfunctory of placeholders so that Argento and his team of screenwriters can gussy things up good and messy. The results are howlingly hilarious or damned depressing, depending on one’s state of mind and surroundings.