Trauma: Blu-Ray Review

Arriving on Blu-ray this week is writer/director Lucio A. Rojas’ disturbing horror film, “Trauma”.  I watch a lot of horror, and when I tell you that this had to be one of the most difficult things to sit through in quite some time, that is saying something.  Not because “Trauma” is bad, because it’s not, but because there are a-number-of scenes dealing with forced incest. A rape scene is never something that is easy to view, but the scenes in “Trauma” are so violent and graphic that even someone like me who digs brutal horror, had a hard time with it. I felt that this was something I needed to point out from the start.

The story centers on four friends who take a small vacation in rural Chile. All they want to do is have a nice weekend with wine and fun. That all changes when a man and his son attack the women in a truly vicious manner.  There is a backstory to who these men are, and they are connected to a very dark period of Chilean history.  It turns out they have done this before but only to locals and have never been caught.

There are some fantastic make up effects here. Most notably in the final act when a couple of the characters come-in-contact with acid. It is very gruesome. Rojas is a skilled filmmaker, but “Trauma” clearly isn’t for everyone.  Despite being well paced and succeeding at delivering some real terror, I just have trouble recommending “Trauma” due to the subject matter. This is such a mean film filled with some of the ugliest acts I have seen in as long as I can remember.

By: Marc Ferman