Trhauma

"If you don't do as I say I'm never going to play with you again."

Lilly (Domitilla Cavazza) and Andrea (Gaetano Russo) are hosting friends for the weekend at their newly-refurbished villa, but Lilly isn't happy - it seems that Andrea is badly in debt and Lilly feels that he only married her for her sizable bank account. The otherwise relaxing weekend is shattered when one of the guests, Olga (Anna Maria Chiatante), goes missing and later turns up dead. Soon, more guests are attacked by a mysterious one-eyed killer. Who is this killer living in the catacombs beneath the house? And who will be the next victim?

Trhauma (not to be confused with Dario Argento's Trauma) comes from an interesting period, when gialli were losing popularity and slowly transitioning into the new genre of slasher films. Released three years after Halloween and the same year as Friday the 13th, Trhauma puts much less focus on the mystery - we see the killer throughout and know his identity - while maintaining the style and a lot of the tropes giallo audiences have come to expect. The result is a much shallower effort than we're used to seeing and an abrupt, unresolved ending doesn't help.

• I don't have any idea where the superfluous "H" in the title comes from. Italian for "trauma" is "trauma." Maybe the intentional misspelling is just a marketing ploy to draw attention?

• The original Italian title translates as "The Mystery of the Cursed House."

• The killer, played by Per Holgher, is credited as "The Being," rather than given a name. This is perhaps an homage to Halloween, in which Michael Meyers is referred to as "The Shape."

• This is Domitilla Cavazza's first screen credit. Her only other one is the comedy Saparati in Casa.

What the Hell am I Watching?

Early in the movie, we visit "The Being" in his dingy underground lair where he has built a giant castle out of Legos.

Fashion Moment:

Lots of boring preppy clothes. 

Only photographer/blackmailer Paul seems to have a flair for fashion, standing out in a very 70's look with his vest, open collar and purple ascot.