Trauma is a 1993 Italian giallo horror film directed by Dario Argento and starring Asia Argento, Christopher Rydell, Piper Laurie, and Frederic Forrest. Set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it follows a troubled teenage girl who, with the help of a boyfriend, attempts to stop a serial killer who murdered her parents.
It was one of two films Argento directed in the United States outside of his native Italy, the other being the 1990 anthology film Two Evil Eyes.
Plot
In Minneapolis, chiropractic nurse Georgia Jackson stays after-hours at her practice during a rainstorm to meet a new patient. Upon arrival, Georgia thinks she recognizes the patient, before they brutally decapitate her with an electric-powered wire garrote and disembark with her severed head.
The next day, Aura Petrescu, a troubled young Romanian immigrant suffering from a severe eating disorder, escapes from a local psychiatric hospital and is saved from a suicide attempt on a bridge by David Parsons, a sober drug addict and television newswriter. Aura is soon caught by police, and returned to the home of her parents, Adriana and Stefan. That night, Adriana, a fraudulent psychic, holds a séance for a group of locals seeking the identity of a local serial killer known as the "Head Hunter". Aura flees the house, and is pursued by Adriana and Stefan into the woods, where both are met by the killer, who decapitates them using the same method.
David allows Aura to stay with him at his lakeside home, but is alarmed when he finds her binging and purging the contents of his kitchen. Meanwhile, a young local boy, Gabriel, breaks into a neighbor's house when his pet lizard crawls through their open window. Inside, he discovers the electric garrote, and is unknowingly in the residence of the killer.
While editing news stories about the killer's crimes, David realizes the killer appears to only strike during rainstorms. Meanwhile, Aura ventures into the city to shop at a farmer's market, where she is spotted by Dr. Judd, her obsessive former psychologist, who chases after her before forcing her to return to his home with him. Judd forces Aura to consume berries that produce psychedelic effects, causing her to recall memories of the night her parents were killed. Aura subsequently awakens in the hospital during a rainstorm. The killer arrives, murdering an orderly and decapitating Hilda Volkman, a night nurse, while a drugged Aura attempts to flee. She is saved by David, who has arrived to help her escape. Aura brings with her a keychain dropped by Hilda in the hospital hallway, which includes a key to a storage unit. Gabriel, meanwhile, notices the killer return home that night from his bedroom window, and watches as the gloved individual removes Hilda's severed head from a satchel.
The next morning, David and Aura venture to the storage unit to investigate. Inside, they find postcards and photographs of Hilda with her fellow nurses, among them the deceased Georgia. David identifies one of the nurses as Linda Quirk. David and Aura drive to Linda's home, which is nearby, but she flees by car when she sees them arrive. They track Linda to a local hotel, where they check in as guests in a room below hers. The killer soon arrives, triggering the fire sprinklers in Linda's room before decapitating her as well.
In a last-ditch effort, David tracks down Dr. Lloyd, the murdered nurses' superior who has since lost his medical career and descended into a life of destitution and drug addiction. Lloyd is reticent to speak with David. That night, the killer murders Lloyd in his apartment building by holding his head beneath a descending elevator. David awakens in the middle of the night to find Judd attacking Aura. Judd flees as police arrive, fatally crashing his car. In the trunk, police find the severed heads of Georgia, Hilda, Linda, and Lloyd, and conclude Judd was the killer. After police leave, David finds Aura missing and an apparent suicide note.