Horror films are a mixed bag - some make an indelible mark on the landscape while others are here and gone before anyone has made an effort to notice. A good idea, great execution, and ambitious marketing allow many to rise above the din and grab audiences by the throat. Such is the case with TRAUMATIKA.
Online trailers warn that “This is not a movie you see, it’s a movie you survive.” Having seen this film, I would agree to a certain extent. TRAUMATIKA does a lot of things right, but I have a few insignificant gripes with it, as well. Let’s start with its strengths.
TRAUMATIKA builds tension by the inches. Slow POV camerawork, complete with blinking, puts the audience in the front seat of fear. The film is impeccably shot with long, sustained instances of hair-raising suspense and explosive scenes of violence and terror. It’s a visceral experience that will delight many hardcore horror fans and certainly marks the emergence of brash new voices in horror.
My main grievance is with the scope of the film. It’s several stories crammed into one, and I got the idea that it might’ve worked better as an anthology than a single narrative. The film begins in 1910, then 2003, then a year prior, then 20 years later. So much horror and terror are unleashed throughout time but through such disparate antagonists that one is left to wonder which movie to refer to when honing in on a particular victory or loss.
TRAUMATIKA comes to us from director/writer Pierre Tsigaridis and producer/writer Maxime Rancon, who previously worked together on the divisive 2021 film TWO WITCHES. With low critic scores and high audience scores, it’s clear these two speak the language of horror fluently even if they have difficulty nailing a film down to its core structure. TWO WITCHES also tells two disparate yet loosely connected stories, so this seems to be a theme from these filmmakers.
TRAUMATIKA opens in Egypt in 1910 as a tortured soul wanders into the desert to bury a MacGuffin that has brought grief. We flash forward to 2003 to find a young boy held captive by a possessed Abigail Reed, played by Rebekah Kennedy. We then flash back a year prior to learn about her possession, perpetrated at the hands of her father John Reed, played with delicious devilishness by Sean O’Bryan. These scenes are the ones that will most likely divide audiences between respectful awe and bitter disdain, so be warned if horror isn’t your bag that this isn’t the film to find your entry into the genre.
Character actor Sean Whalen makes a brief cameo as historical artifact expert Steve, who confers with John about the MacGuffin he has discovered. In a classic horror-film trope, John is told exactly what not to do and subsequently does the opposite. Now we’re off to the races. I recently rediscovered that Sean Whalen was the first subject of the notorious “Got Milk” campaign as a history buff who loses a call-in game show opportunity due to a mouthful of peanut butter sandwich. If you haven’t seen his desperate effort to utter the infamous name of “Aaron Burr” in thirty years or more, directed by Michael Bay, you owe it yourself to give it another gander.
Twenty years pass after Abigail’s reign of terror and we meet up with her younger sister, Alice, played by Emily Goss. Alice is exploited by a ratings-hungry talk show host played pitch-perfectly by Susan Gayle Watts, which draws out the young boy from the earlier segment, Mikey. In a none-too-subtle commentary on the effects of trauma, the film finds a new villain and new ways to terrify before its abrupt conclusion.
There’s a lot to like in this movie (again, if you’re into horror), and I remember being very impressed at the beginning, but by the time the film had run its course I had to re-evaluate my elation. I think it tries to do too much and could benefit from some clearer focus. That, of course, is entirely my own opinion.
I got the chance to chat with filmmakers Pierre Tsigaridis and Maxime Rancon and praise the strengths of the film last month. You can hear and see that discussion here.
TRAUMATIKA releases in theaters this Friday, September 12th from Saban Films. Will you be checking it out? I’m anxious to hear your feedback on this original work of terror that pays homage to the classics that came before. Will it take its own place alongside the greats or get lost in the mountain of mutilated flesh that is our current horror landscape. Sound off below!
Until next time, take scare!
-McEric, aka Eric McClanahan-
