Directed by:
Robert Malcolm Young
A psycho is running rampant in
the small town of Oakmont and fifteen-year-old orphan Emmaline (Lorrie
Richards) is shaken up after having to go to morgue to identify the
body of one of the victims. Later that night she returns home to the large
mansion she shares with her wheelchair-bound aunt Helen Garrison (Lynn
Bari), who tells her headstrong niece to stop going out at night all alone less she
wants to become the next victim. Emmaline is awoken from her sleep by the
sounds of arguing and then screaming outside by the swimming pool. Before
she can make it out there, her aunt has been drown. Witnessing the murder
traumatizes Emmaline so badly she goes into a deep shock and suffers from
amnesia. She's shipped off to live in Europe and undergoes years of
therapy while developing a talent for painting. Finally cured, she marries
Warren Clyner (John Conte), a much-older man who'd had business
dealings with her late aunt, and the two return to States to take care of
business. Since Emmaline was the last remaining descendant of the Garrison
family, she's acquired a considerable fortune, which can now be dispersed
to her and her husband because she's just turned 21.
Upon arrival, Warren instructs the hired hands not to stoke the fires of
the past by saying anything that'll make Emmaline recall her previous
life. She's since forgotten it and, in fact, cannot remember anything at
all about her life after witnessing Helen's murder. Luther Schoonover (Warren
J. Kemmerling), the handyman and caretaker of the estate who's known
Emmaline since she was a child, and his nephew Craig (David Garner),
an architect who's just here helping his old uncle out, are also around to
help get things in order. Warren immediately calls up lawyer Thaddeus Hall
(William Bissell) about getting the inheritance and learns they'll
have to wait six to eight weeks to get it. Till then, it's just biding
time. Despite being newlyweds, Warren seems highly annoyed by his
attractive, sweet new wife. He's out of town a lot, ignores her when he is
there, has a tendency to snap over small things and isn't the least bit
interested in her paintings or her feelings. All he cares about is the
money. It's no wonder Emmaline then finds herself being drawn to Craig
instead.
Being back in the home triggers brief memories in our heroine, but just
like dreams, they only come to her in small bits and pieces and are
quickly forgotten. A image here, a voice there... None of it makes much
sense. Her subconscious memories sometimes even manifest themselves in her
paintings. One of a horse stable larger than it appears gets Craig
thinking that there may be a secret room hidden inside and, sure enough,
there is. Once he finds it behind some paneling, he and Emmaline discover
it's a child's room. That child was Everett; Emmaline's mentally-impaired
cousin, who suffered a brain injury when he was just 3 years old and
became emotionally stunted. Helen claimed to the outside world that
Everett had died when he was eight. In actuality, she faked his death and
kept him hidden away in the secret room as the family shame. Since Warren
turns out to be a con artist in desperate need of fast cash and Everett
may still be alive and lurking the grounds, which of the two actually
murdered Helen?
Advertised as an all-out horror film (the biggest startle is actually the
announcement of the opening credits 15 minutes into it!), this is
more of a mystery / psycho-drama. It's very low-budget (69,000 dollars) and very talky, but
it's done with some basic skill, the mystery elements hold together
reasonably well and it wisely saves most of its curve balls for the last 15
minutes. Top-billed "stars" Bari (who'd had lead roles in
Shock [1946] with Vincent Price and The Amazing Mr. X [1948]
with Turhan Bey) and Conte are not the actual stars. That honor goes to Richards; a
pretty, competent actress whose only other credits were on TV and in the
same year's fantasy-adventure The Magic Sword. In fact, Trauma
is her last known credit. This was the only film for its director, who is
best known as a writer who'd pen The Crawling Hand (1963),
Escape from Witch Mountain (1975) for Disney and episodes of Night
Gallery and Tales of the Unexpected.
Now in the public domain, Trauma is easy to find online to view for free (it's on both archive.org and Youtube). The most common DVD release is through Alpha Video Distributors.
★★1/2
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