r/horror • u/stragedyandy • 13h ago
Traumatika (avoid avoid avoid)
So Amazon suggested Traumatika to me today and had it marked Most Liked and like 3 and 1/2 stars. I was like "A demon movie that clearly had a budget, is rated well and has a consensus that people liked it? How have I not heard of this one?" So I gave it a shot. I have a rule in October that if I start to watch a horror movie I will finish it and try to appreciate what the people who worked on it tried to accomplish. Horror is a polarizing genre and every attempt isn't completely successful but most seem to be earnest and because I love the genre I like to try and hear the artist out. Making art and putting it out there is an act of bravery, you know? Anyway I watched Traumatika and I regret it. I am writing this to help you avoid wasting your time. There were like 5 separate times I almost turned this movie off. The acting is awful. The pacing is awful. The plot is awful. What's perplexing is the movie clearly had a good budget. This is no student film. There is special effects work and multiple sets and settings. It has all the trappings of a movie people put time and effort into but the end result is just trash and not even fun trash. It is clearly trying to stand on edgy ideas like childhood trauma and sexual assault but handles them indelicately and manages to rob those disturbing elements of impact. Please don't waste your time.
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u/tilsammansaerviallt 13h ago
It was like three to five movies inadequately spliced into one. I can appreciate a tone shift, but my brother in horror, please pick a lane. Are you a possession movie? Are you perhaps a slasher movie? Are you a meta commentary movie? Are you a cerebral elevated horror movie?
In the end, you are just an incoherent mess, Traumatika.
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u/Ok_Astronaut_1156 6h ago
Not that you asked but if you are wanting to scratch a possession horror itch, I would suggest any of these all very different but all worth a watch.
When Evil Lurks- Argentinian film. Doesn’t explain a lot it just kinda throws you in but the pieces start to come together pretty quick. It’s really gross and bleak but totally earned imo. I have never seen anything quite like it.
Possessor- More a thriller and not a traditional possession movie. It’s about a technology that can, for a short time, hijack and control other people’s bodies. This movie rules. Brandon Cronenberg and his other films are great too.
Exorcist III- Another movie that rules. Starring Brad Dourif and George C. Scott who both just act the hell outta this movie. Especially Brad Dourif. I slept on this one for a long time.
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u/AccurateJerboa 6h ago
When evil lurks is one of those films that's so well done it's worth the brutality
Edited: I think I'd describe it as beautifully grotesque
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u/AccurateJerboa 6h ago
Traumatika is what started me looking up whether horror films had certain subject matter in it so I wouldn't be ambushed by something handled that poorly again.
That in turn led me to reading lots of horror blogs and then eventually watching lots of great horror reviewers like poltergibst and ryan hollinger (who my wife just calls "hoyever").
So I guess I appreciate it for pushing me towards the super rad communities surrounding horror by being so fucking awful I never wanted to go in blind to a horror film again
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u/DetectiveCrafty5413 13h ago
Sean Whalen is in it and that's why I watched it. But yes, I can acknowledge that it's a terrible terrible movie, but loyalty dictate that I must find something to enjoy. I'm just going to say I was happy it ended.
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u/comikbookdad 12h ago
I personally loved it but to each their own. Very schlocky and campy towards the end.
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u/stragedyandy 8h ago
Yeah I guess I just felt like it dealt with some really serious and repugnant shit like intra-family sexual violence and that camping it up afterward felt like extremely poor taste. Like it seemed like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a serious movie about adverse childhood experiences or a fun slasher and just kind of split the difference if that makes any sense. You're right tho horror is often polarizing and different people like different things.
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u/comikbookdad 5h ago
Oh I was definitely not a fan of that sexual stuff and I almost turned it off, but the lighting and the use of shadows made everything so legitimately scary, I also couldn’t stop watching.
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u/Professional_Dog2580 13h ago
I really enjoyed it alot. It doesn't for a second waste your time and gets to the point with the gore and effects.
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u/Designer_Ad_7474 13h ago
Had a friend more or less say it was worth the watch for the gore. No commentary necessary for what the rest of the film was, so I assumed lackluster but a feast for the eyes, at least. Is that a fair assessment?
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u/Professional_Dog2580 13h ago
It's beautifully shot. For me, the story is good for what it was. The movie ends a bit abruptly. It almost feels like a long episode of Masters of Horror or Creepshow. It's a decent watch and doesn't overstay it's welcome.
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u/BrennusSokol 13h ago
> I have a rule in October that if I start to watch a horror movie I will finish it and try to appreciate what the people who worked on it tried to accomplish.
Something to consider is that you don’t owe a movie (or any other piece of art or entertainment) anything. It’s the other way around.
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u/-Knockabout 13h ago
It's good to expand your horizons. Watching movies critically like this, or at least watching movies that don't immediately appeal to you, is how you grow more appreciative of art as a whole and maybe find new types of stories/genres you like. OP didn't say anything about owing, anyway.
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u/ribaldinger 10h ago
People these days need to have this tattooed on the insides of of their eyelids.
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u/Hackwork89 13h ago
Unless I see a lot of raving reviews, a movie with a name like that is automatically filtered out for me.
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u/WalrusCrafty 13h ago
Haaaaaated it. Promising set up. Some good bits. And then the wheels come off