As with most films, Lucio Fulci’s Aenigma begins with two friends helping their pal, Kathy (Milijana Zirojevic), get gussied up for a date as a theme song featuring the “not quite Air Supply” stylings of Douglas Meakin (Head Over Heels by name, though the credits are sure it’s Head Over Meels… missed it by that much) gives us a yacht rock punch right to the ol’ hairy beanbag.
Well, the joke’s on her as seemingly the entire student body of St. Mary’s College (her “friends” included) laugh their asses off as the sounds of her getting hot n’ heavy with her date are broadcast for all to hear. Long story short, she bolts, is accidentally hit by a car, and rendered comatose.
Enter: Eva Gordon (Lara Lamberti), a new student at the university mentioned up yonder that Kathy attended before Sex Noise Scandal ’87 took her motor skills away. Guess what? Kathy is still attending the school as she has possessed Eva from her hospital bed and now she is unleashing unholy paranormal turmoil on every person involved in her humiliation!
What can I say about Aenigma… let’s start with it’s fuckin’ awesome… hell I could end with that too… read on to see if I do!
Anyway; this may be the oft maligned “Later Period Fulci” but hot damn this flick is a sparklin’ gem! Where else can you get Dancercise, killer snails, scorchin’ guitar lixxx, cannibalistic sex involving extremely greasy buttocks, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace-level miniatures used unironically, living statues, and TV’s War of the World‘s Jared Martin all in one place? Fuckin’ here, that’s where (though Fulci’s The New Gladiators contains at least two of the aforementioned items)!
As for the plot… well it’s CliffsNotes Suspiria with some Carrie sprinkled on top… maybe a dollop of Phenomena… anyway, it’s packed with practical gore, psychic powers that can pretty much do anything a kill scene requires no matter how ludicrous, some nudity… you know, the fuckin’ top shelf material that us horror hounds get all drooly about!
As a quick aside, the end credits of the film list travel services provided by an outfit known as “alien1999″… I have no idea what or who in the fuck that is, but that name takes some balls man… I think I’m going to start my own craft services company; “The Amityville Horror 3-D8576309”
Adding to the ghoulish glory that is this Blu-ray release from Severin are some solid bonus features including an informative and oft times funny audio commentary by author and Fulci scholar Troy Howarth and Mondo-Digital.com’s Nathaniel Thompson, a look at the later pictures in Fulci’s filmography, an interview with screenwriter Giorgio Mariuzzo, a duo of trailers (one in English, the other in Italian), and the film’s original Italian credit sequence.
Aenigma is a prime slice of fright flick lunacy that absolutely should not be missed, it’s completely bananas from beginning to end and gives zero shits… you know, my favorite type of film!
