Classic Horrors Club

For me, Lucio Fulci reached the summit of his career in the 1980s. From 1979 (Zombie) through 1981 (The House by the Cemetery), his creative juices were flowing like the blood in many of his films. This is excepting, of course, Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972.)  He had a brief excursion into action/adventure/fantasy in the mid-80s, then his return to horror became a case of diminishing returns. Thus, we have Aenigma (1987.)

For most of its 85-minute running time, it looks and feels different from a Fulci film. Perhaps it’s the high definition of the Severin Films Blu-ray, but it plays as if it was shot on video. The set pieces are fewer and further between than usual and the plot is familiar from those in a variety of other genre films, making it seem unoriginal. However, I went back and forth thinking the combination of ideas might be what makes it unique.

First, we have Carrie when the homely student at St. Mary’s College in Boston, Kathy (Milijana Zirojevic), is the victim of a cruel prank. Then, we have Patrick, when Kathy lies comatose in the hospital exerting psychic powers to get revenge. We even have a touch of Suspira when new student Eva Gordon (Lara Lamberti) is delivered to St. Mary’s, a towering building that, if not the only one on the block, inhabits most of a block.

We have the Fulci touch, though, with the finer details that don’t quite make sense. The movie left me with several questions, such as why Kathy’s mother, Mary (Dusica Zegarac), the custodian, has glowing red eyes at times. Perhaps that’s when she’s near Eva, who’s off and on possessed by Kathy. Most perplexing are the romantic (and not romantic) relationships that form throughout, detracting from the revenge plot.

Fred Vernon (Riccardo Acerbi) is the hunky gym instructor with his eyes and hands inappropriately focused on the young women. He was one of the conspirators in the original prank, so naturally becomes the first victim when Eva/Kathy turns on the charm. It’s Dr. Robert Anderson (Jared Martin) that’s the real problem. The only neurologist at the hospital, he’s at first mystified as he watches the erratic display on Kathy’s EKG monitor.

When Eva has a seizure, though, he goes to St. Mary’s on a house call. When she wakes, she plants a big fat kiss on Robert’s lips. Caught by surprise, he nevertheless reciprocates. Afterwards, he’s reluctant to pursue a relationship… for about a minute. After that, Eva/Kathy puts some kind of spell on him and they’re inseparable. Fine. However, when Eva’s mother takes her home, he’s instantly in the arms of her roommate, Jenny Clark (Ulli Renthaler.)

I guess Kathy is horny. She threw herself at Fred during the prank and some of her dialogue is repeated in the “love” scenes. But shifting gears to make a new lothario the focus changes the course of the movie. Kathy still wants revenge, but for a different reason. I don’t believe all the original students involved in the prank received her wrath, so ultimately the story doesn’t satisfy.

Fulci feels a little rusty in the big scene where snails crawl all over Virginia Williams’s (Kathi Wise) naked body while she sleeps on top of bed covers. It’s creepy-crawly, especially when one realistically slides into her mouth, but it goes on too long with repeated, lingering close-ups of the snails. The audio, though, is the highlight of the scene. It sounds as if the snails are devouring her slowly.

My favorite scene comes at the end. Eva/Kathy grabs Jenny in the morgue and raises her arm to stab her with a scalpel. At the same time, Robert finally breaks through the door and as he reaches through, Eva/Kathy’s weapon cringingly slices his arm. From there, I like the remainder of the film and how it ends. It’s as if the things I didn’t like about Aenigma were unconsciously working all the time and demonstrated cohesiveness at the end.

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