lonchaney20 It's commonly agreed by Euro-horror enthusiasts that Fulci's talents began to rapidly diminish following his deeply offensive (but also incredibly awesome) 1982 giallo, The New York Ripper. Having seen his interesting but snail-paced A Cat in the Brain (1990), and his depressingly awful Demonia (1990), I was inclined to agree, but my positive reaction to The Devil's Honey (a terrific sado-erotic drama from 1986) made me more interested in checking out his latter-day efforts. Aenigma is often singled out for ridicule by viewers, and to an extent I can see why. Commonly referred to as a Carrie rip-off, but even more derivative of Patrick (1978), Aenigma chronicles a comatose's girl's psychic revenge on her catty schoolmates and hunky gym teacher after they pull a cruel prank on her. Having been hit by a car after fleeing the humiliating scene, in which the gym teacher pretended to seduce her, she possesses a new classmate named Eva (played by Lara Lamberti) and begins to pick off her tormentors in increasingly bizarre ways. Things are complicated when the promiscuous Eva begins an illicit affair with a dreamboat doctor (an often befuddled Jared Martin), whose subsequent relationship with another student draws the jealous wrath of Eva and her possessor. This revenge story is often nonsensical, and at times downright comical, but Fulci brings some of the same artistry and imagination that made his earlier thrillers so effective. The cinematography by Luigi Ciccarese is sometimes flat, and has that hazy soft focus and heavy blue gel lighting that plagued so many films in the eighties, but becomes more nuanced and colorful in the film's supernatural scenes. A sequence in which a girl is smothered to death by snails is usually singled out for derision, and it does come across as a misguided attempt by Fulci to outdo the spider attack scene from The Beyond (1981), but I admire Fulci's balls in trying to make snails scary. It doesn't work, but he later provides more effective jolts in a nightmarish museum death scene, in which the exhibits come to life and attack one of the villainous schoolgirls. Overall a lesser effort from the prolific Fulci, but far more entertaining than I'd been led to believe, and it still gives the impression that an artist is behind the camera, struggling against all odds to inject some originality and style into a derivative and underfunded commercial venture.

VinnieRattolle I love bad movies and foreign films and I can find redeeming qualities in nearly ANY movie... I'm always critical of people who proclaim that a film is 'the worst movie ever made,' but this one is almost deserving of being on a 'worst movies' list. The camera-work and acting rescues it from that fate... just barely. Admittedly, on a scene-by-scene basis, there were a few effective moments -- but it feels like the script was written in a single afternoon. Style without substance.In a very CARRIE-like opening sequence, Kathy (Dragan Bjelogrlic) is transformed from ugly duckling to... 1930s prostitute. She's soon humiliated by her peers and winds up in an accident that results in her becoming a permanent vegetable. She then leaves her body and possesses Eva (Lara Naszinsky), a new student with daddy issues who helps (?) get revenge on the people who scorned Kathy.Though Fulci has his patented visual flair, the film screams turkey and seems rife for a MST3K treatment. I'm not usually one to mock the screen, but I couldn't help myself with this movie. The biggest problem is that the story and dialogue (or at least the English dubbing) are laughably absurd, yet the actors are playing it straight. It reminds me of an Ed Wood film that's completely oblivious to its own badness. My condolences to the cast, who made the best of what they were given. The film is set in the USA (posters of Tom Cruise, Sly Stallone, Yoda and Snoopy adorn dorm walls), but little care was put into researching American dorm life, and absolutely no care was put into researching medical facilities and jargon. The effects are terrible almost across the board. The three exceptions are a creepy mirror scene, an erotic sex scene that takes a nasty turn and a death-by-snail sequence that's uncomfortably well played (though still ridiculous). Unfortunately, a later scene with a menacing snake wasn't as effective -- we cut from silly reaction shots to inserts of a snake slithering across the floor. Ooga-booga. Then this scene goes from dopey to unintentionally hilarious. To top it all off, it's unclear WHY Kathy possesses Eva. Eva doesn't actually kill anyone (unless she did during one of the numerous times when my mind started wandering) and Kathy never actively takes over her body. I could've choked down a specter-like out of body experience, but the possession seems completely pointless.There are only three instances when I'd recommend this film. First, if you're gonna have a big party and are looking for a film to mock while you and your friends get hammered. Second, if you're looking for a textbook example of how NOT to write a story. And third, if you're a die-hard Fulci fan. If you're looking for a scary movie or under any other circumstances, beware. Get one of Fulci's earlier horror movies instead.

The_Void Aenigma appears to be Lucio Fulci's attempt at 'Suspiria', as the plotting, atmosphere, locations and characters are all similar, and while this isn't essentially a 'bad' film, it certainly has nothing on Dario Argento's masterpiece. The influence from American cinema seems to have affected the great Italian maestro Lucio Fulci on this film, as he uses cheesy eighties songs a lot, and the way the plot plays out feels a lot like an American slasher, with the focus being kept on the kill scenes and bedtime activities of most of the school girls. The film forsakes logic at almost every turn, and much of the plot isn't explained and doesn't make a lot of sense. The central theme of a young, injured, girl possessing several members of her school and taking revenge on those that wronged her springs to mind immediately, as this isn't explained at all and that makes it hard to buy into the film. The way that Fulci handles this plot isn't very good either, as we are never made to care for her plight and therefore the fact that the plot doesn't make sense is made all the more irritating.Fulci does well with the atmosphere in the film, and the cinematography is rather nice also. As you would expect from a director who made his name with a whole load of blood and guts, there is no shortage of death scenes in this film. These scenes range from featuring severed limbs to gratuitous stabbings, but strangely enough; these scenes feel rushed and Fulci doesn't deliver a great deal of gore, which is probably the main reason why this film doesn't often get a very good write-up. Lucio Fulci has a bigger filmography than you would think, and many of his lesser known films - such as The Devil's Honey and Don't Torture a Duckling turn out to be his best. This film, however, is one of the director's more average efforts on the whole. I don't think Fulci really cared too much about the supernatural angle of the story, and so the film has ended up being disjointed and illogical. The acting and dialogue does nothing to alter this fact, as both are poor even for an Italian horror film. To be honest, I don't rate Aenigma as a complete dead loss; although it should be noted that I'm more tolerant of Fulci's films than most.

max27-3 I would like to comment on the previous commentator. Anyone who would knock an entire casts acting abilities after watching a very badly dubbed European film does not know much about the film business. Anyone who knows anything about film knows that one bad performance, OK, probably the actor, two, maybe, but three or more, most likely has to do with the Director and possibly the Editor. I am not denying that the film has little to be desired, but whoever has the audacity to knock an entire cast and crew should not only stay out of the reviewing business, but more than likely the film business as well. Anyone in the film business or wanting to stay in the business is very aware that words are very powerful. I suggest before formulating an opinion on an entire casts acting abilities you compare their other work.