Aenigma (1987)

The spirit of a comatose teenage girl possesses the body of a newcomer to her girls boarding school to enact bloody revenge against the elitist, lingerie-clad coeds responsible for her condition.

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Lucio Fulci (screenplay), Giorgio Mariuzzo (screenplay)

Stars:

Jared Martin, Lara Lamberti, Ulli Reinthaler

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jared Martin	...	Dr. Robert Anderson
Lara Lamberti	...	Eva Gordon (as Lara Naszinski)
Ulli Reinthaler	...	Jenny Clark
Sophie d'Aulan	...	Kim
Jennifer Naud	...	Grace O'Neal
Riccardo Acerbi	...	Fred Vernon
Kathi Wise	...	Virginia Williams
Milijana Zirojevic	...	Kathy (as Mijlijana Zirojevic)
Dragan Bjelogrlic	...	Tom (as Dragan Ejelogrlic)
Ljiljana Blagojevic	...	Ms. Jones (as Lijlijana Blagojevic)
Franciska Spahic	...	Joanne
Dusica Zegarac	...	Mary
Zorica Lesic	...	Miss James
Zoran Lesic
Rade Colovic	...	Tom

Storyline

Kathy is an outcast at an elite New England boarding school whom lands in a coma resulting from accidentally being hit by a car during a cruel practical joke against her by several car loads of her tormentors. A little later, Eva, a new arrival to the school, takes over Kathy's old room and begins socializing with some of the girls responsible for Kathy's condition. It turns out that Eva is a pawn under the control of the comatose Kathy from her hospital bed in seeing revenge against those whom did her wrong, while Kathy's physician, meets and begins dating Eva whom also targets his latest girlfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

male objectification | hairy chest | tank top | man wearing a tank top | falling to one's death | 

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Taglines:

They made a clown out of Kathy once too often!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy Yugoslavia

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

1 September 1988 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Ænigma

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.M. Trading International S.r.l., Sutjeska Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lucio Fulci: A police detective at the crime scene of Fred Vernon's death.

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Goofs

Doctor Anderson's car has European license plates instead of U.S. plates or more specifically, Massachusetts Plates.

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Quotes

Eva Gordon: Let's get one thing straight! A successful semester to me means making out with as many cute boys as possible. Let's put it this way: anything in pants!

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Alternate Versions

The version released by Image Entertainment as part of their "EuroShock Collection" is missing some minor bits of dialogue throughout, and is also missing a 5-second flashback sequence when Eva is sitting on the bench. This version runs 86 minutes, while the original Italian version is approximately 90 minutes.

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Connections

References Top Gun (1986)

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Soundtracks

Head Over Heels
(misspelled as "Head Over Meels")
Written by Douglas Meakin (as A.D. Meakin) and Carlo Maria Cordio (as C.M. Cordio)
Sung by Douglas Meakin
Published by Giuliana & Schmidl s.r.l.

User Reviews

"I Could Do Anything I Want With You!"...

AENIGMA opens w/ Kathy (Mijilijana Zirojevic) getting ready to go out on a big date, while the wretched theme song, "Head Over Heels" warbles along. Oh no! It's a set up! Instead of a date, Kathy's wicked -aren't they always?- school mates humiliate her, ending in tragedy for Kathy. Now, comatose Kathy's disembodied consciousness floats away, in order to take her terrible vengeance. Enter Eva Gordon (Lara Lamberti), a new student at St. Mary's College. Dear lord! Jazzercise breaks out! For her part, Eva begins dating a faculty member right away. A maid at the college has a mystical link to Kathy, and bizarre deaths ensue. Meanwhile, Eva starts acting strangely, causes mayhem, and begins dating her doctor. This, while Kathy cackles w/ eeevil glee! Is Eva being slowly possessed by Kathy? How will this affect her love life? Director, Lucio Fulci was an interesting guy w/ a varied film canon. The same man who brought us LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN, DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, and ZOMBIE, managed to also give us this crackpot movie. What can possibly be said about a film containing "death-by-snails"? Definitely a different, novel take on what could have been just another CARRIE clone. While certainly not a classic, at least this movie is fun to watch, and still superior to much of Fulci's later output... WARNING: "Head Over Heels" plays again at the end!...