Rip-Off Cinema: Aenigma

One last stop over in Crazy Town, Italy before we return to normalcy. Nah, I'm just kidding. We are never returning to normalcy. We will be going to a different location in Crazy Town though after I finish my review of...

Aenigma

This is one of those films that draws a lot of comparisons to other films. This is usually compared to Carrie, though that is an inaccurate comparison. It is incredibly similar to Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2. To those of you not familiar with this film- which came out in the same year as Aenigma- wait for my video review. It will come...eventually. Prom Night 2 actually rips off Carrie in a lot of ways, so there is still a point there.

*

The movie begins briskly with a young girl being set up on a date with the local stud. They pull up to a secluded spot and begin to kiss. Suddenly, we see that two other cars are watching- the pervs. No, these are actually her classmates who are setting her up. When they pull the trigger, the victim panics and runs. They chase her- always staying behind her, despite her only being on foot- until she accidentally gets run over. Oops.

*

As her comatose body begins to show alpha wave activity, a new student shows up. A Spider-Man comic-style quick-comparison shot explains that she is the host for our victim/villain. After meeting up with all of her classmates, her first act is to shamelessly flirt with the gym teacher. She does this by splaying her legs out at him during stretches. Subtle. She discusses going to see him that night while he paces. Whilst checking himself out, another him bursts through the mirror and chokes him to death. Holy Freud, Batman!

*

Her path of vengeance goes in a pretty straight-forward manner, but her methodology is anything but. One girl is actually smothered to death by snails after earlier discussing how they eat snails in mourning. Which part of that is stranger to you? Another girl is choked to death by a statue in a museum comes to life. Which psychic power allows you to re-animate a 7,000 lb statue again? My favorite one is the girl who is first scared by seeing headless bodies in every room she goes into. As she backs up near the window, her Top Gun poster turns into the image of our killer and she falls to her death. Does Tom Cruise endorse this murder?

*

To say that this movie is strange is to say that the French sort of like films about red balloons. The question does come up though: who stole from whom? Is 1987 the release date of Aenigma or the home video release? It is not above the Italians to steal movie ideas (Black Cobra, Starcrash, too many others to list), but neither is it above the U.S. to steal movie ideas (The Ring, Quarantine, too many others to list). Unlike Prom Night 2, this movie is not quite as dated in the 80s, which is both a detriment and a charm. Plus, it lacks the presence of Michael "Splinter Cell" Ironside. It is not a terrible film, but it is also not for everyone. That describes most films you'll see here though.
*
Tomorrow will be my 100th blog post. I've decided to analyze a long-running horror anthology series and their weird stories. Stay tuned...