AENIGMA

(Lucio Fulci, 1987)

What do you get when you mix equal parts Aussie horror flick "Patrick" and Argento's Phenomena, and add a bucket of snails? Yup. Aenigma, Fulci's *ahem* ode to Dario Argento (and I use that term loosely).

The film starts tenderly enough with some easy listening music and a brief montage of a young couple helping their friend Cathy get ready for her big night out. We know it's her big night as the lyrics in the opening song say so. It hurts already, but we'll get through. It turns out her "friends" have set her up for a night of humiliation, one that accidentally leaves Cathy in a coma.

Though unable to speak or move, Cathy somehow develops some nifty supernatural powers, and possesses St Mary's College's new student, Eva (Lara Naszinski). Through Eva she enacts her revenge on the other students, and does them in in various creative, albeit nonsensical, ways (ie: animating artwork, creating a clone from someone's reflection, and of course the infamous "Death By Snails" sequence, one that may well leave the viewer in tears!)

As I said before, Aenigma is a Fulci version of the superior Dario Argento film Phenomena, nonsensical and far-fetched as that title is. Eva's arrival at the school, the mentioning of her previous psychiatric problems, and the girls' getting caught smoking (not to mention a teacher who looks like she walked right off Argento's set) are just audacious in their mimicry. Even the soundtrack by Carlo Maria Cordio alternates between soft, synthy nature music and thrashy heavy metal!

On the plus side, some of Argentos better qualities must have rubbed off on Fulci as this is easily one of his best-looking films of the 80s. He made good use of crane shots, colored gel lighting (in blue and green), and his compositions seem more mature than in previous works. It's a pity he didn't have much of a story to work with. In all, I'd leave this until you've seen Fulci's better (earlier) work, and of course, after you've seen Phenomena. Second hand copies may still be purchased here.

PHENOMENA aka Creepers (U.S.)

(Dario Argento, 1984)

How on EARTH does one begin to describe Phenomena? Hmmm...how's this?
It's the heart-warming story of a girl who can communicate telepathically with insects, her wheelchair-bound entymologist friend, and his helper-chimp's race against time to catch a deformed killer at a girls' boarding school in Switzerland! If your head's not still swimming, you may want to lay off of the good stuff for a bit!

Jennifer Corvino (a pre-Labyrinth Jennifer Connelly) has just arrived in Switzerland to attend the prestigious Richard Wagner School for Girls. One may notice a few nods to Suspiria here, from the voice-over narration to the sinister faculty, and the shadowy, oversized sets. There Jennifer learns from roommate Sophie that a murderer is on the loose and has killed a girl from the school.

Shortly thereafter, Jennifer has a bout of sleepwalking that takes her to a narrow ledge atop an unused building, where she "sees" another girl brutally impaled. After narrowly escaping a fall from the ledge and an encounter with two would-be rapists, Jennifer finds her way to the residence of Dr John McGregor, an entymologist who employs the aid of a helper chimp. He tells her of his former assistant, a girl named Rita, who recently disappeared. Jennifer and the doctor bond immediately over the subject of insects, and she returns to the school.

Jennifer's sleepwalking quickly garners her unwanted attention from the teachers, who bring in a group of specialists to run tests on her. When Sophie is murdered and Jennifer sees her corpse through the eyes of maggots on the murderer's glove, no one believes her. Her room is soon ransacked by the staff, who discover and share a letter written by Jennifer to her father in which she confesses to being able to communicate telepathically with insects. Jennifer is further alienated when, after being teased mercilessly by the other girls, she summons, as a warning, a swarm of flies large enough to cover the school. When the headmistress attempts to send her to the loony bin, Jennifer runs from the school to Dr McGregor's. The two then conceive a plan wherein Jennifer will follow to the killer a fly that grew from the maggots from the first victim's severed head!

I shan't reveal the rest of the film, as it really does rely on surprise. Needless to say, it becomes more bizarre and gruesome as the killer's identity comes to light. The ending will have you shaking your head in disbelief! Argento fans are divided over Phenomena as it is easily one of the director's most mind-boggling movies with its mixed supernatural horror/ giallo elements. Also irritating is his awkward use of heavy metal music in scenes that might have been better if the original Goblin score were used. The plausibility factor is also at an all-time low, but that doesn't make the film any less entertaining.

Dario's trademark flowing camera, inventive lighting, and wince-inducing ultraviolence are all present in Phenomena. His obsession with running water, broken glass, and dolls is also on display in spades. As I mentioned, the actual music by Goblin isn't all that terrible, though it's obviously Simonetti-inspired. The two tracks composed by Simon Boswell are quite effective. Finally, many of the cast will be familiar faces. It starts Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence, Daria Nicolodi, Dalila Dilazzaro, and has cameos by Michele Soavi and Dario's daughter Fiore Argento. Recommended, but only if you've seen Deep Red, Suspiria, and Tenebre beforehand. Buy it here.