I didn't have high expectations going into this, which is the right way to approach it. I mostly wanted to see the infamous death-by-snail scene, which did not disappoint.

The film didn't make a lot of sense in general, but it's mostly well shot and has Fulci's trademark atmosphere and grit.

Overall, there's nothing earth shattering, but its story is told in unusual ways and I enjoyed it. That's good enough for me.

The spirit of outcast comatose teenage girl Kathy (freaky looking Milijana Zirojevic) possesses the body of new boarding school student Eva (gorgeous brunette Laura Lamberti) to get revenge on the mean girls who played a cruel prank on Kathy that put her in her comatose state.

While notorious Italian splattermeister Lucio Fulci keeps the enjoyably asinine and derivative story moving along at a steady pace and generates a fair amount of his trademark brooding gloom-doom atmosphere, Fulci alas doesn't go overboard with the gore and sleaze like he really could and should have. Fortunately, this movie does deliver a few notably daft moments that include the infamous death by snails sequence, a marble statue coming to life to strangle a gal, and a sex nightmare set piece involving lots of biting (ouch!). The bevy of pretty young woman provides a pleasing array of tasty eye candy, too. A dippy hoot.

OK, so Lucio Fulci's "Aenigma" - sometimes stylized "Ænigma" - is basically a retread of "Carrie", but it is one enjoyable movie. It's got just the atmosphere that one would expect in a 1980s Italian horror flick. And that one shot of Lara Lamberti! That gal must have had to beat boys off with a stick in high school!

I notice that unlike the notable slashers from the US, Euro-horror movies of the '70s and '80s didn't spawn sequels (and there haven't been remakes/reboots). One might say that they stayed unique. Whatever the case, these are among the most fun that you'll ever have watching a movie. Another movie with a similar plot was Dario Argento's "Phenomena" (aka "Creepers"), starring a young Jennifer Connelly as a girl at a Swiss boarding school who develops the ability to communicate with insects amid a series of murders.

Yeah, I wish that English had retained the Æ. I've always found it to be a neat letter.