The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

(Brian Howe, Jennifer Blaire and friend)


From the company that brought you "Zombies of Mora Tau" and "Lawrence of Arabia"…

Dr. Paul Armstrong (Larry Blamire) is a scientist who likes to do science. He is accompanied by his wife Betty (Fay Masterson), the wife of a scientist, to study a meteor containing the rarest of all radioactive elements, atmosphereum.

Dr. Roger Fleming (Brian Howe) is searching for Cadavra Cave in hopes of resurrecting the fabled Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. There is one thing he needs to accomplish his mission: atmosphereum.

Aliens Kro-Bar (Andrew Parks) and his wife Lattis (Susan McConnell) from the planet Marva have crash-landed on Earth. Only one thing can restore their ship: atmosphereum.

Welcome to director Larry Blamire’s tribute to the horror/science fiction films of the 1950s, Columbia Pictures' The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. The supreme shock sensation of our time—the day the Earth was disemboweled in terror—was filmed in the miracle of Skeletorama, the new screen wonder of the age! At least, according to the DVD’s cover.

Blamire and crew do something that is very difficult to accomplish: act well and appear to act badly. And they are indeed acting like they are acting badly. The cast is experienced: Masterson worked with Stanley Kubrick in Eyes Wide Shut; Howe with Steven Spielberg in Catch Me If You Can; Parks with Mike Newell in Donnie Brasco. Every cheesy line is delivered in perfect time, or sometimes a little late—if that is what the scene calls for.

Lost Skeleton captures the feel of those B-movies from the 1950s. It is in black-and-white (shot on digital and converted) with stock movie music from Valentino Productions. Blamire even filmed in famed Bronson Canyon, a section of Los Angeles’ Griffith Park where several movies and TV shows have been filmed including The Searchers, Batman, Star Trek, Killers From Space, Earth vs. The Spider, and Teenagers from Outer Space. And of course, there's the title character, the Lost Skeleton. And yes, you can see the strings. Just like you're supposed to.

In addition to the three storylines mentioned above are a loose mutant and a woman made from four different forest animals named Animala (Jennifer Blaire). Of course, Animala is a result of the Transmutatron, which looks eerily like a caulk gun. The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is a comedy of the rarest order. It is a spoof and yet also an homage. Fans of the genre will appreciate the effort put forth by the cast and crew; it works nicely.

Lost Skeleton is available on DVD from Columbia TriStar Pictures, and is chock-full of bonus features that viewers will love: a retro-style trailer, a classic cartoon entitled “Skeleton Frolic,” two audio commentary tracks (one by cast, the other by crew), a Q&A session at the American Cinematheque, a blooper real (in color), and much more.

The film is rated PG so younger viewers can enjoy a film that seems like a lost gem from an era of so many bad movies riffed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. This movie needs no riffing; it’s funny enough as it is.

Click here to see the 1950s style trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe9Fs10IIk0