The Lost Skeletons of Cadavra on DVD

Schlock horror or sci-fi movies can be a lot of fun, and spoofs of such schlock can be even more fun.

We’re reminded of Amazon Women on the Moon, Flesh Gordon, Army of Darkness and, more recently, Bubba Ho-tep.

Except for one really big thing: the abovementioned movies are all good.

Which brings us to the Lost Skeletons of Cadavra, a black and white throwback to the black and white throwaways of the 1950’s. This movie reminds us of Plan 9 from Outer Space, except that Skeletons is deliberately bad whereas Plan 9 was merely bad.

Writer/Director/Star Larry Blamire gives us a little bit of alien invasion, creature creation and some dog’s breakfast. The story surrounds the search for the rarest element, atmosphereum, which is being sought by various parties including competing aliens and humans.

What we get is an hour and a half of really cheesy dialog, really cheesy acting, really cheesy production values and really cheesy special effects. This makes it no surprise that the result is a really cheesy movie.

The movie was apparently shot in Bronson Canyon, where many cheap B-pictures were made over the years.

The plot, such as it is, sees Martians crash landing on earth and releasing a mutant upon the landscape as they search for the elusive atmosphereum (which they’ll undoubtedly discover to be a real breath of fresh air). Meanwhile, a mad scientist (there has to be a mad scientist, doesn’t there?) re-awakens a mysterious, talking skeleton that may possibly hold the key to world domination (there has to be a world domination plot, doesn’t there?).

The there’s Animala, a half-woman, half-animal beatnik-type thingy who during a dinner scene combines with the aliens (who are trying to hide the fact that they’re aliens) to provide the funniest sequence of the movie!

It’s all rather silly and even rather lame and even 89 minutes is too long. But on the other hand, while this one didn’t elicit the chortles for which we’d hoped, it’s worth seeing if only for its unbridled silliness. Besides, we want to encourage this type of movie because they can be so much fun.

If you grew up watching creature features on TV (or if you’re older still, watching them in the movie theaters), you’ll probably get a kick out of The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. If you’re looking for a high quality spoof or even a high quality sci-fi/horror flick, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere. And that’s fine: this movie doesn’t pretend to be anything other than it is – an homage to the schlock films of yesteryears.

The DVD’s fine. It’s presented in black and white, of course, so the colors leave a bit to be desired (ya think?), but the picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen - though it’s also rather cheesy looking, which is undoubtedly intentional.

Audio is Dolby Digital and it matches the quality of the picture. You won’t want this movie to use as a home theater showcase, but of course that isn’t what it’s all about anyway.

Extras include a director/cast commentary, character commentary, a blooper reel, a Q&A featurette at the American Cinematheque. You also get an "Obey the Skeleton" making-of featurette, photo gallery, “Skeleton Frolic" short film and bonus trailers of actual 1950s horror films that are a real blast from the past.

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
89 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1, 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital
Starring May Masterson, Andrew Parks, Susan McConnell, Larry Blarmire
Produced by F. Miguel Valenti
Written and directed by Larry Blamire

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