The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

That's what it was supposed to be and that's what it succeeds at. As a die hard fan of B- movies from the 50s, I felt like I could have made this movie, but I wouldn't have done as good a job. With a microbudget and a script written in five days, the filmmakers had all the right ingredients for a delightful send up.

The cheesy dialogue and deliberately awkward moments are true gems and it is obvious that this is a real labor of love, a collaborative effort between a group of friends who just wanted to make something fun.

No pretensions, no car chases, no show-offy special effects, no Hollywood celebrities chewing the scenery and trying to make themselves look sexy all the time. This film is an example of the kind of movies made by fans for the fans, with no kowtowing to political correctness, celebrity egos, or the lowest common denominator.

If you love Ed Wood, Robot Monster and Catwomen on the Moon, this film will split your sides with laughter. If not, I implore you to cast aside Lindsey Lohan and Ashton Kutcher for an afternoon and try something new.

10/10 rating

Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is a remarkable little film that recreates the look and feel of old low-budget black and white sci fi films, but it has a refreshing spirit all its own that is smart and silly at the same time. You've never seen a film like this before. It's the best new film I've seen in years.

Lost Skeleton is fun in its own right because it takes the archetypes of sci fi and its cliché's and mixes them together to make something that is more entertaining than straight parody.

Those who look at Lost Skeleton as only parody or a recreation of old movies are missing Blamire's unique accomplishment. It's a mixture of late 50's pompousness and innocence with modern perspective and grace.

Done in good taste that reflects the boy-scout best of the 50's genre, the movie is unlike anything else that Hollywood or indies are putting out. It's refreshing, inviting, friendly, goofy, and true to a singular vision.

I've seen it now with four different small audiences, and for the most part everyone has enjoyed it immensely. You need to view this film with a group to get the most out of it--it's easily the most quotable movie I've ever seen. Blamire's sense of those delightfully absurd pitfalls many sci-fi writers have fallen into time and again is uncanny. Halfway between Shakespeare and Ed Wood, almost every line of dialogue is a wooden comic gem laced with a sense of sweetness rather than mean-spiritedness. It's hard to tell where the parody ends and the celebration of these loftily ambitious lines begins.

This makes the film a joy to watch again and again. Blamire is hitting something deeper than a stiff sci-fi parody, and his touch makes this a much greater film than on the surface it has any right to be.

I predict that Lost Skeleton will go the way of Young Frankenstein and establish itself as a comedy classic over the next couple of decades. It's just that good. Perhaps indescribably good, but I did my best.

Dead-on spoof of bad b movies is just done so perfectly. Close ups are too close, edits are too slow, minor points are hammered home. It's as though the director has seen every bad movie every made and crammed them all into this one movie. He doesn't go for cheap laughs like technical screwups, it's actually the equivalent of a relatively well made grade z horror movie. It plays it all straight, although the movie will occasionally go ahead and throw in a laugh that's a little too smart for this type of movie.

This movie isn't any funnier than a true bad movie like Plan 9 from Outer Space, but it is more consistently funny. Real bad movies generally have some scenes so badly done that they are hysterical but also scenes that are just mediocre and tedious, but Skeleton keeps that so-awful-it's-wonderful feel throughout.

The director has proved he can create a very smart bad movie. I'll be curious to see what happens when he tries to create a good movie. 7/10

Lost Skeleton of Cadavra manages to make fun of and pay homage to those classic 50-60's horror movies. All the characters are great and each have there own line that will last a life time. I know there are a few lines I will use all the time. "I am a scientist, I don't believe in anything". My favorite character was the aliens, so over exaggerated and just great. I don't want to give too much away since this movie is just a classic. The Skeleton is great too since its such a smart ass. Animala and ranger Brad are funny too. All the characters are just so well done, getting the painfully dull expressions and almost nervous laughter. The movie is mostly genius. It acceded my expectations and more. Just go see it, you wont regret it.

I sleep now

`Betty, you know what this meteor could mean to science. It could mean actual advances in the field of science'. I laughed so hard my teeth hurt. Unfortunately, the world is full of knuckle dragging mouth breathers who are not capable of appreciating fine parody. If you are a knuckle dragging mouth breather (or a big Ashton Kutcher fan) you are going to hate this movie.

Be warned, there are gigantic plot holes. The acting is wooden to say the least. The special effects are not at all special and look like they could have been done by a 10 year old. All of the clichés are covered. The woman runs around in high heels and faints at the first sign of danger. There is an evil scientist, aliens (from another planet), a mutant, and a skeleton. And let's not forget Animala (rowrr). Made up of four woodland creatures, she steals the show. In short, it is an incredibly accurate and funny send-up of 50's drive-in movies.

I recommend it to those with a more advanced sense of humor.