The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

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The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
Directed by Larry Blamire
Produced by F. Miguel Valenti
Lars Perkins
Written by Larry Blamire
Starring Fay Masterson
Andrew Parks
Susan McConnell
Brian Howe
Jennifer Blaire
Larry Blamire
Music by Frederick Critchlow
Bill Bryn Russell
Cinematography Kevin F. Jones
Editing by Bill Bryn Russell
Distributed by Tri-Star Pictures (USA)
Fantastic Films International (non-US)
Release date(s) 2001
Running time 90 min.
Language English
Followed by Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2006)
IMDb profile

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is an independent film spoofing 1950s era B-movies. It was videotaped on a budget of less than $100,000, and converted to black and white film in post-production. Actors were instructed to give wooden performances to help with the intentional cheesiness of the film. In total, it took five days to write, and just over 10 days to film. Larry Blamire acted in and directed the film, wrote its screenplay and provided the voice of the Skeleton. Jennifer Blaire, whose performance as Animala made her an instant cult favorite, is Blamire's wife.

It was released in theaters in February of 2004, and on DVD in June of 2004.

Contents

[edit] Plot synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Set in 1961, the film begins with hardworking scientist Dr. Paul Armstrong (Larry Blamire) and his dedicated wife Betty (Fay Masterson) driving into the mountains. Dr. Armstrong is searching for a meteor that has fallen in the nearby woods, suspected to contain the rare element atmosphereum. Another scientist in the area, Dr. Roger Fleming (Brian Howe) questions Ranger Brad (Dan Conroy) about Cadavra Cave, a site held in awe by the locals and rumored to contain a "Lost Skeleton."

In the evening, both the Armstrongs and Dr. Fleming observe in the sky another falling meteor. An instant later, a farmer (Robert Deveau) encountered by the Armstrongs on their way to the cabin is horribly mutilated by a mysterious beast. The second meteor is, in reality, a pair of aliens in a spaceship. Kro-Bar (Andrew Parks) and Lattis (Susan McConnell) are stranded on Earth, in need of the element atmosphereum to repair their powerless ship. The ship's pet mutant (Darren Reed) escapes from its cage while they are distracted.

The next day, Dr. Roger Fleming finds and enters Cadavra Cave, at last locating the Lost Skeleton. The Skeleton commands Fleming to locate atmosphereum to return him to life. Meanwhile, Dr. Armstrong and Betty adventure into the woods, finally discovering the meteor just outside Cadavra Cave. Dr. Fleming overhears them, and begins to plot to steal the meteor from the pair.

Kro-Bar and Lattis journey into the woods, locating the cabin containing the meteor. Using a device called the "transmutatron," they disguise themselves as "Earth people" and clumsily manage to talk their way inside the cabin, being mistaken for the property owners. Not long after they arrive, Dr. Fleming discovers the aliens' transmutatron, left outside the cabin since it would ruin their disguise. He uses it to create an ally for himself, the alluring Animala (Jennifer Blaire), created from four different woodland creatures. After briefly teaching Animala the basics of human interaction, he leads her to the cabin and convinces the Armstrongs to invite him inside.

Soon it becomes clear to Lattis and Kro-Bar (calling themselves "Turgaso" and "Bammin" on Earth) that Fleming knows their secret. They soon ally to steal the meteor, after Betty is mentally attacked by the Skeleton and Dr. Armstrong is entranced by Animala's dancing. The evil scientist has tricked the pair, however, and the Skeleton uses his mind powers to freeze the aliens in place once Dr. Fleming has the meteor.

[edit] Trivia

  • The background sound effects during the first few shots of the spaceship were also used in the hip-hop song ATLiens by hip-hop duo OutKast.
  • A follow-up production, Trail of the Screaming Forehead, is presently in production.[1]

[edit] Taglines

  • You'll be sterilized with FEAR!
  • None Can Stand Its Mental Power!
  • Supreme Shock Sensation of our Time!
  • This was the day the Earth was disemboweled in terror!
  • Filmed in the Miracle of "Skeletorama!" New Screen Wonder of the Age!

[edit] Memorable dialogue

  • Dr. Armstrong: Do you realize what this meteor could mean to science? If we find it, and it's real, it could mean a lot. It could mean actual advances in the field of science.


  • Ranger Brad: Quiet day. I certainly hope someone needs a forest ranger here sometime.
    Dr. Fleming: Hello. I'm Dr. Roger Fleming, and I seem to have lost my way.
    Ranger Brad: I'm Ranger Brad, and that's what I'm here for. You can call me Ranger Brad. Most folks do.
    Dr. Fleming: Yes, of course. Ranger Brad. I like that.


  • Dr. Fleming: Ranger Brad, I'm a scientist. I don't believe in anything!


  • Dr. Fleming: You're against me, aren't you? Of course you are. All skeletons are against me. They always have been. Even as a child, I was hated by skeletons!


  • Kro-Bar: You need not yell because of my proximity.
    Lattis: I yell not from the volume required by great distance, but from happy excitement.


  • Ranger Brad: We take our horrible mutilations seriously in these parts.


  • Betty: I must make a skeleton meatier using a crowbar covered in lettuce.


  • Kro-Bar: Aliens? Us? Is this one of your Earth jokes?


  • Lattis: You are in a spaceship now. It's just like your house, except it travels through space.


  • Betty: Well, I guess if I wanted to have a safe life, I wouldn't have married a man who studies rocks.


  • Skeleton: You will present the bride, and you'll like it!


  • Skeleton: I sleep now!


  • Ranger Brad: Well again I didn't mean to throw a damper. Believe me, that's the last thing I'd like to throw.


  • Kro-Bar: I'm sorry, sometimes my wife forgets that she is not a space alien.


  • Animala: Always agree.


  • Dr. Armstrong (after seeing the second meteorite streak across the sky): I wonder.
    Dr. Fleming (many miles away from the cabin): I also wonder.


[edit] External links

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