The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
Encyclopedia
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is an independent film
spoofing
1950s era B-movies. It was videotaped on a budget of less than USD
$100,000, and converted to black-and-white
film in post-production
. Larry Blamire
acted in and directed the film, wrote its screenplay and provided the voice of the Skeleton. Jennifer Blaire, who performs Animala, is Blamire's wife.
) 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 from the planet Marva and 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. Dr. Fleming and Animala soon use the atmosphereum to resurrect the Skeleton. Meanwhile, Betty, waiting for Dr. Armstrong to come back, encounters the Mutant, who appears to fall in love with her. She is terrified of the Mutant, causing her to flee.
The Skeleton, meanwhile is using his mental powers to force Lattis to become his bride, much to Kro-Bar's chagrin. The Skeleton mocks everyone present, including Fleming (whom he later kills), but prevents them from retaliating using his aforementioned telepathy. Betty, trying to escape the Mutant, runs past the makeshift wedding, causing the Mutant to come into contact with the Skeleton. The Skeleton tries using his powers, but the Mutant is apparently immune. The Mutant and the Skeleton physically attack each other until the mutant throws the Skeleton over the cliff, which falls apart when it hits bottom. The mutant succumbs to its injuries and also dies. The alien and human couples spout the traditional homilies about different species working together in harmony, then go to retrieve the atmosphereum.
, a legendary B-movie location. 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 ten days to film.
in June 2004.
, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again, was filmed in March 2008, again written and directed by Blamire, and featuring virtually all of the original cast (though three actors whose characters were killed in the original are back in different roles), as well as several actors who appeared in Blamire's subsequent Trail of the Screaming Forehead. However, unlike the first film, it does not repeat the "ultra-cheap independent" feel, but is intended to look more like a studio B-picture from the same era, such as those produced by Sam Katzman
or Edward Small
. It had its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival October 4, 2008 and its Los Angeles premiere November 9 at the Egyptian Theatre. The film began its theatrical run at the Coolidge Corner in Boston on May 21, 2010, and was released on DVD by Shout! Factory
on August 17, 2010, as was another Blamire film, Dark and Stormy Night
.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
spoofing
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
1950s era B-movies. It was videotaped on a budget of less than USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
$100,000, and converted to black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
film in post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
. Larry Blamire
Larry Blamire
Larry Blamire is an American filmmaker, writer and artist best known for the independent film The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.-Biography:Blamire was raised in Massachusetts and studied illustration at the Art Institute of Boston under Norman Baer, a second generation student of Howard Pyle.-Comic...
acted in and directed the film, wrote its screenplay and provided the voice of the Skeleton. Jennifer Blaire, who performs Animala, is Blamire's wife.
Plot
Set in 1961, the film begins with hardworking scientist Dr. Paul Armstrong (Larry BlamireLarry Blamire
Larry Blamire is an American filmmaker, writer and artist best known for the independent film The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.-Biography:Blamire was raised in Massachusetts and studied illustration at the Art Institute of Boston under Norman Baer, a second generation student of Howard Pyle.-Comic...
) and his dedicated wife Betty (Fay Masterson) driving into the mountains. Dr. Armstrong is searching for a meteor
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
that has fallen in the nearby woods, suspected to contain the rare element atmosphereum
Fictional elements, isotopes and atomic particles
This list contains chemical elements, materials, isotopes or atomic particle that exist primarily in works of fiction . No actual periodic elements end in "-ite", though many minerals have names with this suffix...
. Another scientist in the area, Dr. Roger Fleming (Brian Howe
Brian Howe (actor)
Brian Howe is an American actor, most famous for his portrayal of stockbroker Jay Twistle in the film The Pursuit of Happyness. His other films include The Majestic, Catch Me If You Can, RV, Déjà Vu, Evan Almighty and Gran Torino...
) 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
Andrew Parks
Andrew Lawrence Parks is an American film and television actor.Born in Los Angeles, California to actors Larry Parks and Betty Garrett, Andrew Parks made his film debut at the age of eleven but did not continue his acting career for another eight years, beginning with The Strawberry Statement in...
) and Lattis (Susan McConnell) are from the planet Marva and are stranded on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, in need of the element atmosphereum to repair their powerless ship. The ship's pet mutant (Darren Reed
Darren Reed
Darren A Douglass Reed is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played with the New York Mets in 1990 and with both the Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins in 1992. He played a total of 82 Major League games, 26 for the Mets, 42 for the Expos and 14 for the Twins...
) 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
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
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
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
to freeze the aliens in place once Dr. Fleming has the meteor. Dr. Fleming and Animala soon use the atmosphereum to resurrect the Skeleton. Meanwhile, Betty, waiting for Dr. Armstrong to come back, encounters the Mutant, who appears to fall in love with her. She is terrified of the Mutant, causing her to flee.
The Skeleton, meanwhile is using his mental powers to force Lattis to become his bride, much to Kro-Bar's chagrin. The Skeleton mocks everyone present, including Fleming (whom he later kills), but prevents them from retaliating using his aforementioned telepathy. Betty, trying to escape the Mutant, runs past the makeshift wedding, causing the Mutant to come into contact with the Skeleton. The Skeleton tries using his powers, but the Mutant is apparently immune. The Mutant and the Skeleton physically attack each other until the mutant throws the Skeleton over the cliff, which falls apart when it hits bottom. The mutant succumbs to its injuries and also dies. The alien and human couples spout the traditional homilies about different species working together in harmony, then go to retrieve the atmosphereum.
Cast
- Larry Blamire as Dr. Paul Armstrong
- Fay MastersonFay MastersonFay Masterson is an English film, television and video-game actress. She is also a voice actor.-Career:Masterson's performance career began as a dancer which she gave up at age 11 to attend the Brite Lites Academy in Eltham, Southeast London...
as Betty Armstrong - Andrew ParksAndrew ParksAndrew Lawrence Parks is an American film and television actor.Born in Los Angeles, California to actors Larry Parks and Betty Garrett, Andrew Parks made his film debut at the age of eleven but did not continue his acting career for another eight years, beginning with The Strawberry Statement in...
as Kro-Bar/Bammin - Susan McConnell as Lattis/Turgaso
- Brian HoweBrian Howe (actor)Brian Howe is an American actor, most famous for his portrayal of stockbroker Jay Twistle in the film The Pursuit of Happyness. His other films include The Majestic, Catch Me If You Can, RV, Déjà Vu, Evan Almighty and Gran Torino...
as Dr. Roger Fleming - Jennifer Blaire as Animala
- Dan Conroy as Ranger Brad
- Robert Deveau as The Farmer
- Darrin Reed as The Mutant
Production
It was partly filmed in Bronson CanyonBronson Canyon
Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California that has become famous as a filming location for a very large number of movies and TV shows, especially westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the present...
, a legendary B-movie location. Actors were instructed to give wooden performances to help with the intentional cheesiness
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
of the film. In total, it took five days to write, and just over ten days to film.
Release
Acquired by Sony Pictures' Michael Schlesinger after a screening at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood, the film was released in theaters in February 2004, and on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in June 2004.
Sequel
A sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again, was filmed in March 2008, again written and directed by Blamire, and featuring virtually all of the original cast (though three actors whose characters were killed in the original are back in different roles), as well as several actors who appeared in Blamire's subsequent Trail of the Screaming Forehead. However, unlike the first film, it does not repeat the "ultra-cheap independent" feel, but is intended to look more like a studio B-picture from the same era, such as those produced by Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
or Edward Small
Edward Small
Edward Small was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970....
. It had its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival October 4, 2008 and its Los Angeles premiere November 9 at the Egyptian Theatre. The film began its theatrical run at the Coolidge Corner in Boston on May 21, 2010, and was released on DVD by Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
on August 17, 2010, as was another Blamire film, Dark and Stormy Night
Dark and Stormy Night (film)
Dark and Stormy Night is a 2009 independent film spoofing the haunted house and murder mystery films produced by Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s. Larry Blamire directed and acted in the film and wrote the screenplay...
.