The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"I sleep now."

Dr. Fleming: Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a skeleton to bring to life!
Skeleton: (in a distant cave) THAT WOULD BE ME.

A 2001 Affectionate Parody of campy 1950s B Movies, complete with nonsensical plot, stilted acting and cheap Special Effects. Directed by, written by and starring Larry Blamire, who has completed a sequel, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again, which was released on DVD in August, 2010.

The plot revolves around Dr. Paul Armstrong (a man OF SCIENCE), Dr. Roger Fleming (a man OF EVIL), and Kro-Bar and Lattis (aliens FROM OUTER SPACE), all of whom wish to acquire the rare radioactive element "atmosphereum" for various reasons: to do science, to revive a mysterious lost skeleton and to power their spaceship, respectively. A mutant (WHO KILLS FOR KICKS!) and a petting zoo person factor in here somehow also.

Tropes used in The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra include:

THE END? OR IS IT? ISN'T IT MORE LIKE A KIND OF BEGINNING IN A WAY? LIKE A NEW BEGINNING? FOR EVERYONE? HM... I WONDER... OH WELL.

I won't like it!

  • For Science!: Paul's motivation in locating the atmosphereum.
  • For the Evulz: Dr. Fleming never gives any reason at all for wanting to resurrect the Lost Skeleton, so this trope seems to be his only motivation.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck

Dr. Paul Armstrong: Now for the love of Mike, will someone please explain what the heck is going on here?

Skeleton: You must find the atmosphereum.
Animala: Amish Terrarium. Must find Amish terrarium.
Dr. Paul Armstrong: I don't understand. Why does she need an Amish terrarium?
Betty Armstrong: Don't the Amish live in open air, like us?
Dr. Paul Armstrong: Of course, Betty, it's absurd. Putting the Amish in glass cases would be inhumane.

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.

  • Space Clothes. And Spock Speak.
  • Stylistic Suck: Almost too good of a job, really... Somewhere in the padding, bad acting, and overly long shots, it's easy to lose interest.
  • Sue Donym: Nearly half the cast takes on a pseudonym at one point. Dr. Roger Fleming becomes Rudolph Jaber (even though he doesn't need to), Animala becomes Pammy Jaber (even though she's just been named "Animala" simultaneously, and it would have been easier just to name her "Pammy"), Kro-Bar becomes Bammin Taylor, and Lattis becomes Turgaso Taylor.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial:

Kro-Bar: Aliens? Us? Is this one of your Earth jokes?
Fleming: See? See?
Lattis: You should not have said "Earth jokes." Don't you see how that gave us away?

    • Kro-Bar: I'm sorry, my wife sometimes forgets that she is not a space alien.
  • Tempting Fate: Ranger Brad, who gets killed moments after warning everyone about the horribly mutilated farmer that had been found earlier.

Ranger Brad: Say, I must be crazy walking around in these woods at night with a horrible mutilation practically around the corner. Oh well.

Years in the making -- on the world's most spectacular locations! A cast of thousands! A cost of millions!

    • Well, the locations part wasn't totally off. Bronson Canyon is a pretty well-known place...to movie buffs. Hell, most of the film's budget went to getting the rights to film there.
  • Weirdness Censor: Applies in the Armstrong's first interactions with the aliens and Animala.
    • To wit, Paul refers to their guests as "odd ducks," after witnessing actions that would have most people calling for the police within seconds.

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again

Bartender: Si, I know a gringo. We call him...the Man in the Corner. (indicates man sitting in the corner of the bar)

  • Flying Saucer: Kro-Bar and Lattis upgrade from their previous rocketship.
  • Green Rocks: This time it's Jerranium 90.
  • Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: Kro-Bar's attempt at 'normal' human dress in the jungle.
    • Which, being that it's Kro-Bar, this is the most normal part of his disguise.
  • Identical Brother: As well as Peter Fleming, they also encounter Ranger Brad's twin brother, Jungle Brad.

Paul: Wait, you're twins, and you're both named Brad?
Jungle Brad: We have different last names.

  • It's the Journey That Counts: Subverted, since it turns out that Animala had the Jerranium 90 all along.
  • Jaws First Person Perspective: We get to see a monster sneak up and attack Jungle Brad, the same way the mutant snuck up on Ranger Brad. He even shrieks the exact same way. In a massive subversion, Jungle Brad is not only perfectly unharmed, but he was able to correctly identify the creature and warn people NOT to act like he did, or they'll get killed.
  • Jungle Japes
  • MacGuffin: The Dalp of Anacrab.
  • Negated Moment of Awesome: The Skeleton charges towards the Cantaloupe Monster declaring this will be "THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY!" only to be instantly crushed. Likewise Chinfa's dance is built up as something flamboyant, but it consists of tiny hip twitches.
  • Nice Hat: The Cantaloupe People. Guess what they wear on their heads.
  • Overly Long Gag:
    • The "show me your card slowwwwwly" scene.
    • Lattis and Cro-bar mourning. Eventually the cast joins them.
    • Chinfa's failure to understand double negatives.
    • Bentivegitantus' speech.

Bentivegitantus: But my Queen, was it not foretold in the Time of the Coming of the Other Ones, when the… The thing with the… That other thing came to pass… When it was… Lo, heed the warnings, that the Outsiders, lest they… When they come to… And it is! Lo! Seize them! That they… I swear, when the moon has… Infidels! For was it not the great… Are you heedless of the power of the… Behold! It is the… A wrath upon you all, that the… Mighty is the… For it is… Know this! By the time the… For it is written that… Dare you violate… The forbidden… Parts!? I have spoken.
Chinfa: Your words are well chosen, Bentivegitantus.


Oh well.