Friday, June 02, 2006

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra


The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra wasn't quite what I expected. I thought it would be a parody of bad '50s SF movies, and maybe it was, but it was something else, too. It seemed to me that what the moviemakers wanted to do was to create a movie that wasn't so much a parody but a movie exactly like the ones I saw as a kid. It's fairly successful, except for a few lines that are a little too knowing, when we're sure that the cast, which for the most part plays things absolutely straight, is in on the joke (the skeleton clearly is).

The movie was filmed at Bronson Canyon, where a lot of those '50s movies were made, including The Brain from Planet Arous, a definite influence on this one. But then so were all the others filmed there, like Robot Monster, It Conquered the World, and on and on. The aliens are right out of Plan Nine from Outer Space, and so are their costumes. The direction is pretty much Ed Wood. Close-ups are too close, scenes go on a little too long, the actors are overly hammy.

This kind of thing will either work for you or not. It worked for me, but Judy left the room about halfway through the movie. I don't think it worked for her. You'll have to check it out and judge for yourself.

2 comments:

Reel Fanatic said...

I, too, was surprised by how much I liked "Lost Skeleton" ... You definitely either get it or not, but if you do, it's a great little flick

Carl V. Anderson said...

My brother in law had me Netflix this awhile back and I loved it. It was so much fun, even the wife enjoyed it. I agree with the general consensus though that this is a "get it or you don't" movie.