The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

[Andrew]

I had heard a lot about this film, because it is a send up of classic b-movies.  Finally watched the darn thing and, quite frankly, it stunk.  The movie reminds me of a Saturday Night Live skit that turns out bad, as in not funny.  Those are annoying enough, but imagine one that is 90 minutes long.  Not a lot of fun to watch.

The story is that a scientist and his wife go to a cabin so that he can study a strange meteorite made of "Atmospherium."  A rogue scientist also wants the meteorite so that he can animate the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra with it.  Joining the party are a pair of space aliens who need the Atmospherium to repair their ship.  Oh, and the aliens' pet mutant escapes and is runs loose in the woods.

The aliens disguise themselves as normal people and join the scientist and his wife for dinner.  The rogue scientist grabs the transmogrifying ray that the aliens left unattended and creates a female companion for himself.  She is four random animals into a woman.  She looks a little like a Catwoman of the Moon.  Her name is Animala and she is the best thing about the whole movie.  She tends to move around the scenes, acting like a cat and saying, "Rowrr!" a lot.  She also buries her face into her plate of food at dinner (the rogue scientist joins the dinner party).

Attempting to be funny by having the scientist say stuff like, "I am a scientist, hunny, so I need to do some science now." and other such parody dialog quickly got on my nerves.  The guy talks with no emotion!  Come on, in real b-movies the actors were trying - really trying to make the insane dialog work.  And, while you are at it, the dialog was more interesting than repeating the word "science" over and over.  A lot of the lines came out as just lazy writing.  Again, the "Saturday Night Live Skit Gone Wrong" symptoms ruined this for me.

NOTE:  Having written this, I checked some older threads and seem to be at odds with other viewers.  Man, I really did not like this movie.  The only part that made me laugh was Animala and the aliens burying their faces into their plates at dinner.

Older thread:
http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,76403.0.html

[Joe the Destroyer]

I tried to watch it, but it's hard to stay focused when:
A) It really didn't seem that good at all, even for being a b-movie throwback, and
B) You're in a girl's apartment and the movie is the last thing on your mind.

[Ash]

You weren't the only one who didn't like it Andrew.
Check out Ebert's review...he gave it 1 1/2 stars out of four.

READ IT HERE

I haven't seen it yet but I have friends who have and they thought it was so-so.

[Shadow]

I caught the last twenty minutes of this once on cable. I have to admit to being rather bored by it before it ended, despite there being several things I found humorous. Sure, I could spot the many homages to old B-movies and the love for the genre that went into the making of the film, but making a bad B-movie and making a bad B-movie on purpose are just two very different things. The latter is quite hard to do without coming off as forced and quite often lifeless. I wouldn't mind seeing the whole movie, but I think I'd have to watch it in doses - maybe 10 minutes at a time.

[Derf]

I'll agree that Animala is the best thing about this movie. 

I kind of liked it, but I was disappointed that they tried to make it funny. All the articles I read about it before I saw it made it sound like they were going to play it straight. With bad dialogue and bad science, yes, but played seriously, like the "real" b-movies were. Instead, they went for laughs, which usually fell through because the actors just weren't good enough to pull off the whole good-actors-acting-like-they-can't-act shtick. I still admire the drive that got the movie made; I just don't agree with the decision to make it a comedy.

[Torgo]

I agree that this movie is at most a 30 minute short that got stretched out to 90 minute length, but I still enjoyed it for what it was.  I do understand how someone could hate it however.   

Oh, and Animala rocks!   

[trekgeezer]

I saw a small part of this and I couldn't get past the acting. Andrew is right, the guys that make truly bad movies don't think they are making a bad movie, they trying  to make a good movie.  This is what usually results in a "good" bad movie.

[peter johnson]

Nope, sorry, Love it Unequivocally!!
"Dance, Animalia, Dance!!"
The entire premise that a skanky skeleton of no discernable power or ability was going to rule the world -- Love it!!
No, personally, the wife and I both found this one to be a font of bad movie cliches that made us laugh a lot.  We especially liked the endless explanations of the aliens to the scientists as to what they were going to do and how they would come to an agreement.
I also have to humbly and respectfully disagree as to the acting in old B films -- very very often there were those who read their lines in a dull and unprofessional manner.  We do tend to recall more easily the ones who went over-the-top, but we didn't find the flat readings to be anything other than funny --
One sole vote -- or two, counting the shy wife -- that this film is great fun!!  Don't dis because others do -- check fo' yo'se'f!!
peter rapstar/denny who?bris?

[JPickettIII]

I loved it too.  I thought it was great to play on the old 50's and 60's movies.

[Oldskool138]

Nope, sorry, Love it Unequivocally!!
"Dance, Animalia, Dance!!"

I'm with you on this one!  "Cadavera" made me laugh until it hurt.  There are so many classic lines.

"I'm a scientist.  I don't believe in anything."
"I also wonder"
The whole Ranger Brad "mutilations" speech.

A cranky skeleton trying to take over the Earth.  A broken voltmeter that subs for an Atmospherium Detector.  Turgaso getting drunk.  This film is awesome!   

[Torgo]

"Betty, you know what this meteor could mean to science. It could mean actual advances in the field of science. "

Ranger Brad: Well again I didn't mean to throw a damper. Believe me that's the last thing I'd like to throw. I don't want to throw anything at all really. But when folks are horribly mutilated, I feel it's my job to tell others. We take our horrible mutilations seriously up in these parts.
Betty Armstrong: I'm sure you do. Honey, the Ranger's just doing his job.
Dr. Paul Armstrong: Of course he is. I'm sorry Ranger Brad. I guess all this talk of horrible mutilation has me on edge.
Ranger Brad: That's all right Dr. Armstrong. This horrible mutilation has a whole lot of people on a whole lot of edges.

Ranger Brad: I've seen a bear do things, well... even things that even a bear wouldn't do.

Betty Armstrong: I hope the owners don't mind their dishes holding a radioactive meteor.
Dr. Paul Armstrong: Don't eat the meteor by mistake, whatever you do.
[they laugh]
Dr. Paul Armstrong: Seriously, we'll clean the dishes before we go.

[SaintMort]

other great quotes like

"Man I sure hope someone needs a ranger"

or  my favorite line

"I SLEEP NOW!"

[Torgo]

"Climb down these rocks.....like I do!"

[alandhopewell]

     My wife and I both dug it, so much so that we went online to hunt down a VHS copy, for a friend who has no DVD player.

[JPickettIII]

     My wife and I both dug it, so much so that we went online to hunt down a VHS copy, for a friend who has no DVD player.

I would love to own this one.

Later,

John