15TH ANNUAL SCARE-A-THON – PART 4 – THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN (2009)
The fourth and final film of the Scare-a-thon was another film directed by Larry Blamire and a sequel to the previous film in our Scare-a-thon, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. The Lost Skeleton Returns Again brings back many of the characters from the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, but instead of a parody of the 50’s b&w sci-fi cheapies, it is more of a satire of the low-budget jungle serials of the 30’s and 40’s.
The Army has sent Reet Pappin (Dietz) to Betty Armstrong (Masterson) to help them find Professor Paul Armstrong (Blamire) who has been lost in the Amazon for two years searching for Jerranium 90, a ” little rock that made all the papers”. Meanwhile, the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra’s skull has awakened to command Peter Fleming, the “good twin” brother of Dr. Roger Fleming. The skull forces Peter to the Amazon’s “Valley of The Monsters” to retrieve the Delph of Anicram that can restore his skeleton. The Armstrongs, Pappin and Fleming, who disguises the skull as an umbrella holder, join together. A crooked importer Handscomb Draile, slimy Gondreau Slykes, cheap crook Carl Traeger and evil scientist Dr. Ellamy Royne also search the Amazom for the rock and are joined by the aliens from Manerva, Lattis (McConnell) and Kro-Bar (Parks), who have returned to Earth in an attempt to help their friends Paul and Betty from the dangers they will soon find themselves in. The divergent parties soon converge in the dreaded Valley of the Monsters, and meet the ancient race known as the Cantaloupe People, who are led by their haughty queen, Chinfa (Matin). Will the Armstongs be able to defeat the monstrous Magraclop that guards the Delph of Anicram and find the hidden Jerranium 90 before evil Dr. Royne? And how the heck does Anmailia (Blaire) find herself in the Amazon and in the middle of these meddlesome people? You’ll have to watch The Lost Skeleton Returns to find those answers out for yourself!
Larry Blamire’s budget was evidently larger on this project than its predecessor, because he fills this sequel with even more bizarre and wonderful characters than the first film. Just like some of the films of the late 30’s, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again begins in black and white, but when everyone arrives in the Valley of the Monsters, the film is in full “SuperSkeletoRama” color. Like many film sequels, this one doesn’t have some of the innocent magic of the original. However, it does make up for it with even more cheesy dialogue, stiff acting, cheap effects and goofy monsters. The Lost Skeleton Returns Again is a fun way to spend 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon and I highly recommend it.
I will have to watch this and the previous outing, I just read that a Third is in the works, Lost Skeleton Walks Among Us
ReplyDeleteIf you like parody and satire in its purist form, you can’t do much better than Larry Blamire’s films! Thanks for the “heads up” on The Lost Skeleton Walks Among Us. After what happened to the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra in The Lost Skeleton Returns Again, I can’t imagine how Larry will bring back the boney badass for the third installment. I checked out the Bantam Street blog and found the information regarding The Lost Skeleton Walks Among Us, which I’ll post soon.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Blamire films: I desperately want to see Trail of the Screaming Forehead which is Larry’s “tribute” to the alien invasion B-movies of the 1950’s, starring most of the cast of his Skeleton films. From what I’ve learned second-hand from members of Larry’s Yahoo Group that the film is owned by IFC and that they were supposed to be releasing TotSF on DVD in the spring of 2010, but I have not seen it. Another Yahoo Group member said that IFC would be broadcasting TotSF on October 29th and 30th, but if they did I missed it.