The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (2010)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

The greatest movie ever made..!

Good idea lost in the noise

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL No, I'm not trying to take any of the credit for this film...Just making a reference to my review of ALIEN TRESPASS. My calling card, so to speak, on this sub-genre. Some of the things mentioned there do apply here, so I'll make an effort to focus on the elements that make RETURNS AGAIN different.First, let me specify, 7 3/4 Stars, to be precise. From the same group of 50's low-budget Sci-Fi aficionados who brought us the definitive genre benchmark: LOST SKELETON OF CADAVERA. Seeing the original first will probably enhance your enjoyment of this commendable second offering, but by no means is indispensable. For anyone out there really to savor this one, to fully appreciate the subtleties (or intentional lack thereof) of every deadpan line in every scene, you must be among those of us who couldn't get enough of the schlocky 50's/early 60's originals! That having been said, RETURNS AGAIN does begin to wear thin at times. The redundant title foreshadows what we all have seen time and again: Excessive reliance on recycling bits from the original. However, there were enough cleverly conceived and well-executed new nuggets to make it well worth your while and provide you with quite an entertaining 90 minutes...8*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA! Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

I loved the Skeleton of Cadavra, and this sequel is just as good. Once again, the movie lovingly plays tribute to terrible old movies, with awful dialog, perplexing cutting, inappropriate reactions, terrible special effects, and non-sequitors galore. A cast of talented actors beautifully recreates talentless acting. I especially liked Mrs. Armstrong, whose peculiar reactions and weird sunniness are outrageously funny.If I must criticize the movie, I would say that it's a little less funny towards the end. The funniest scene involving the hilarious repetition of the word "slowly" left me breathless with laughter, and as good as the rest of the movie is, little of it is as funny as that scene.All the same, this movie is amazing.

When we last saw the titular bony nemesis of Larry Blamire's very funny horror spoof "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" (2004), he was lying at the bottom of a ravine, busted to bits after a fierce duke-out with the Marvan mutant. Fortunately, for fans of needless sequels, the bony one's skull apparently survived the brawl, and so is able to cause even more mischief in 2009's "The Lost Skeleton Returns Again." Also reprising roles from the original film is writer/director Blamire himself as scientist guy Paul Armstrong, as well as Fay Masterson as his loyal wife Betty; Susan McConnell and Andrew Parks as the Marvan aliens Lattis and Kro-Bar; Jennifer Blaire as the reanimated, sexy animal girl Animala; and Dan Conroy and Brian Howe, playing twin brothers (!) of characters in the first film. Whereas that original picture had been a spot-on satire of such beloved but awful horror films as "Plan 9..." and especially "Robot Monster"--even going so far as to film much of its footage in Bronson Canyon--"Returns Again" is more a spoof of the '50s jungle safari picture. Here, two teams race through the Amazon to find the superrare mineral Jerranium-90, guarded by the Cantaloupe People in the Valley of the Monsters. The sequel ups the ante of the first film with three times the monstrous creations (I love that Magraclops!), a larger cast and, in its latter half, a switch to color film! Shot on the cheap, the picture nevertheless boasts some impressive FX, such as that forced-perspective shot of the Cantaloupes' temple. The film is also a lot sillier than the first, if possible, but is often quite funny. The performers seem to be having a great time on camera, and do not play it quite as "straight" as in the first picture. And just wait till you see Alison Martin--who plays Chinfa, the Queen of the Cantaloupe People--make her speeches and wrap her mind around the concept of the double negative! Funny stuff, indeed. Bottom line: If you enjoyed "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra," you should have a good time with this one. The ingestion of several cocktails before venturing in is strongly advised....

Oh wait, he was cranky to start with.I shouldn't have to even mention basic rule of thumb for sequels; they stink, with the occasional exception. I'm happy to report that this is one of those exceptions. Counting myself as a fan of THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA, I give this follow-up my seal of approval - a huge relief as I was braced for the worst, knowing the Sequel Rule and all.The prior film covered a raft of 50's-to-early 60's SF B-movie sub-genres: crashed meteor/Ed-Woodish aliens/rampaging mutant/cat-woman/haunted skull. THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN picks up most all of that and rolls it in a cheesy (of course deliberately so) jungle adventure, harking to movies like LOST CONTINENT (1951) or THE LOST WORLD (1960) or THE LOST _(insert noun here)_. A host of time honored jungle movie clichés are subjected to a Blamiring they shall not soon forget.All of the cast and nearly all of the characters from TLSOC characters show up in TLSRA, which is a bit of a trick as a couple of them were killed off in the last picture. This seeming non sequitur is explained away in the finest tradition of cheesy film making, and it's on with the show.Like TLSOC, there is a broad range of humor going on with appeal to all ages; from visual gags to genre in-jokes. Thus providing grown-ups with stuff to quote and kids with hijinks to giggle at.The standard question when it comes to sequels goes something like "does it work if you haven't seen the previous film?" I'm disqualified to answer in this case, but my money is on 'yes'. There's enough continuity and in-jokes to make persnickety fans happy, but not so much that it would put off first timers - as far as I can tell. But as usual, seeing the previous film first is a plus.Larry Blamire movies tend to result in either a love-or-hate state. Like most cult movies, it seems you're either a fan of TLSOC who never tires of watching it and quote it in your sleep, or you're one of those who doesn't like it. Bottom line, if you didn't care for the first movie, this one isn't going to make you any happier. But the many fans of THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA will get along just fine with THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN.