Showing posts with label Larry Blamire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Larry Blamire. Show all posts

Friday, January 10, 2014

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001)

From wpclipart.com
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra satirizes the 1950's monster, science fiction, B-movies. The film is independent, low-budget, and originally shot in color and transformed to black and white after production to be in sync with 50's films.

The mad scientist with the insane laugh is portrayed by Brian Howe as the character Dr. Roger Fleming. His imitation of the prototypical mad scientist laugh is very good. The mad scientist character is a concept of the 1920's movie era. His goal is to find the lost skeleton so he can become powerful.

 Larry Blamire plays Dr. Paul Armstrong; he goes into the mountains hunting the scare element called atmosphereum. The doctor correctly thinks that it is in a fallen meteorite. He and his wife Betty played by Fay Masterson epitomize couples of the era as shown in movies.

Further into the movie, Betty does a swoon and is carried away by the monster. This is hyperbole in step with the fainting heroine confronted with a scary or distressing buildup in the plot.

This overstatement of the feminine response to fright or shock was a standard device of the 1950's monster movie plot. The young and pretty heroine strategically drops into the monster's arms, and he carries her away. Movie posters often depicted this image. Today, this device is only seen in spoofs.

The two aliens played by Susan McConnell as Lattis and Andrew Parks as Kro-bar land on earth and need to find (you guessed it) atmosphereum to power their spaceship. They use their transmutatron to look like an earth couple; it basically just changes their clothes. They don't understand earth customs like shaking hands or how to eat. Ditto for 1950's American earth lingo. These misunderstandings create comic effects.

Dr. Fleming watches as the aliens transform themselves and gets the contraption when they leave it behind believing it will be there upon their return. He uses it to change some woods animals into a woman he calls Animala portrayed by Jennifer Blaire. She becomes his "wife."

First, the alien couple go to the cabin to get the atmosphereum. The Armstrongs think the aliens are the landlords that they have never seen before. A funny verbal and body language scene occurs.

Then Dr. Fleming shows up with Animala. She is dressed like a female beatnik and has animal characteristics such as sniffing things, growling, and hunting for crumbs. The two couples spend the night, though the hospitality of the Armstrongs has become tepid. They think the other two couples are very odd.

During the evening, the ranger played by Dan Conroy comes to warn them of the mysterious slaying of a local farmer. The next morning, Animala does a flirtatious dance beatnik style and brings Dr. Armstrong to the skeleton that has been revived with the atmosphereum given to it by Dr. Fleming. The doctor and Animala become typical slaves of the evil skeleton.

But all ends well with the alien and earth couple becoming fast friends and the bad guys losing, and Animala being changed back to animals.

This Larry Blamire spoof is rated 7 out of 10 at IMDb.

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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Dark and Stormy Night: Horror Comedy: Larry Blamire

By netalloy at clker.com
 Edward Bulwer-Lytton coined the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night" to begin his novel entitled Paul Clifford. It is reasoned as melodramatic and called purple prose. But the idea has flourished in movies from the 1920's and 1930's and made a come back in 2009.

A Dark and Stormy Night is a film by Larry Blamire. His works are modern flicks that attack the wonderful old cliche ideas, and brings the fun of them to the big screen again. He will be known as a cult filmmaker.

This film reworks the classic reading of the will in a scary old house during a stormy night concept. It parodies the typical 1930's film of this genre. It is done in black and white just like the older films. It has the who-done-it aspect going as a psycho killer lurks the premises.

By OCAl at clker.com
A couple of reporters turn up saying their cars broke down. They are fast talkers like their counterparts of the 1930's.  The deceased, Sinus Cavender, is said to be returning from the grave after 30 years. No comment about the name. Ha. Ha. Upon reading the will the lights are extinguished, and the attorney is stabbed and the will is gone.

Sabasha Fanmore gets the estate, but she disappears and a maniac wearing a hood begins to attack the other heirs. A doctor arrives warning that a murderer is missing from the asylum. 

These are some of the cliches represented in the film.
  • stormy night
  • old house
  • return from grave predicted
  • mysterious killer
  • nearby asylum
  • reporters
  • hooded figure
  • people in house hunting for killer
  • people disappearing
 A cult movie fan couldn't ask for more.



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