Then we discovered that we weren't alone, unless you were referring to girls. There were film geeks all over this great country of ours who began to stand up and make themselves known. Improv groups performed dialogue and commentary for bad movies, most notably horror and science fiction from the '50s and '60s. These films were given their own genre designation: Grade Z. Ed Wood is the most famous Grade-Z filmmaker, thanks in part to Tim Burton's biographical film, but hard-core aficionados were well aware of Ed's work before 1994. He had made Plan 9 from Outer Space, a legend in filmmaking incompetence. Some geniuses took the concept of making fun of bad movies and brought it to a larger audience with the long-running, cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

And now the next phase of that evolution has now taken place. No longer satisfied with being a viewer, Larry Blamire and his talented crew have become participants, making The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, filmed in Skeletorama, The New Screen Wonder Of The Age! The filmmakers want you to believe that it is a recently recovered Grade-Z sci-fi movie, and it might as well be because the outcome is very funny, capturing the awful moments and horrible cliches of the genre. I haven't laughed so hard and so often at a comedy in quite a while. This isn't a parody where the actors give you that knowing wink, letting you know that they're so smart and in on the joke. This talented ensemble plays it straight. There are some brilliant editing choices where the scenes are cut a beat too late. The music choices are very well chosen. The special effects that bring the Lost Skeleton to life are absolutely hysterical. A special mention goes to Blamire who performs a tour de force as actor, director and screenwriter.

The movie starts out with Dr. Armstrong and his wife as they go out into woods to locate a meteor made out of atmosphereum, a powerful source of energy. Two aliens from the planet Marva have landed on Earth and are out of power. They need a powerful source of energy to help them return to their home planet so they too search for the atmosphereum. Unfortunately, their pet, a mutant, has escaped the ship and is terrorizing the countryside. Meanwhile, an evil scientist, Dr Fleming, is trying to find the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra in an effort to bring it back to life so they can rule the world together. The skeleton has great mental powers and commands Dr Fleming to locate the atmosphereum because its power can bring the skeleton to life. To assist him in this evil plot, Dr. Fleming uses the aliens' transmutatron on four woodland creatures, turning them into his trusted ally, a woman he names "Animala." That's all I will reveal because the film is such a treat to watch unfold.