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10th May '12 11:51:00 PM erforce

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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lost_skeleton_6561.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I sleep now."'']] 
->'''Dr. Fleming:''' Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a skeleton to bring to life!
->'''Skeleton:''' (in a distant cave) THAT WOULD BE ME.

A 2001 AffectionateParody of campy 1950s {{B Movie}}s, complete with nonsensical plot, stilted acting and cheap SpecialEffects. Directed by, written by and starring Larry Blamire, who has completed a sequel, ''The Lost Skeleton Returns Again'', which was released on DVD in August, 2010.

The plot revolves around Dr. Paul Armstrong (a man OF SCIENCE), [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Dr.]] Roger Fleming (a man OF EVIL), and Kro-Bar and Lattis (aliens FROM OUTER SPACE), all of whom wish to acquire the rare radioactive element "[[{{Unobtainium}} atmosphereum]]" for various reasons: [[ForScience to do science,]] to revive a [[DemBones mysterious lost skeleton]] and to [[AppliedPhlebotinum power their spaceship,]] respectively. A mutant (WHO KILLS FOR KICKS!) and a [[PettingZooPeople petting zoo person]] factor in here somehow also.
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This movie provides examples of:

* AgentScully: Dr. Fleming is a scientist; he doesn't believe in ''anything''.
* AffectionateParody
* AliensSpeakingEnglish
* BadBadActing: Everyone. Dan Conroy, the actor who played Ranger Brad, plays his character as though he were [[CastTheExpert an actual park ranger who got talked into playing a role in the movie]] because he had his own costume.
* BadBoss: The Skeleton.
* BeastAndBeauty / MarsNeedsWomen: The Mutant is smitten by Betty. The Skeleton decides to marry Lattis.
* BetweenMyLegs: A bizarre and very brief example, when Betty has to ShowSomeLeg.
* BigNo: Twice. First, from Lattis when the Skeleton decides to marry her. Second, from the Skeleton himself upon defeat.
* BiologicalMashup: Animala is a person-shaped mashup of four different animals. At the end, these are revealed to be a fox, two ferrets, and a squirrel.
* {{Brainwashed}}: The Skeleton, Animala and the aliens can all do this to people.
* CallARabbitASmeerp: Used inconsistently. Cranberries on the planet Marva are "cranberroids", cherries are "linbooba", but grapes are just grapes.
* CatchPhrase: Seems like it's a day for Catch Phrases! Oh well.
* ClusterFBomb: Not in the film's final cut, but the actor in the Mutant costume swore up a storm during his fight with the skeleton.
* CompellingVoice: The Skeleton, used on Kro-Bar.
* ContemplateOurNavels: After their HeelFaceTurn, Kro-Bar and Lattis invite the Armstrongs over for dinner, and discuss the differences between Earth and the planet Marva, even though a mutant (WHO KILLS FOR KICKS) and an evil skeleton are running around.
* DeadpanSnarker: The Skeleton.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome
* DemBones
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: As sayeth the Skeleton: "Bring me to life and together we shall rule the world together!"
* EasilyForgiven: The Mutant
* TheEndOrIsit: Parodied.
-->THE END? [[spoiler:OR IS IT? ISN'T IT MORE LIKE A KIND OF BEGINNING IN A WAY? LIKE A NEW BEGINNING? FOR EVERYONE? HM... I WONDER... OH WELL.]]
* EverythingsWorseWithBears: "I've seen bears do things that even a bear wouldn't do."
* EvilLaugh: Dr Fleming, when he finds the Skeleton. Also an OverlyLongGag.
* TheFifties
* FightingFromTheInside: Kro-Bar against the Skeleton's CompellingVoice... though not very effectively.
* [[ForScience For SCIENCE!]]: Paul's motivation in locating the atmosphereum.
* ForTheEvulz: Dr. Fleming never gives any reason at all for wanting to resurrect the Lost Skeleton, so this trope seems to be his only motivation.
* GoshDangItToHeck
--->'''Dr. Paul Armstrong:''' Now for the love of Mike, will someone please explain what the heck is going on here?
* GreenRocks: That rarest of all metals, atmosphereum, which can do such things as fuel spaceships and bring magical skeletons back to life.
* HughMann
* HumanAliens: Kro-Bar and Lattis.
* LargeHam: Andrew Parks decided to play Kro-Bar as though he thought it was the role of a lifetime. There's also a lot of [[PlanNineFromOuterSpace Eros]] in there.
* LittleBitBeastly: Animala.
* MsFanservice: Animala. Rowr.
** AuthorAppeal: That's the director's wife. That lucky bastard.
* PeopleInRubberSuits: The mutant.
* PeopleJars: Averted by the ethical principles of Science!
--> '''Skeleton:''' You must find the atmosphereum.
--> '''Animala:''' Amish Terrarium. Must find Amish terrarium.
--> '''Dr. Paul Armstrong:''' I don't understand. Why does she need an Amish terrarium?
--> '''Betty Armstrong:''' Don't the Amish live in open air, like us?
--> '''Dr. Paul Armstrong:''' Of course, Betty, it's absurd. Putting the Amish in glass cases would be inhumane. 
* {{Retraux}}: Made to look like a movie from the 1950s.
* SayMyName: "Paul? Paul? Paul!? PAUL!?!"
* ScreamingWoman
* ShapedLikeItself: Everyone talks like this:
--> '''Dr. Armstrong:''' Do you realize what this meteor could mean to science? If we find it, and it's real, it could mean a lot. It could mean actual advances in the field of science.
* SpaceClothes. And SpockSpeak.
* StylisticSuck: [[YourMileageMayVary Almost too good of a job, really...]] Somewhere in the padding, bad acting, and overly long shots, it's easy to lose interest.
* SueDonym: Nearly half the cast takes on a pseudonym at one point. Dr. Roger Fleming becomes Rudolph Jaber (even though he doesn't need to), Animala becomes Pammy Jaber (even though she's just been named "Animala" simultaneously, and it would have been easier just to name her "Pammy"), Kro-Bar becomes Bammin Taylor, and Lattis becomes Turgaso Taylor.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
--> '''Kro-Bar''': Aliens? Us? Is this one of your Earth jokes?
--> '''Fleming''': See? See?
--> '''Lattis''': You should not have said "Earth jokes." Don't you see how that gave us away?
**  '''Kro-Bar''': I'm sorry, my wife sometimes forgets that she is ''not'' a space alien. 
* TemptingFate: Ranger Brad, who gets killed moments after warning everyone about the horribly mutilated farmer that had been found earlier.
-->'''Ranger Brad''': Say, I must be crazy walking around in these woods at night with a horrible mutilation practically around the corner. Oh well.
* VeryFalseAdvertising: The trailer.
-->Years in the making -- on the world's most spectacular locations! A cast of thousands! A cost of millions!
** Well, the locations part wasn't totally off. Bronson Canyon is a pretty well-known place...to movie buffs. Hell, most of the film's budget went to getting the rights to film there.
* WeirdnessCensor: Applies in the Armstrong's first interactions with the aliens and Animala.
** To wit, Paul refers to their guests as "odd ducks," after witnessing actions that would have most people calling for the police within seconds.

!!The Lost Skeleton Returns Again

* ConfusingMultipleNegatives
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The first part of the movie, as if only a black and white print could be found.
* DemBones: The Skeleton is now only a skull, much to his annoyance. He can levitate however.
* {{Department of Redundancy Department}}: The title.
* DrowningMySorrows: Armstrong is now disillusioned with Science after a colleague took credit for the discovery of a new metal and named it after himself (Armstrong had planned to name it after ''himself!'')
* EconomyCast: The Cantaloupe Tribe, all three of them. When you can see them at all (they're very good at hiding).
* [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Everything's Better With Trilobites]]
* EvilChancellor: Averted, although the character of Bentivegitantus was made to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to this trope.
* EvilTwin: Averted in Peter Fleming's case. He's good, and hoping to clear the name of his villainous brother Roger, but the Skeleton is controlling him too.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
-->'''Bartender:''' Si, I know a gringo. We call him...the Man in the Corner. ''(indicates man sitting in the corner of the bar)''
* FlyingSaucer: Kro-Bar and Lattis upgrade from their previous rocketship.
* GreenRocks: This time it's Jerranium 90.
* HawaiianShirtedTourist: Kro-Bar's attempt at 'normal' human dress in the jungle.
** Which, being that it's Kro-Bar, this is the most normal part of his disguise.
* [[IdenticalGrandson Identical Brother]]: As well as Peter Fleming, they also encounter Ranger Brad's twin brother, Jungle Brad.
-->'''Paul:''' Wait, you're twins, and you're both named Brad?
-->'''Jungle Brad:''' We have different last names.
* ItsTheJourneyThatCounts: Subverted, since it turns out that [[spoiler: Animala had the Jerranium 90 all along]].
* JawsFirstPersonPerspective: We get to see a monster sneak up and attack Jungle Brad, the same way the mutant snuck up on Ranger Brad. He even shrieks the exact same way. [[spoiler:In a massive subversion, Jungle Brad is not only perfectly unharmed, but he was able to correctly identify the creature and warn people NOT to act like he did, or they'll get killed.]]
* JungleJapes
* MacGuffin: The Dalp of Anacrab.
* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:The Skeleton charges towards the Cantaloupe Monster declaring this will be "THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY!" only to be instantly crushed. Likewise Chinfa's dance is built up as something flamboyant, but it consists of tiny hip twitches.]]
* NiceHat: The Cantaloupe People. Guess what they wear on their heads.
* OverlyLongGag: 
** The "show me your card ''slowwwwwly''" scene.
** Lattis and Cro-bar mourning. Eventually the cast joins them.
** Chinfa's failure to understand double negatives.
** Bentivegitantus' speech.
-->'''Bentivegitantus''': But my Queen, was it not foretold in the Time of the Coming of the Other Ones, when the… The thing with the… That other thing came to pass… When it was… Lo, heed the warnings, that the Outsiders, lest they… When they come to… And it is! Lo! Seize them! That they… I swear, when the moon has… Infidels! For was it not the great… Are you heedless of the power of the… Behold! It is the… A wrath upon you all, that the… Mighty is the… For it is… Know this! By the time the… For it is written that… Dare you violate… The forbidden… Parts!? I have spoken.
--> '''Chinfa''': Your words are well chosen, Bentivegitantus.
* PeopleInRubberSuits: Two this time. The gralmanopidon and the dreaded Magraclop.
* ThePollyanna: Betty
* {{Retraux}}: Meant to look like a studio BMovie of TheSixties, as opposed to the independent cheapy-look of ''Cadavra''.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Peter Fleming, now free of the skull's influence, saves Lattis from a ManEatingPlant but is fatally injured.]]
* WeirdnessCensor: ''Still'' in place for the Armstrongs, who recognize Animala, but as "Pammy," and think Peter Fleming is "Rudolf Yaber," not the evil Dr. Roger Fleming who used that as his SueDonym.
* YouLookFamiliar: All the actors from the first movie turn up again.

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Oh well.

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21st Apr '12 6:10:22 AM TheOneWhoTropes

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Endorsing digital piracy. Link was to megavideo. Bad troper, don't do it again.

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21st Apr '12 6:09:21 AM TheOneWhoTropes

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30th Mar '12 8:14:48 AM 32_Footsteps