A parody of schlock 1950s sci-fi and horror films, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra should have been funny for 20 or 30 minutes, tops. After all, those films already spoof themselves. But Lost Skeleton has enough clich((eacute))s and delivers laughs most of the way through. Director-writer Larry Blamire shows a distinct affection for those old black-and-white movies all the while capturing the simpleness and ineptitude that made those films. You'll find these great elements in the aliens, pseudo-science, a half woman/half animal in a beatnik cat suit and a mutant that looks as if it tripped in glue and then ran through a fabric store's odds-and-ends sale. And an imposing skeleton searching for "atmospheria".

As for the plot, well it is pretty much secondary, but a Scientist heads out with his wife to chase a meteor that has crashed, which is really an alien spaceship which had the powerful element "atmospheria" which is being sought after by a mad scientist and a cat woman. And there's a 'scary' skeleton too.

The movie sags a bit in the middle but there is enough here to keep you chuckling and you might even manage a few guffaws if you have a funny bone in your body (skeleton-bone....*sigh*).

The Skid Row florist shop of Mr. Mushnick is run by the nerdish Seymour (Moranis - not really stretching the typecasting) and the unfortunate Audrey (Greene), who tends to attract the wrong kind of man - most recently, Orin Scrivello (Martin), a dentist who enjoys his work a little too much. The shop is saved from financial ruin when Seymour discovers a strange and interesting plant which he names Audrey II. But Seymour hasn't reckoned on the kind of feeding Audrey II requires - ever-increasing doses of blood-

Only an insane man would mate this grisly tale to music by guys who wrote the scores to three Disney movies (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin), and have it directed by the guy who was Yoda, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. Which just goes to show that, every so often, insanity works. Because this is a big, jumping jolt of fun. If you want to feel deep about it, you can say it's a variation on the Faust myth, a commentary on how a person will sell their soul for success - but if you're feeling deep about this movie, then you're missing the point. If for nothing else, see this for Bill Murray's cameo, in one of the funniest dental appointments ever committed to celluloid.