A new element, Jerranium 90, has been discovered in the Amazon, and the government wants Dr. Paul Armstrong (writer/director Larry Blamire) to go into the jungle and get it for them. Joined by his wife Betty (Fay Masterson), government agent Reet Pappin (Frank Dietz), guide Jungle Brad (Dan Conroy) and Peter Fleming (Brian Howe), the twin brother of the late Dr. Peter Fleming and who just so happens to be carrying the skull of the brain-controlling Lost Skeleton of Cadavra himself!

CRITIQUE

The deal here is pretty simple. If you were one of those (like me) who got a serious kick out of Larry Blamire’s The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra back in 2004 then you’ll probably get nearly as big a kick out of this sequel, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again. With tongue firmly planted in cheek this monster-mash comedy can be a lot of fun, especially during its wildly silly third act when the team of adventurers ventures into the land of the Cantaloupe People and meets their yearning to learn about the double-negative queen Chinfa (Alison Martin).

But as much as a loved the crazy monster suits (the final one is pretty awesome), as frequently as the talking skull of Cadavra continued to crack me up or as many times as the recently made human Animala (Jennifer Blaire) made me smile I can’t say I had quite as good a time with this second time around wandering around the jungle with Armstrong and company. It kind of took forever for this sequel to get going, and even at a brisk 92-minutes the opening half hour is a little bit difficult to make it through.

Still, I had a good time watching The Lost Skeleton Returns Again. Much like the original, I doubt it is a picture I’ll ever return to again on my own but if it were to show up on cable television or if a friend came over and wanted to slip it into the DVD player I certainly wouldn’t leave the room. Blamire shows a real knack for concocting this 1950’s-style send-ups, and I promise that if he keeps making them I’ll keep putting them in the DVD player in order to give them a look.

THE VIDEO

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again is presented in 2.35:1 Widescreen and is shot in both color and B&W. The transfer is very solid and clean, the color portion in particular looking quite nice as played on my Samsung Blu-ray player.

THE AUDIO

The DVD comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. There are no subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There are two extras, a jovial and fun audio commentary featuring members of the cast and crew and a rather brief and all-too ordinary behind-the-scenes featurette.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again isn’t going to win any awards and it isn’t going to be on anyone’s list of the greatest cinematic achievements of all-time. But it is a lot of fun if a person is in the right mood, and for fans of The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra this is one sequel definitely worth putting in the Netflix queue and giving a look.