Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein review.
Horror-comedy took a big step forward 75 years ago with the release of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Its success made the subgenre a viable one still going strong today.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Directed by Charles Barton
Screenplay by Robert Lees, Frederick I. Rinaldo and John Grant
Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi and Glenn Strange
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Review
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was not the first horror comedy. It might be the first important one, however. With the cache of the Universal Monsters at their disposal, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello brought their brand of comedy to the horror realm. The Universal Monster brand had largely run its course by 1948. The Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Invisible Man and The Mummy franchises (and all their crossovers) had (no pun intended to the Mummy) wrapped up. The first three feature in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The latter two would take center stage in future Abbott and Costello movies. The Creature from the Black Lagoon was a few years away from debuting.
While it may not have been first, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein can certainly be credited with helping popularize the subgenre. Horror comedies are some of the most fun films we see released every year. While they would obviously exist without Abbott and Costello…the fact that the comedy is woven into a classic Universal Monsters’ story is a key moment in horror history. It offers a legitimacy that comedians walking around a standard haunted house couldn’t. When you see Jason Voorhees in a comedic scene in Jason Lives or Jason X…he wasn’t the first to do it. The wisecracking characters of Freddy Krueger and Chucky may not take their cues from the usage of the monsters here…but the concept that credible monsters can partake in a comedy set-up dates back to it.
For what it’s worth, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein has a decent Universal Monster plot. It’s not the best…but it is serviceable. Dracula wants to put a new brain into Frankenstein’s Monster so that he can be controlled easier. The Wolf Man is on hand to try and foil his plan with help from the hapless Abbott and Costello. Although the story is mostly a backdrop for the comedy duo’s antics…the movie takes the monsters seriously enough that they escape without being the butt of the jokes. The downside of that is that the movie loses some steam as the plot overtakes the comedy.
That comedy is still funny 75 years later. Not everything hits, of course, but enough does to elicit plenty of chuckles. Costello’s Wilbur gets most of the good lines. He’s a hapless fraidy-cat tasked with delivering precious artifacts. Those artifacts turn out to be Count Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster. Abbott’s Chick is on hand to play straight-man for Costello’s buffoonery. I’m not going to claim that Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is the funniest movie you’ll ever see…but it is impressive how many laughs the duo can still get three-quarters of a century later.
Lon Chaney Jr returns to his role of Lawrence Talbot (The Wolf Man) for his fifth, and final time. Boris Karloff had long since retired the role of Frankenstein’s Monster…he’s played here for the third (and final) time by Glenn Strange. Vincent Price has a brief, funny voice cameo as The Invisible Man at the film’s conclusion. For historical purposes…the most interesting aspect of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein lies in its Count Dracula.
Bela Lugosi returns to the role for only his second (and final) time on screen. 17 years after he kicked off the Universal Monster craze. It’s a fascinating thing to have one more unexpected turn for Lugosi in his most famous role. He’d played the character on stage (and television appearances) both before and after his celluloid bookends…but this is all we ever got from him preserved on film. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was effectively the end of Lugosi’s time as a star. The Ed Wood period would soon follow.
Even if it hadn’t carved out a place in film history as a horror comedy, Lugosi’s involvement would make it a historical curiosity. Returning to an iconic role at the end of his career, marking the end of the classic Universal Monsters just as his first performance heralded their arrival. Abbott and Costello would make a few more crossover horror comedy films utilizing the Universal Monsters brand. The Creature from the Black Lagoon would arrive in the 50s to revitalize the brand…or at least extend it. But Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein marked the end of an era. For some actors who brought the nightmare characters to life and for the original era as a whole.
Scare Value
The risk of turning the Universal Monsters into a comedy film are obvious…but Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein does right by them. It’s not the best monster story in the Universal canon…but it is a perfectly serviceable backdrop for Abbott and Costello’s comedy. Perhaps buoyed by its historical significance more than anything…it’s worth going out of your way to see.
3.5/5
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Links
Rent/Buy on VOD from VUDU and Amazon
Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
