Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The premise should be well known by now:

Despite some lapses in continuity most all the Classic Universal Monster stories we’ve seen are meant to be real; Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and the Wolf Man have survived their (mis)adventures to modern times, and are, for the most part, none worse for the wear.

Attempting to stop Dracula from some nefarious plan, Larry Talbot (aka the Wolf Man) has followed him around the world and contacts a baggage office warning them that they in fact have received two undead bodies rather than the wax figures they were expecting.

Tasked with unpackaging and delivering the shipment to McDougal’s House of Horrors, Chick Young and Wilbur Grey (Bud Abbot and Lou Costello) unknowingly allow Dracula to escape taking Frankenstein’s Monster with him, with the resulting insurance claim being investigated by an attractive young woman (Jane Randolph) who pretends an interest in Wilbur to Chic’s surprised and jealous dismay.

Not only has the investigator shown an interest in Wilbur and ignored Chic, but so has Dracula’s Florida contact (Lenore Aubert,) a darker beauty who has also faked romantic interest in Wilbur because she sees him as the perfect brain donor for Frankenstein’s Monster.

Widely considered one of the best Horror Comedies, at least of the age of the Silver Screen, it's helped much in that even while it dilutes its monsters it doesn’t really make clowns out of them.

Dracula (Bela Lugosi), even while he vampirizes one girl, is not truly, or fully, doing his thing. Instead of an undead worldly takeover, he is for some reason interested in pursuing dr. Frankenstein’s experiments. The script never truly clarifies what it is he exactly intends to do with the Monster even with a new brain.

Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange) is so weakened he is barely a threat. Obviously, he is still a dangerous hulk, but he is mostly used as a henchman. Even despite some glimpses of his innocence or unworldliness, he is barely a character.

Best served is Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) who remains faithful to his tragic human character and is even allowed to show some of his angry and violent side, (in spite being the ‘good guy’ at heart, he is the scariest and single most menacing character); but when in wolf form is slow, incredibly clumsy and is made a fool of in spite of which his scenes provide the film’s most horrific sequences.

I suppose one should be somewhat familiar with the established dynamic between Bud and Lou’s onscreen personae (both of whom are at the top of their game) to fully appreciate what happens here with Lou tremendously enjoying all the female attention in addition to his partner’s frustration (little does he know what dark fate awaits him,) but it’s not completely necessary.

It might also help to be familiar with Universal Studios’ Classic Horror output, but I suspect its cultural influence has had an effect even on the youngest of kids today.

The cast is amazing, the pacing is good; the jokes work; the monsters are suitably menacing and (for the most part) treated respectfully; the ladies are attractive; the script’s McGuffin doesn’t really make any sense, but it allows for enough suspense and comedic set pieces to fill the film’s length; the budget permits excellent sets, even when the lab is not quite what we got before from and rather than actual Kenneth Strickfaden pyrotechnics it relies on animation.

Also with Vincent Price as the voice of the Invisible Man

Arguably the best Abbot and Costello feature film, truly a classic Horror Comedy, and essential Halloween fare for any self-respecting Monster Kid.