For those who don’t know, Abbott and Costello were one of the funniest comedy duos of classic Hollywood; the forties’ equivalent to Laurel and Hardy. Lou Costello was the chubby, short, ‘funny man’ while Bud Abbott was the thin, taller, ‘straight man.’ Their comedy style involved a combination of fast-paced word-play (including their famous “Who’s On First” routine), broad slapstick, and the contrast between Abbott’s mild bullying and Costello’s childishness.
By 1949, however, their films were beginning to make less and less money. At the same time, the Universal Horror series had likewise begun to falter as after a pair of “all-star” films (House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein) there didn’t seem to be anywhere for them to go. At this point, someone at Universal had the insane, yet brilliant idea to combine the two series’ and, amazingly, inexplicably, it worked!
The plot: Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) makes a desperate call from London to a baggage-check room in Florida. He’s answered by Wibur Grey (Lou Costello) and tries to warn him not to deliver a certain pair of packages until he can get there, but before he can explain properly the full moon rises and he transforms into the Wolf-Man (“You’re awfully silly to call all the way from London just to have your dog talk to me!”). Back in Florida, Wilbur and his partner Chick Young (Bud Abbott) deliver two large crates to McDougal’s House of Horrors. During the delivery, Wilbur witnesses Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) rising from the crates and vanishing into the night. When McDougal (Frank Ferguson) finds his prize exhibits missing, he throws the pair in jail, from which they’re bailed out by a beautiful insurance investigator named Joan Raymond (Jane Randolph) who intends to seduce Wilbur into leading her to the missing exhibits.
Meanwhile, Dracula is planning to revive the Frankenstein Monster to be his servant, but in order to avoid the mistake of Dr. Frankenstein he intends to use the simplest, meekest brain he can find. Three guesses whom he has in mind. To that end he’s working with Sandra (Lenore Aubert), who’s dating Wilbur (Chick, of course, can’t understand what all these beautiful dames see in Wilbur).
Talbot makes contact with Wilbur and Chick and tries to convince them to help him destroy Dracula. Of course, Chick doesn’t believe him and Wilbur is too scared. From then on the boys are caught in the middle of all the different parties.
Horror comedy, as I’ve noted before, is a famously tricky genre to do well. Indeed, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein may be the first successful attempt at it. Not only that, but it remains one of the best examples of the genre.
The key thing is that the monsters themselves are pretty much played straight: Dracula is recognizably Dracula, Talbot is still Talbot, etc. Part of the reason that this works is that the horror characters react to the duo pretty much exactly as they should: by clearly being amazed that anyone could be so stupid. Talbot in particular loses his temper with Wilbur at least twice. The effect is literally as though Bud and Lou simply wandered into a horror film and the horror characters don’t know what to make of them, while the comedy duo are unprepared for the fact that they’re genuinely in danger.
This dynamic pays off in a number of clever scenes that work equally well as horror and comedy set pieces, such as a bit where Wilbur wanders around Talbot’s apartment while the Wolf-Man stalks him.
Scene for scene, it’s probably more of a comedy than a horror film, and the comedy is hilarious: Bud and Lou are in top form, with rapid-fire dialogue and note-perfect slapstick. Here are some of their funniest set-pieces, like the ‘moving candle’ bit recycled from the earlier Hold that Ghost (but still funny), or the bit where Wilbur ends up unwittingly sitting on the comatose Monster’s lap.
At the same time, there’re some unambiguously creepy scenes, such as when Dracula decides to take a more direct route with Sandra, or when Talbot suddenly stops freeing Wilbur because he notices the full moon outside (“What's the matter? Is someone else coming after me?”). I also need to make note of the spectacular special effects on the Dracula-bat transformations, which are simply superb and render Dracula more active and convincingly powerful than ever (one startling scene has him meeting Wibur in the woods, transforming into a bat to chase him down and subdue him, then turning back into himself to hypnotise Chick all in the space of about a minute).
As noted, Bud and Lou are in top form here. Most of the rest of the cast is no more than adequate. Lenore Aubert makes a sinister femme fatale, while Frank Ferguson has some funny moments as the blustering Mr. McDougal, but other than that the supporting cast doesn’t make much impression (though there’s also a surprise cameo by none-other than Vincent Price reprising his own first horror role). Glenn Strange as the Monster pretty much just has to walk around stiffly, as this Monster lacks a fully-functioning brain (he does get a couple of good scenes opposite Lou, however).
Chaney and Lugosi, meanwhile, don’t seem to be trying as hard as usual, though they still play their iconic roles professionally. Chaney can do the ‘tragic loner’ act in his sleep, and here he projects a real sense of long-suffering and weariness at his curse. The impression is that hunting Dracula is pretty much his only purpose for living now, and he pursues his goal with a palpable single-mindedness (his impatience with Wilbur’s jokes is also a nice touch).
Lugosi, meanwhile, is a lot more lively (ironically enough) than he was in Dracula, but that can easily be accounted for by his having been more ‘in the world’ in the meantime. This was only the second and last time Lugosi assailed his most famous role on screen, but he inhabits the role as though he had only just played it yesterday. Lugosi’s Dracula is still as formidable, cunning, and convincingly dangerous as ever, and it’s actually somewhat touching to see him take the role one last time.
And it is the last time: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is generally considered the last of the classic Universal Horror films; the end of the story for Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Frankenstein Monster. These characters (and others) had a very long and winding road, but it’s a road that ends here. It’s a fitting climax: Dracula and the Wolf Man have their final showdown and the Monster meets his end, once again, in fire. We’ve come full circle.
So it’s doubly fitting that Lugosi should be here as Dracula: the actor and the role that began the series is here once again to see it end.
But enough sadness and introspection. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is ideal Halloween viewing: compact, scary, atmospheric, and side-splittingly hilarious. It’s simply a good time all around.
Final Rating: 4.5/5 Highly recommended to horror fans, comedy fans, and people in general.
Memorable Quotes :
Chick: “You know people pay McDougal to come in here and get scared?”
Wilbur: “I’m cheatin’ him; I’m getting scared for nothing!”
Wilbur: “You know that person you said there was no such person? I think he’s in there – in person.”
Chick: “You’re making enough noise to wake up the dead!”
Wilbur (pointing at Dracula’s coffin): “I don’t have to wake him up; he’s up!”
Chick (about Wilbur): “I’d like to know what he’s got that I haven’t got?”
Sandra: “A brain.”
Talbot: “I came all the way from Europe because Dracula and the Monster must be destroyed!”
Wilbur: “I can’t. I’ve got a date. In fact I’ve got two dates.”
Talbot: “But you and I…have a date with destiny.”
Wilbur: “Let Chick go with destiny.”
Talbot (on the phone with Wilbur): “I believe you’re in the house of Dracula right now! You can find the Monster and I’ll…” (thud) “Hello? Hello?”
Wilbur: “You’re right; we gotta search the place! You search in the basement, I’ll search outside.”
Chick: “No you don’t!”
Wilbur: “Alright then, I’ll search the outside, you search in the basement.”
Chick: “That’s different! Come on.”
Wilbur (to the camera): “It worked!”
(To Wilbur)
Dracula: “What we need today is young bloods and brains!”
Dracula: “I have other ways of securing your cooperation.”
Sandra: “You’re wasting your time. My will is as strong as yours.”
Dracula: “Are you sure?”
Talbot: “So, we meet again, Count Dracula.”
Sandra: “You’re so full-blooded: so round, so firm…”
Wilbur (nervously): “So fully packed. And I’d like to stay that way.”
Wilbur: “Franky, don’t let ‘em do it to you! Franky, I’m telling you it’s a bad deal! I’ve had this brain for thirty years, and it hasn’t work right yet. Ask me what one-and-one is; go on, ask me! I don’t know.”
(Chased by the Monster, Wilbur and Chick run into McDougal)
McDougal: “Now I’ve got you!”
Wilbur: “You sill want your exhibits?”
McDougal: “Yes…”
Wilbur: “Well here comes one of them now!”
Chick: “Now that we’ve seen the last of Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Monster, there’s nobody to frighten us anymore.”
Voice: “Oh, that’s too bad, I was hoping to get in on the excitement.”
Chick: “Who said that?”
Voice: “Allow me to introduce myself: I’m the Invisible Man.”
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