ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)
Universal Pictures Scooby Doos itself with this comedy send up of its monster franchises, which was well liked at the time of its release and temporarily revived the careers of the famous comedy duo in the title. The film is also notable for the return of Bela Lugosi in the role of Count Dracula for the first time since the original 1931 blockbuster. It's good to see him, but he's lost some of the edge he had in the first film and terrific follow ups like THE BLACK CAT (1934). Perhaps his personal problems and addictions had taken their toll, or maybe it was just 17 years later (Lugosi would die of a heart attack in 1956). Lon Chaney Jr. returns for the fifth time as the Wolf Man, and Glen Strange plays Frankenstein's monster for the second, and final, time.
Count Dracula arranges to be shipped in his coffin to America, along with the body of Frankenstein's monster. His plan is to revive the monster after transplanting in the brain of a docile idiot--hello, Lou Costello!--so that he can control it. Then I guess he gets to rule the world or something. Larry Talbot, a.k.a. the Wolf Man, actually pursues the pair to the U.S. and joins forces with Abbott and Costello in order to stop the Count, but he becomes a danger himself when the full moon rises.
Unfortunately, for the first time Universal eschewed the legendary makeup of Jack Pierce and put Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man in rubber masks. This is quite noticeable in the case of the Wolf Man. Abbott and Costello are sharp, and pack in the gags and slapstick. If you like them, you'll like this. For me, though, the humor does not age well.
Universal Classic Horror Blog Series Rating:
4 - For everyone
3 - For horror fans only
2 - For classic horror fans only
1 - For Pete's sake
0 - Paging MST3K
Count Dracula arranges to be shipped in his coffin to America, along with the body of Frankenstein's monster. His plan is to revive the monster after transplanting in the brain of a docile idiot--hello, Lou Costello!--so that he can control it. Then I guess he gets to rule the world or something. Larry Talbot, a.k.a. the Wolf Man, actually pursues the pair to the U.S. and joins forces with Abbott and Costello in order to stop the Count, but he becomes a danger himself when the full moon rises.
Unfortunately, for the first time Universal eschewed the legendary makeup of Jack Pierce and put Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man in rubber masks. This is quite noticeable in the case of the Wolf Man. Abbott and Costello are sharp, and pack in the gags and slapstick. If you like them, you'll like this. For me, though, the humor does not age well.
Universal Classic Horror Blog Series Rating:
4 - For everyone
3 - For horror fans only
2 - For classic horror fans only
1 - For Pete's sake
0 - Paging MST3K