Verdict
Summary
A true monster mash with the original “classic” Universal Monsters and Abbott and Costello in the mix, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is the last and one of the best of Universal’s smash-ups with their stable monsters. While it’s not incredibly funny, it’s definitely amusing, but what makes it so good is that Lugosi (who plays Dracula for the second and last time on screen in his career) and Chaney Jr. don’t play this for laughs at all, but act as if they’re in one of their scary films, playing it totally straight, which makes this movie work
Plot:
Railroad baggage clerks become embroiled in Dracula’s scheme to give Frankenstein’s creature a new brain.
Review:
A shipment arrives via railroad intended to be the new exhibit at a horror museum: Dracula’s coffin with the remains of Dracula (Bela Lugosi)! Not only that, but the shipment contains the ghastly creature (Glenn Strange) that Doctor Frankenstein failed at! When two baggage clerks Wilbur and Chick (played by bumbling Lou Costello and “straight” man Bud Abbott) “misplace” Dracula and the monster, they get in trouble with the museum, which wants them arrested for stealing their prize attractions. Instead of landing in jail, they end up in Dracula’s clutches! Dracula makes it very clear that he’ll be swapping Wilbur’s brain with the creature’s, and he’ll succeed too if it wasn’t for the intervention of none other than the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) himself! The Wolf Man saves the day and does battle with Dracula, his arch-nemesis, while the two imbeciles get to tell the tale!
A true monster mash with the original “classic” Universal Monsters and Abbott and Costello in the mix, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is the last and one of the best of Universal’s smash-ups with their stable monsters. While it’s not incredibly funny, it’s definitely amusing, but what makes it so good is that Lugosi (who plays Dracula for the second and last time on screen in his career) and Chaney Jr. don’t play this for laughs at all, but act as if they’re in one of their scary films, playing it totally straight, which makes this movie work. Glenn Strange as the monster is good too with solid looking makeup, getting equal screen time as his counterparts. Nobody gets Nerf’ed here, and so it’s a winner, overall. The special effects are pretty good too, with nifty transition and animation sequences. Director Robert Arthur did a solid job of mixing all this stuff. The downside of it all is that these monsters no longer were considered scary or frightening after this film put them all in a comedy, but the upside is that it was a great way to go out.
Kino Lorber brings Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein to 4K Ultra HD for the first time in a vivid and sharp 4K scan of the 35mm negative, looking as good as it ever will on home video. Special features include three separate audio commentaries and a trailer, plus a slipcover.
