Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Horror-Comedy as Bud and Lou also Meet Dracula and The Wolf Man
Despite starring Bud and Lou, one of the biggest comedy double-acts of the 40’s, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) is a horror film, albeit a playful one. The monsters, Dracula (Bela Lugosi), The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr) and Frankenstein’s Monster (Glenn Strange) pose a genuine threat to Bud and Lou. The modern equivalent would be having Will Ferrell turn up as Ron Burgundy in a Saw sequel.
Struggling Universal Studios Combine Horror and Comedy
Universal struggled through the Depression despite having overseen a golden age of horror with hits like Dracula (Tod Browning 1931), Frankenstein (James Whale 1931) and The Wolf Man (1941). In 1942 beginning with Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (Roy William Neill) they began combining their horror franchises by having each of their monsters turn up in the other’s films. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was a cash-in bringing two of their biggest earners together, although many horror fans consider it to be the final nail in the coffin for the Universal horror series.
Dracula Wants to Remove Lou Costello’s Brain
Wilbur (Lou Costello) and Chic (Bud Abbott) are working as freight handlers when two crates arrive destined for exhibition in a local house of horrors. No prizes for guessing who is contained within these boxes. Dracula awakens and begins a fiendish plan to replace the murderous brain of Frankenstein’s Monster with one belonging to a buffoon. This means trouble for Wilbur who is just the type of donor the Count is looking for. Larry Talbot, aka The Wolf Man, arrives in town and tries to help the hapless duo, but sooner or later there’s going to be a full moon.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Deserves Respect
Due to the presence of Bud and Lou Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein has never been considered part of the Universal horror canon. The wonderful Region 1 release of Universal’s Legacy series encompassing all of their horror films from the 30’s and 40’s does not include it. Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein deserves a place in the Universal horror pantheon. House of Frankenstein (Erle C. Kenton 1944) for instance, is far more risible and it is supposed to be serious.
Abbott and Costello make fun of the situation they find themselves in, but the film does not belittle or humiliate the monsters. It helps that Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man are portrayed by actors who played these roles in the earlier films. Glenn Strange replaced Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster after his last appearance in Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee 1939), and though Strange pales in comparison to Karloff, his presence here adds to the feeling that you’re watching a Universal horror film into which two idiots have wandered into.
Seeing Bela Lugosi play Dracula again is wonderful and he arguably gives an even better performance here than in Browning’s film. Just as fine is Lon Chaney Jr, ever-anguished as The Wolf Man, begging strangers to lock him up and staring nervously at the sky in case a full moon appears. Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein may have been made for cynical reasons, but the finished result deserves to be mentioned alongside Dracula’s Daughter (Lambert Hillyer 1936) as one of the more curious films to appear from Universal’s golden age of horror.
- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
- Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr, Glenn Strange
- Written by Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant
- Directed by Charles Barton
- Running time 83 mins
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
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