| Inspector Abberline | 23rd October 2016 06:19 PM |
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. (1948)
1 Attachment(s) Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. (1948) Attachment 183815
Starting with a rather nice animated credit sequence, we soon get our first monster in the guise of Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney jnr), Talbot soon shows his true side, when he transforms into the wolf man, and I must say the wolf-man's entrance is cool as he tears up his hotel room and scampers off into the night. Abbot and Costello are a couple of baggage handlers who have to deliver some crates to the waxworks museum called The House of Horrors, where the pair have to un-pack the crates, unfortunately for them the crates consist of Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange). Your liking of this film may very well depend on how you feel about Abbot and Costello, the pair lack the charm and warmth you get with Laurel and Hardy's humour, and they are just not as wacky or as violent The Three Stooges. That said they are quite funny most of the time in the film, with some decent bits of banter between the pair (but I get the feeling the pairs comedy was a one trick pony, they were popular in their prime so who I am to say what is funny?). As for the appearance of Universals most famous monsters, it has to be said that out of the three, its Chaney Jnr as the Wolfman who makes the most effective appearance, in fact his scenes as the wolfman are just as good as any of his appearance's in his previous films. Bela as Dracula, well we all know that Bela did not have much of a range as an actor, his thick Hungarian accent being a pretty big stumbling block when it comes to playing anything other than someone from Eastern Europe, but who can resist Lugosi when he says "look into my eyes". And as for Glenn Strange, well he does not have to do much apart from look like Karloff and stomp around a bit. It’s an entertaining and at times funny film, not laugh out loud funny but it does have its moments. What is apparent is that it would of been more apt to have called it A and C Meet The Wolfman, as Lon Chaney Jnr has a more prominent role in the film and Chaney Jnr definitely has the better scenes. Amongst all the chuckles and fun there are a couple of scenes which seem a little out of place for a comedy, towards the end Glenn Strange as the monster grabs the evil lady scientist and throws here through a window, OUCHH, also the Frankenstein monster dies in a rather fiery death (remember children do not play with matches). This is one of the better Abbott and Costello movies, its well-made, well-paced and apart from the comedy duo themselves the rest of the cast, Chaney Jnr in particular are all very good, Lugosi is well he's just Lugosi, but whenever he did that thing with his cape over his face, I kept being reminded of Plan Nine from Outer Space, where Lugosi stand in would do the same. | 