100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 35 ~ Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

One thing that this list is short on, are horror/monster movies.  Again, going with the criteria of "do I get to enjoy it with the whole family?", the majority of scary movies don't make the cut. 

Today, we have an exception.

Of course, it had to be made in 1948, and feature the classic Universal Monsters, but it still qualifies.

: )

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein is a classic romp featuring the trademark rapid-fire humor audiences had come to expect from Abbott & Costello by then.  Now, while the title refers to the boys meeting Frankenstein, that wasn't the only Universal Monster they wound up meeting.

In fact, while Karloff did not play the monster, they were lucky enough to snag Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman.  Add a last second cameo by the Invisible Man (Vincent Price) and I would say you more than get your money's worth from this film.

Unlike nearly every other Abbott & Costello movie, in this film, Costello actually gets the upper hand on Abbott in much of the word-play, and going after the leading ladies.  The fact that they are all nearly falling over Lou does seem unlikely, but the real reason behind it is revealed before too long:

His brain!

The movie works as equal part loving homage to the Monsters, and classic Abbott & Costello romp.  The Monsters are played straight and not made fun of, which is why the movie works so well.  They could be easily mocked, or they could have played the movie as one giant "well, only Costello actually sees them..." but by bringing Abbott in on the shenanigans, the film works even better.

This one normally gets a spin in the household at least once a year, normally as we get closer to Halloween.

If you don't own it or haven't seen it in ages, it is available to stream on Netflix as of this writing.