Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Yes, I know this movie is silly and simple and dated, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It was one of my favorites when I was a kid. This is a great film for any classic-horror lover, and it's a fun Halloween movie to watch with the family.

Rather than make the monsters jokes in this, they are their usual terrifying selves, with the jokes going around them. The last of the great Universal films featuring any of their classic monsters - there wouldn't be as good a horror comedy until Shaun of the Dead.

Aside from the fact that the comedy team itself is in peak form here, the actors playing the monsters are allowed to play it straight and are all seen to great effect. Glenn Strange as the Monster has more screen time in this film than the Houses of Frankenstein and Dracula combined and his portrayal has to be the most brutish and inhuman of those performed by the various actors who took on the role at Universal. The fact that most viewers are not familiar with Strange's face, too, adds to his authenticity in the role, I feel.With Karloff, Chaney, and Lugosi you can see their well known faces though the Frankenstein makeup, and are conscious of the fact that they are playing the part. But seeing the unknown Strange's face in the same role twigs no recognition for the viewer, helping to accept him in the role even more so. At least, that's how I see it.Lugosi is at the last great peak of his career in this film in what was only his second time to play Count Dracula. (He was Dracula in Return of the Vampire in all but name, of course). Heavily made up because of his aging features, that white pasty face only enhances his other worldliness as the Count. Bela, of course, also brought an aristocratic dignity to the role.It's a shame that this terrific performance by Lugosi did not lead to him being hot and back in demand again in Hollywood but it didn't. Horror films were becoming passe and Lugosi, unlike Karloff, was only associated with that genre. Adding to the insult, though, when it came to promoting A & C Meet Frankenstein, Universal didn't ask Lugosi to participate, even though he was a key star in the film's success. Instead the studio asked Karloff to do it.Finally, I never found Lon Chaney more effective in the dual role of Larry Talbot and the Wolf Man. One of the reasons for this is that I think the Bud Westmore Wolf Man makeup that he wore in this film is more effective than the Jack Pierce makeup he had on in his previous outings as the hirsute one. Chaney hated the Pierce makeup because it took so long to apply it (his all time hatred for makeup applications was that of the Mummy, by the way, which took even longer to put on).I'd recommend it. The two Universal franchises of the 40's - Abbott and Costello and the remainder of Universal horror - blend effectively here.

Originally to be titled "The Brain of Frankenstein". A high-budget film with an an almost flawless script and some of the best dialog and performance of Lou Costello's entire film career. Here, the monsters play it straight, not for laughs. The Wolfman tries to be the hero, but his curse prevents it. Only the second time that Bela Lugosi played Dracula for Universal Pictures. (He has even played "Frankenstein's Monster".) They did such a terrific job with Glen Strange as the monster and he played it very well. He was 6-ft.-six. He often was cast in westerns, and he was Sam the Bartender in the "Gunsmoke" TV series. Look for the "goofs" next time you watch it: Dracula's reflection. "Frankie" stumbles a few times. An operating table starts to fall before it is pushed over by the monster. Pretty-good effects animation by Walter Lantz Productions (Famous for Woody Woodpecker) Great sets, crisp photography. A legendary film score. (Too bad they re-used it at least 3 other times.) On the AFI's list of the 100 best comedies of all time. A film never equaled and it never will be. What a cast! When I was a kid, the brain operation scene scared me to death, even on a TV! What a startling, nasty sound the electricity makes! The monster that burns up at the finale has a cast-wax head, from the original "mask". I had the opportunity to see this film on a big screen, at a Saturday matinée in the 1950's. I was 5. Of course, Vincent Price is the famous voice of the cigarette smoking Invisible Man. Best quote of the film is by Lou Costello: "The next time I tell you that I saw it, you believe me that I saw it" Next best: Wolfman: During a full moon, I turn into a wolf... Lou: "Yeah, you and 20 million other guys". A bit of flicker on the opening titles, but otherwise a great copy in the 2015 re-issue.