Halloween season
simply isn’t Halloween season without a regular dose of golden age Universal
horror (1923-1963). Every day this October, I’ll be giving you a steady IV drip
of it by counting down Psychobabble’s
31 Favorite Universal Horrors!
#2. Abbott &
Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948- dir. Charles Barton)
The monster rallies of Erle C. Kenton were basically pulling
the entire Golden age of Universal horror into the grave of self-parody. Why
not get out the shovel and finish the job? Once and for all, the monsters would
be laughing stocks, and Karloff himself was so offended by the notion that he
refused to appear in or even see the final appearances of the Frankenstein
monster, Dracula, and the Wolf Man in Abbott
& Costello Meet Frankenstein. The thing is, the monsters weren’t
laughing stocks. They basically play it straight despite a couple of fleeting
comedic moments such as the Monster shuddering at the sight of Costello or the
count cracking wise once or twice. The humor was all up to Bud and Lou, and
though they were hesitant about their first full-bore horror comedy, the blend
of serious threats and screwball insanity was magical. After all, the monsters’
main allure was never really their scariness. It was the fun lying just beneath
their scarred or furry surfaces. Abbott
& Costello Meet Frankenstein draws that fun right out into the air and
makes no apologies for it. Bud and Lou and Glenn Strange get top billing, but
Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr., give this movie real legitimacy as an essential
Universal horror film. The only possible way to have more fun while watching a
movie is to check out the one in the next and final installment of Psychobabble’s
31 Favorite Universal Horrors…
