(1941)
Dir - Arthur Lubin
Overall: GOOD
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's well-oiled schtick was already in fine form on Hold That Ghost, the pair's forth film in two years for Universal and first of six horror comedies. While some of the familiar gags might drag out a little too long due to their predictability, (both the candle and gambling-turned-bedroom scenes could have each been cut in half), there is plenty to laugh out loud with. The dance sequence alone between Costello and Joan Davis is pure silliness and the opening scene where they act as replacement waiters who quickly get fired is just the kind of shenanigans that Bud and Lou would become famous for. Unfortunately, Universal shoehorned The Andrew Sisters into a few completely unnecessary musical numbers having them under contract at the time and also featured in the duo's two proceeding movies. While this would set the template for all of the future, "nobody believes anything Costello says/sees" horror-tinged outings from them, it is a solid such starting point nonetheless. Plus, Shemp Howard shows up for one scene so you cannot possibly complain there.
(1948)
Dir - Charles Barton
Overall: GOOD
Generally regarded as the duo's best overall film or if not, certainly their strongest horror comedy, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a splendid experience for a multitude of reasons. While the script and particular gags are as silly and expected as any from the pair's hefty cinematic catalog and it is the same old set up where Abbot is the annoyed straight man and Costello is a bumbling, childlike goof who cannot convince anyone of anything, to pair all of this with Universal's big three monster characters is highly appropriate. At this point, Universal's monster movies were getting unintentionally ridiculous anyway,so to see them go for deliberate laughs for a change brought everybody in on the joke and it works quite beautifully. Seeing Lugosi alone back in the official Dracula garb is a treat enough, but Lon Chaney Jr. also being along for the ride and both actors playing it straight and taking it seriously gives Meet Frankenstein a great respectability as a fun send-up. Throw in Glenn Strange, (who allegedly was cracking up so much on set that numerous additional takes had to be made), and even Vincent Price's voice for a quick cameo and this really is an essential and funny companion piece to Universal's classic monster era.
(1949)
Dir - Charles Barton
Overall: MEH
A few things get in the way of making Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff one of the duo's better works. An obvious one is that Karloff himself, (who is even mentioned in the title no less), gets limited to very little screen time. That said, at least he is involved in the film's best scene where as a shady Swami, he tries in vain to hypnotize Costello into killing himself in his hotel room. The script though by Howard Snyder and Hugh Wedlock Jr., (who also penned Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man), is so sloppy and inconsistent that it borders on aggravating. The near ending set piece in a Lost Cavern seems to only be there because Universal had such an impressive set they wanted to use as its entire set up and execution are as illogical as it gets. As the pair's twenty-fifth movie in only nine years, the usual routine of Costello running around himming and hawing as nobody believes anything he says was starting to get a little old hat and with such an asinine story to play off of, it ends up being a regrettably weak horror comedy follow-up to the quite superior Meets Frankenstein.
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