HALLOWEEN MOVIE REVIEWS! ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN

We’ve made it to the greatest week of the year: Halloweek! All week long, we’ll be featuring a PM edition of the blog with a movie review. Kicking things off tonight is Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein—arguably the greatest team-up in cinematic history!

Imagine the legendary comedy duo clashing with the classic Universal Monsters! We get Bela Lugosi as Dracula for only the second time, Lon Chaney Jr. returning as the Wolfman, and Glenn Strange as Frankenstein's Monster. This might just be the greatest Halloween movie of all time! But let’s dive into the review to see how it scores.

Rankings:

Monsters/Villains: 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖 (9.3)
As previously mentioned, we have Bela as Dracula, Strange as Frankenstein, and Chaney as the Wolfman. It doesn’t get much better than that! Plus, there’s a fantastic cameo by Vincent Price as the Invisible Man. Can I give this 11 Robots!?!?!

Actors/Characters : 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖 (9.3)
What makes this movie so great is that it retains the charm of Bud and Lou as a comedy duo without diminishing the Universal Monsters. They coexist beautifully (I think this movie inspired all those Co-exist Bumper stickers), both holding onto their own fundamentals. Lon Chaney has some fantastic back-and-forth moments with Lou in several scenes; nothing ever feels forced. Bud and Lou are at the height of their careers, and boy, do they deliver—almost every one of their scenes are comedy gold!

Story: 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖 (7.8)
The story is simple but effective. Lou has finally found true love—or has he? The beauty smitten with him is actually in love with his brain, intending to transfer it into Frankenstein’s Monster. It’s a goofy plot, but it doesn’t detract from the charm of the classic monsters.

Joe’s Score : 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖 (9.6)

This film has always been a favorite of mine. It might be the first time I experienced an Abbott & Costello film alongside a Universal Monster film, and I loved it from the very first viewing. It certainly helped spark my interest in horror films and Abbott & Costello movies. If you haven’t seen this classic, I highly recommend you stop what you’re doing, find a copy, and watch it immediately!

OVERALL: 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖 (9.0)

Updated List:

1. The Exorcist (9.25)

2. Psycho (9.22)

3. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (9.0)

4. The Omen (1976) (8.45)

5. Salem’s Lot (8.4)

6. Rosemary’s Baby (8.28)

7. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) (8.07)

8. The Wolfman (1941) (7.98)

9. Homicidal (7.12)

10. Halloween (1978) (6.65)

11. Ernest Scared Stupid (5.35)

12. Monster Squad (5.22)