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Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein

List Price: $24.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Universal. What are you doing now?
Review: Movie - great. I love Abbott and Costello and this is a great flick. Quality of the transfer - Best I've seen from an old B&W (and that includes It's A Wonderful Life SE). Bonus and extras - Excellent. Documentary, making of, commentary, photographs, trailer, production notes, cast and filmmakers info. My problems: the video tape comes with even MORE extras (cartoons and screen saver and games disk). What's with that? They recently re-released A & C Meet The Mummy on VHS. Why isn't THAT on DVD?

Universal has released 5 A&C movies on DVD. 4 are discontinued. They've released nearly all of them on VHS. The most recent ones got the same attantion and detail that Frankenstein received. Jeesh! Apparently they think everyone would rather buy the VHS. Maybe they'll start releasing them on BETA as well!

Oh yah. Buy this one. The quality is as good as when it was released and the extras make it worth every cent.

-McHale

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE BEST!!!!!
Review: The funniest slapstick comedy ever. This version has no cut out sceens and in the best quality. This movie starts off great and ends great. I definatly recomend this video and a must buy for any Abbott and Costello fan. All the classic monsters are in their including The Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.), Dracula (Bella Lagosi), the Frankenstein Monster played as Glenn Strange (just as good and maybe even better than Boris Karloff.) So, like i said before you get your money's worth.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Their best
Review: See this one if only for the duo's best sight gag ever -- the bedroom door during the climactic chase through the castle. (The Coen brothers appropriated it for "The Big Lebowski.") By the way, I don't expect to persuade you if you're set against seeing it; I just wanted to be the one viewer who didn't have his blurb prefaced with "See more about me" -- I mean, I thought it was supposed to be about the videos.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hollywood's First GREAT Horror Comedy!
Review: What can be said about this classic that HASN'T been said? This send-up of Universal's horror superstars revived interest in the genre, which had been waning throughout the mid-forties, as endless low-budget sequels made the rounds. Horror purists were appalled that these classic characters became 'straight men' to Lou Costello, but this was actually an inspired mating! The rotund comedian had always represented the 'everyman', and seeing his reactions to these 'boogie men' was the perfect tonic to a post-war America, who needed a good laugh! What many people don't realize is that this film 'saved' A & C's careers, as well; they had gone into a slump with the end of WWII, and were contemplating breaking up; the release of '...Meet Frankenstein' rejuvenated their popularity, and added 10 years to the team!

The film marked Lugosi's last 'official' appearance as Dracula, and he played the Count with the same jaded European elegance that no other actor ever matched! By the way, Dracula never sucked any blood in this movie, a concession to the younger A&C audiences. He controled via his hypnotic stare, and telepathy!

Lon Chaney's Wolfman has always been a favorite of mine, as he was the most humane of monsters; more a victim than a villain, he struggles to protect others from his full-moon transformation. Chaney was one of Hollywood's least-appreciated actors, a performer of considerable skill who would always have to live under his famous father's shadow, much as Larry Talbot lived under the shadow of the wolf. A piece of trivia: Glenn Strange, who portrayed the Frankenstein monster, broke his foot during the chase finale; to finish the shoot, Chaney donned the make-up, and can be seen as the monster in a few long shots. So Lon Chaney could say he was the only actor who ever portrayed the Wolfman, Dracula, AND the Frankenstein monster!

Watch for Vincent Price's famous unbilled cameo, at the end of the film! He was a frequent visitor to the set during filming, saw how much fun everyone was having, and nearly begged for a chance to make an 'appearance'!

I hope these comments are helpful in making 'Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein' even MORE enjoyable! It has been a personal favorite for nearly forty years (I first saw it, at eight, at a Halloween party!), and it's a classic I think you'll treasure, too!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best Abbott & Costello film!
Review: Out of all the films the comedy duo made, this one is tops! Bringing the boys together with the classic monster characters was a terrific idea to say the least. Director Charles T. Barton was able to strike a happy medium between the horror and comedy elements. The monsters do not come off looking silly at all. The feature commentary by Gregory W. Mank is very interesting and offers a lot of info that many may not have known before about the film and actors. On a technical note, the clarity of the DVD is so good, that you can actually tell that a stuntman is standing in for Costello when he's on top of the crate. You can also see that it's Lon Chaney filling in for Glenn Strange as the monster in the lab scene near the end. What a superb picture! I highly recommend this one to all film buffs and particularly to Abbott and Costello fans everywhere!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Forget the title, this is the one with Dracula
Review: Actually, this one has everybody from Dracula to the Frankenstein Monster, to the Wolfman to the Mad Scientist who wants to take Lou's brain and put it, well, someplace more interesting. But Dracula, played by Bela Lugosi no less (you wonder if he was really in on the joke), is in this film so that is why I am reviewing it. Of all the "Abbott & Costello Meet" somebody movies, this is far and away the best one. Abbott is a rather talentless straightman, but Costello more than makes up for it. You cannot find too many physical comedians who rely primarily upon their own bodies as their props. Still a laugh riot, especially if you are a kid.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderfully Done
Review: This is by far the best I've seen on Abbott and Costello. Even better than the monster sequels it inspired. I'm sure it boosted the continuing carreer of Abbott and Costello movies and had Bela Lugosi returning for the last time as Dracula. Also included is Lon Chaney Jr. and Glen Strange as the monster and a pleasant surprise of Vincent Price as the invisible man at the end. What more could anyone ask?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Monster Classic
Review: Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein is a great Abbott and Costello movie and a great monster movie. You could read all the other reviews to get an idea about the movie, but I'll deal just with the DVD. First of all the transfer is decent but not all that great, I was expecting more but it does look kind of grainy throughout. The sound is as good as it can be from the time period and I have no complaints. This DVD features a pretty cool opening menu and is easily navigable. The special features include a interesting "making of" which features a lot of interviews and even some outtakes from the movie. There is the standard trailer and cast filmography but Univeral has improved their photo gallery option and instead of having to go thru 100s of photos with the controler, the photos change automaticaly and are set to the soundtrack of the movie. All in all a good buy for fans of the movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Horror Comedy Masterpiece
Review: Few comedians have had the ability to mix horror and comedy as well as Bud and Lou, and this film proves it. Wild slapstick and true horror are combined to make this film "the" greatest horror comedy of all time. The monsters and the actors who play them are in top form, and the comedians still have the comic energy that is sadly missing from some of their fifties films. Too many highlights to name them all, but the chase finale in Dracula's castle and the sequence where Lou sits on the Monster's lap are both truly hilarious. Frank Skinner's wonderfully atmospheric score is also memorable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the funniest movies ever made
Review: Well, if you haven't seen this you are in for something great. This is one of the funniest movies ever made--certainly abbot and costello's best, and that's no small thing. But it also has Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. both in the roles that made them famous and both playing it totally straight--which is one of the things that makes it such a classic. This is the original classic that has inspired HUNDREDS of imitations, from the Bowery Boys all the way to scooby-doo. This is horror/comedy at its pinnacle--it can't be done better. It's a fact that legendary rock guitarist jerry garcia considered this his all-time favorite movie (seriously) and for very good reason. For atmosphere, classic movie monsters, and hilarity this movie is the best ever. it actually deserves six stars but you can only give five. It's the Casablanca of horror/comedy. Often imitated, never duplicated.


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