Il cervello di Frankenstein

Stupid? Yes. Corny? Yes. Hokey? Yes. Entertaining? Definitely. Lots of good laughs? You said it!

To be honest, I am not a big fan of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello but this is a funny movie, considered their best by most critics and, for once, I agree with them. I mean, where else can you see The Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula all together in the same film? Not only that, we get two of the original actors who actually played those roles: Lon Chaney (wolf man) and Bela Lugosi (Dracula).

The special-effects are terrible but, hey, the film is close to 60 years old. If you are going to see only one A-C film, this is the one you want to get.

When Abbott and Costello were good, there was no one to touch them. Here they were at maybe their best, working with a great script and their best-by-a-mile concept. I prefer "Time Of Their Lives" as a film, but this is their finest hour or so as comedians.

As someone who grew up watching A&C Sundays at 11:30 AM in the NY area back when Cheech and Chong were the comedy team of the moment, it's great to revisit this one and see how well it all stands up. It's also nice to think, with all the personal sadness and cinematic dreck he was forced to go through, that Bela Lugosi managed to bat 1.000 in playing his greatest role, as he only played the Count in two film classics, this and "Dracula."

Playing the monsters straight probably was the best idea the filmmakers had, but there's other good stuff here. These guys were not resting on their laurels. The scenes with Chaney, the final chase, the dames (two for Lou, none for Bud), the music, all of it well-thought-out and very effective. Would the film have been better with Karloff than Strange as the Monster? Probably not, as the Monster is the least interesting character of the monster trio by necessity of plot (he's weak and needs to be continuously charged up by Drac, necessitating the immediate operation on Lou.) Karloff would have detracted from Lugosi's role more than adding anything of his own. Besides, Strange is very good.

Too bad Vincent Price couldn't make it when Bud and Lou went up against the Invisible Man for real two years later.

A full moon is on the rise in foggy London when Lawrence Talbot places a panicked phone call to the States. He is the only one who knows that a great evil is on its way to America. Count Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster have been shipped to a wax museum, and when the sun sets, Dracula will rise and summon his superhuman servant. Talbot knows he must warn someone...anyone...but unfortunately, it's Lou Costello who answers the phone. The movie is then off and running. Dracula needs a new brain for his monster, a brain so simple and dumb that the monster will obey Dracula's every command. Dracula's lethal henchwoman, Doctor Sandra Mornay, soon finds the perfect subject. Guess who? Now it's up to Bud Abbott and Lon Chaney Jr. to save Lou and stop Dracula before Lou literally loses his mind!

This is my absolute favorite Abbott & Costello film, sweet and witty but also dark and spooky, with plenty of nice, Gothic sets filled with full moons, flapping bats, cobwebs and lab equipment. Lon Chaney Jr. as the lycanthropic Lawrence Talbot, Bela Lugosi in his final appearance as Dracula and Glenn Strange as the Monster all play their roles perfectly straight as Bud and Lou stumble around them. The dark and seductive Lenore Aubert makes her second appearance as a Bud and Lou Bad Girl, slinking her way through the entire movie like a black panther, trying to lead poor Lou astray. Best moments include a wax museum in a lightening storm, a costume ball on a moonlit night and an uncredited Vincent Price who shows up - sort of - at films end. Bud and Lou turn in flawless performances yet again; Bud the Straight Guy always ready with a stinging one- liner and Lou the Bumbling Fool, falling all over himself, yet both of them always uniting at the films climax to stop the Bad Guys.

Fans of Bud and Lou and fans of the Universal Creature Features should not miss this film. It is both a spoof and an homage to the legendary Monsters of film. 10 stars.

Perennially snakebit, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney) can't even make a dire phone-call to clueless Wilbur Gray (Lou Costello) without that pesky full moon getting in the way. Of course, this opening scene is all just a nice excuse for the new Universal makeup wizard, Bud Westmore, to show off his new, streamlined Wolf Man transformations. It looks good enough, though it seems whatever Lon Chaney may have gained in comfort from Bud's less time-consuming makeup, he had to trade-off any facial mobility as his face looks fixed in the same expression throughout the film.

Bud and Lou's misadventures unloading McDougal's crates is a great mix of laughs & chills where we get to see a variation of the "moving candle" bit, Dracula reviving the monster, and for the first time in any Universal picture the camera doesn't move or cut away as the vampire exits from his coffin. And Glenn Strange, looking rather gruesome in Westmore's best makeup work, seems creakier than ever before as the monster.

I have to mention one of my personal favorite Bud/Lou moments when they make their first trip to the island with Joan Raymond: Lou tells Bud in reference to Joan "she's mine too" then proceeds to dab his mouth with Bud's necktie.

While the mere presence of Abbott and Costello in this picture may turn the stomachs of many "horror purists", it's obvious that great care was taken by the filmmakers not to ridicule the monsters. Without the two comics, you would still have a standard Universal horror film. With them, it remains a movie that shows more skill & thought was put into it than the last "serious" monster film "House of Dracula" and I am personally glad that Universal didn't let the monsters die with that misfire.

This is probably the best horror comedy ever made.While it doesn't make fun of the monsters it does have some fun with them.Just love the Frankenstein monster's initial reaction to Lou Costello.

Lugosi truly shows how wrong Universal was to treat him so badly over the years.He gives a wonderful perfomance with nice comedic touches.Chaney is excellent in "his baby" the Wolf Man.Strange is given a bit more to do as the monster rather than just lie around until the last five minutes.

Great fun for everybody!