Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Monsters!

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Monsters (2001)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another extremely fun and insightful documentary from Universal about the making of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, the 1948 classic that had the studios most popular comedians teaming up with their most popular monsters. Bob Burns, Bob Madison and David J. Skal are on hand to offer up some history of the movie but we also get Bela Lugosi, Jr. who has some nice memories of being on the set and Chris Costello, who was one year when the film was made and tells a hilarious story of being scared by Glenn Strange who was in the monster make up. The documentary talks about the original screenplay, the fact that the stars hated it and of course we get stories about how Bela Lugosi wasn't the original selection to play Dracula. We get to hear all sorts of fun behind the scenes stuff but we also get some nice outtakes, which I'm sure most fans have seen elsewhere. The only disappointing thing about this documentary and the original DVD release is that there were many more outtakes not included. With that said, fans get some terrific interviews and one can't help but smile at the stories and most importantly is that the documentary makes you want to watch the classic film again. The later "Meet" films are also discussed but there's not as much detail on them.

Another one of David J. Skal's, author of "Hollywood Gothic," short video documentaries that are available on Universal's home video collections of their classic monster movies, this one covers the careers of comedic duo Abbott and Costello and, in particular, their film "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948). Their other horror spoofs are also, but more briefly, mentioned. I've complained a bit about Skal's other video docs for Universal's monster movies for not being informative for those who've already read up on the films, but I understand they may be worth a look for more casual viewers. In this case, that it includes me, because I'm not very familiar with Abbott and Costello. Their 1948 monster rally, thus far, is the only film I remember seeing with them, so this video's information was mostly new to me. Plus, this one, unlike the other docs, includes some footage, although of the blooper-reel variety, not seen in the film being discussed. Anyways, it was interesting to learn a bit about the comedians' methods, as well as the evolution of monster makeup for the film after Universal fired Jack Pierce.