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 I was a kid, I watched every Abbott and Costello film that came on TV--I was a die-hard addict. However, something strange occurred as I grew older. It seemed the older I got the less funny this duo seemed to be. I still enjoy them, but also see that there is a big difference in quality in their films--they're not all winners! Much of it could be that their humor was geared more to kids and much of it could be that so much of their humor seems now to be re-treads of old vaudeville routines. Having seen some of the very same routines done by the 3 Stooges and Olson & Johnson makes me now realize how tired Abbott and Costello films could be.

However, despite this, I STILL find myself laughing at Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Instead of hoary vaudeville routines, there is a delightful mix of jokes, excellent Universal studio horror greats and a creepy atmosphere.

The film's plot is pretty weird. It seems that Dracula (Bela Lugosi) has found Frankenstein (Glenn Strange) and the monster is in pretty bad shape. So, to fix his problems once and for all, Drac has used his hypno powers to control a pretty doctor whose job is to operate on the beast--and giving him a simpler and easier to control brain so that Drac can use him for evil. Whose mind is the simplist and easiest to control? Lou's, that's for sure. So much of the film is spent scheming to get a hold of him and operate. However, the Wolf-Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.) has wind of this plan and is there to try to stop them. It may not sound very funny, but it definitely is. Plus, it's the best monster comedy ever with laughs throughout.

Give it a try--even if you HATE Abbott and Costello, you're bound to like this one.

There's always debate over which Abbott and Costello film is their best as they did do some great ones. Meet Frankenstein is certainly one of their best- and quite possibly their last truly great one- and for me, and quite a few others, it's my personal favourite. The story is nonsense in a way but is still enormous fun with an interesting premise that isn't wasted at all and a few legitimate scares along the way(mostly in the scenes between Dracula and Sandra but the Wolf Man transformations did make hairs stand up on my neck on my first viewing as a child). There's not a dull moment in sight and even if it was on the nonsensical side I was enjoying myself too much to care.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is well-made, with a terrific castle setting, skillful photography and surprisingly quite good special effects in the transformation scenes. There's a treat of an opening sequence as well. The music is a great mix of jaunty and eerie and the film is just hilarious throughout(providing that Abbott and Costello's style of humour is to your taste),one of the duo's funniest for sure. The dialogue and one-liners are simply delicious and among the funniest and most quotable of any Abbott and Costello offering, and the visual gags and physical comedy is just as inspired and looks like everybody is having great fun. The duo are on top form, Costello is the funnier of the two and he is a riot but Abbott plays it straight and does so very effectively. Then we have Dracula, Wolf Man and Frankenstein Monster in one film and they are very well treated here and a joy to watch(the characters also featured in House of Dracula but it's nowhere near as good a film and Meet Frankenstein uses them far better).

Bela Lugosi is suave, imposing and aristocratically evil as Dracula(like Dracula should have and traits that Lugosi nailed in a way few other actors portraying Dracula did) but also has a ball with the comedy. Lon Chaney Jnr brings class and poignant emotion to the Wolf Man, you do have to feel sorry for him when he explains his situation to people and they don't believe him(in hindsight that exchange between him and Costello is one of the highlights of the film). Glenn Strange is a menacing Frankenstein Monster, and is much better used than he was in House of Dracula where he was little more than lost-looking window dressing. And you can't do wrong with having Vincent Price as the voice of the Invisible Man. All in all, one of- in my view- one of the best and funniest comedies of all time and Abbott and Costello at their best. 10/10 Bethany Cox