Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a lot of things: A great moronic comedy, an affectionate monster movie spoof, a genuine horror film, and a credible conclusion to the Universal monster series. Consider it the follow-up to House of Dracula and the best of the series since The Wolf Man in 1941. Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Frankenstein Monster are all here and they’re all in character. Bela Lugosi’s Dracula—Bela playing the role for the first time since 1931—is sometimes in on the schtick, but Lon Chaney Jr. does a great job of seeming to not know that he’s in a comedy. He’s the classic angst-ridden Wolf Man, played straight.
The coffin of Dracula and the body of the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) are shipped to an American museum for a new exhibit. Larry “Wolf Man” Talbot follows them over because he knows those two rascally rabbits are gonna rise soon and kill again, and he wants to be there to stop them. Meanwhile, a seriously sexy female scientist (Lenore Aubert) is working with Dracula to revive the Monster, but with designs on sewing up a new brain in his head. The brain they want: Lou Costello’s. Why? It’s not clear. Who cares, though?
Every horror movie series should end with a comedy.