User Reviews

I was a small child when I saw this one in 1950. I know it was 1950 because, in the newsreel between the pictures, the death of Al Jolson was announced. I had already seen belated reruns of Buck Privates and the in the Navy follow up (our local movie house didn't get pictures right away), so I was not prepared for the violence and stabbings. I still don't find stabbings funny. The worst scene was when Lou was in the secret cave and got his head stuck in the bottom of a giant stone basin. Lou's head was the stopper in the basin. The unseen killer diverted a stream to flow into the basin so the basin would fill up with water and drown Lou. Ha ha ha. In the 1970s, a local TV station showed an Abbott and Costello movie every Saturday morning, and my kids watched them. I made sure to get them occupied with something else when I saw this one was scheduled.

When people stop breathing all over a resort hotel managed by Alan Mowbray, the place could get a bad reputation. As if its reputation wasn't bad enough with the help they hire there, mainly Abbott&Costello.

Bud's the house detective and Lou's a bellboy. When he breaks incoming guest Nicholas Joy's glasses and generally makes a mess of things, Joy vows to get him fired. People are always doing that to Costello, but later Joy is the first one who winds up dead.

Joy was a high powered criminal defense attorney and as it happens in all these murder mysteries there's a hotel full of suspects who might have a better motive and more upstairs to plan things better than the hapless Lou. But Lou being the patsy he always is gets the attention of police detective James Flavin. Costello being the klutz he is and getting Flavin's hair, Flavin might just want to arrest him on general principles.

One of those suspects is Boris Karloff. He plays a Middle Eastern hypnotist and swami from Brooklyn and the one bad thing in the story is how he tries to frame Lou and have him commit suicide as well. If he's not the guilty party which he isn't, than why do it?

I really did like the cavern set where Lou has an extended scene with the masked murderer who is trying to get a tell tale clue from Costello. There's even a red herring sent up that Abbott might be the murderer, but who in the world would believe that?

A lot of this ground is covered before and better in their film Who Done It where the boys are also amateur sleuths and interfering in the police investigation. Still Abbott and Costello Meet The Killer, Boris Karloff is not a bad one for the guys.

Despite the title being 100% misleading, this is among Abbott and Costello's better films. No, Boris Karloff is NOT the killer and he is only a supporting character and so putting his name on the title (as was done in many cases) was deceptive and makes this appear to be a horror flick, while it's actually a murder mystery. I personally like this film because like some of their other better films (such as A&C Meet Frankenstein or A&C Meet Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde), the team does not rely on or fall back on worn-out old vaudeville routines but has plenty of action and excellent support. While I am not saying this is a perfect film, it does please and will appeal to both kids and adults.

Horror and comedy can make a very potent mix. 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein' is the undisputed masterpiece of this genre because it delivers on both concepts equally. I think this is something that poor imitators fail to realize. For a horror comedy to work there has to be both concepts. 'Meet Frankenstein' can still sort of work as a horror film. The monsters still have great dignity and pose a real peril to Bud and Lou. It's a great film and in my opinion the best the boys ever were. No wonder a semi-sequel was made. 'Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff' has none of the charm it's predecessor had. It's hard not to like an Abbott and Costello film but this one has a rough time balancing it's themes.

For starters the film doesn't feel like Abbott and Costello were meant to be in it. It feels and plays like a real bottom of the barrel thriller that was hastily rewritten with Bud and Lou. Bud and Lou are not the focus here. In all honesty the film gets kind of boring because it spends long stretches fleshing out it's far fetched murder mystery. No one really goes into a murder mystery caring about the actual clues or detective work. This film actually thinks people pay attention to this stuff and so Bud and Lou spend a fair amount of time talking about evidence and police work. To be fair it sets up a sort of funny morbid gag where the boys transport a body across the hotel but the gag overstays it's welcome. It is repeated several times and each time it is done so with a reminder about leaving evidence. Since when did Bud and Lou feel the need to explain a joke to such degrees? I get the feeling that they were less than comfortable with the material here. Good comedy needs no intricate explanation and this is the only Abbott and Costello film that really does this. The cast is also way too crowded and convoluted. I don't really care about anyone but Bud and Lou. The film can't have it both ways. If it cares enough about it's murder mystery to devote detail to it than it has to set up distinct suspects. When the killer is revealed I just kind of shrugged and said where did he come from.

Like I said earlier I think the film has trouble bending it's darker ideas with comedy. There is some macabre stuff here. People are being killed. I compare this film to 'Meets Frankenstein' in that Lou while being funny does generally look terrified. Here it feels as though there is a certain lack of sincerity in how the horrors are dealt with. A big aspect to this is that the most daring and macabre gag is repeated multiple times and thus loses all it's impact. The film does however reach a highpoint when Lou confronts the killer in the caverns. It is funny and yet we fear for Lou because we know there is danger to be had.

For those looking for Karloff, don't bother. He has a funny scene with Lou but he doesn't look like he likes being here. I imagine he wasn't on the set very long as his presence is little more than a glorified cameo. They don't even take the time to develop him into a proper red herring because they put his name in the title. Lugosi would have been so much better in this role.

It's hard to dislike an 'Abbott and Costello' film too much because they are so funny and deliver so much into their comedy. This film however is distinctly lesser than a lot of their efforts. It's funny enough if you want their comedy but keep in mind you do have to sit through a murder mystery and some really awkward genre bending. 'Meet Frankenstein' does everything this film tries to do so much better.

The movie was a little disappointing for this fan of both Abbott and Costello and Boris Karloff. I've held off watching it for the longest time but with great anticipation regarding the title, wondering how dastardly Karloff would be in this one, and it turns out he's not a killer at all. OK, I guess one could point to a dubious acquittal Swami Talpur received some time before the story opens, but that's almost lost once things get under way. The Swami is at his best in that sequence where he tries to get Freddie Phillips (Costello) to commit suicide, but as literal as Lou's character is, things just never work out. Fortunately so, I might add. Say, did you notice how the Swami used the old Jedi mind trick on Freddie at one point? Maybe that's where Obi Wan Kenobi got the idea from.

The story, taking place at an out of the way hotel, is loaded with murder victims and even more suspects, a lot like the Charlie Chan films of an earlier era. Even bumbling hotel bellboy Freddie becomes a suspect, but not a very credible one. Bud Abbott plays the hotel detective Casey Edwards here, and isn't nearly as antagonistic to Lou as he'd been in other movies. In fact, he's Freddie's strongest ally, helping him dispose of dead bodies that keep popping up after the one that initially got the investigation going.

Well after a number of false leads and red herrings, the murderer is eventually revealed. Of all the reviews I read here on this site, no one seems to have mentioned who he was, so I'll just drop the hint that it was hotel manager Melton (Alan Mowbray). Just to give you an idea how inconsequential that was, the reason for him knocking off his victims was mentioned and I can't even remember why.

Something that I've been curious curious about - Boris Karloff was mentioned by name in a couple movies back in his heyday in which he appeared, but not as himself. They were "Charlie Chan at the Opera" in 1936, and "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" from 1947. Here his name shows up right in the title, so I always thought that was kind of cool. Speaking of dropping names, I also thought it was cool when Costello mentioned fellow actor and comedian Red Skelton by name in the story. It came up when the comic duo was looking for a 'skelton' key.