Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

"JEEPERS! The CREEPERS are after BUD & LOU!!"

1948 1h 23m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 365

HorrorComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Wolf Man tries to warn a dimwitted porter that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.

“JEEPERS! The CREEPERS are after BUD & LOU!!”

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Cast

Bud Abbott
Chick Young
Lou Costello
Wilbur Grey
Lon Chaney Jr.
The Wolfman
Bela Lugosi
Dracula
Glenn Strange
The Monster
Lenore Aubert
Dr. Sandra Mornay
Jane Randolph
Joan Raymond
Frank Ferguson
Mr. McDougal

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Charles Barton
Writers: John Grant, Frederic I. Rinaldo, Robert Lees
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

83 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Charles Barton, shot by Charles Van Enger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Frank Skinner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Frank Gross shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and Lon Chaney Jr. carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Charles Barton directs. Charles Van Enger behind the camera. Frank Skinner scores. Frank Gross cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 6.0× over at the box office.
478 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Directed by Charles Barton, shot by Charles Van Enger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Frank Skinner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Frank Gross shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and Lon Chaney Jr. carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "JEEPERS! The CREEPERS are after BUD & LOU!!".
10IMDB entry: tt0040068 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 11 themes, including "halloween", "wolfman", "horror spoof", "black and white".

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles Van Enger
Original score: Frank Skinner
Editing: Frank Gross
Costume design: Grace Houston
Makeup / hair: Carmen Dirigo
Runtime: 83 min · 1h 23m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $800,000
Box office: $4,812,444
Return: 602% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

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Charles Barton

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-10-13
★ 8/10
Universal Tag Team Delights. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is directed by Charles Barton and written by Robert Lees, Frederic Rinaldo and John Grant. It stars Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Junior, Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lenore Aubert and Jane Randolph. Music is by Frank Skinner and cinematography by Charles Van Enger. It's well documented come 1948 that Abbott and Costello were becoming victims of changing times and filmic ideas. Coupled with the one time success of the Universal classic monster movies having seemingly had their day, someone at the merged Universal-International head office decided to pit the comic duo with the creature feature legends. Thus a film franchise was born and it helped reignite Bud and Lou's career. Making the Universal monsters a viable theatre draw once again, this first teaming set a high standard that wasn't to be matched with the following "meet the monsters" series. It's a near hilarious spoof of the classic 1930s/40s horrors, where it finds Bud and Lou as hapless transport porters involved with the revival of Dracula and the Frankenstein monster. The usual comedy staples of the comedy duo are adhered to, which is nicely countered by the monsters themselves mostly playing it straight. With the added bonus of having Lugosi once again donning the Count Dracula cape, the nostalgic value for classic horror buffs is enormous. It's of course wonderfully energetic and daft, but still not a scene is wasted. With smart gags - both visually and orally - and a finale of great entertainment worth, this is very much a pic to embrace for a pick me up purpose. 8/10

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