Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

"MORE GHOULISH GLEE THAN WHEN THEY MET FRANKENSTEIN!"

1949 1h 24m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 61

ComedyHorrorMystery

Synopsis

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Lost Caverns Resort Hotel bellhop Freddie Phillips gives an empty threat to one attorney Amos Strickland, and is shortly fired. When Freddie visits his guest's suite to apologize, he finds Strickland dead of a gunshot wound. As the investigators file in, Freddie becomes the scapegoat of the guests in the hotel, who all had a bone to pick with Strickland. It's now up to Freddie and Detective Casey Edwards to find out who the real killer is, all the while avoiding the many vigorous and violent villains staying at the resort.

“MORE GHOULISH GLEE THAN WHEN THEY MET FRANKENSTEIN!”

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Cast

Bud Abbott
Casey Edwards
Lou Costello
Freddie Phillips
Boris Karloff
Swami Talpur
Lenore Aubert
Angela Gordon
Gar Moore
Jeff Wilson
Donna Martell
Betty Crandall
Alan Mowbray
Melton
James Flavin
Insp. Wellman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Charles Barton
Writers: Howard Snyder, Howard Snyder, Hugh Wedlock Jr.
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

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

77 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 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#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and Boris Karloff carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "MORE GHOULISH GLEE THAN WHEN THEY MET FRANKENSTEIN!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Charles Barton directs. Charles Van Enger behind the camera. Milton Schwarzwald scores. Edward Curtiss cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

184 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
377 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Charles Barton, shot by Charles Van Enger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Milton Schwarzwald. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Edward Curtiss shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and Boris Karloff carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "MORE GHOULISH GLEE THAN WHEN THEY MET FRANKENSTEIN!".
9IMDB entry: tt0041085 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 61 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "hotel", "blackmail", "attempted murder", "slapstick comedy".

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles Van Enger
Original score: Milton Schwarzwald
Editing: Edward Curtiss
Costume design: Rosemary Odell
Makeup / hair: Bud Westmore
Runtime: 84 min · 1h 24m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $686,000
Original language: EN
IMDB: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)

Also by

Charles Barton

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-05-05
★ 7/10
Tidy comedy, great mystery! Bud & Lou find themselves at the center of a murder mystery, the chief suspect? Why Lou Costello of course. As a comedy, Meet The Killer offers nothing fresh to what we haven't seen before from the boys prior to this 1949 offering, not that the comedy doesn't deliver, because it does, very much so. Be it Freddie (Costello) being too stupid to be hypnotised by the shifty Swami (Boris Karloff), or a wonderful sequence of events down in the creepy caverns, it's fun and very diverting. However, the strength in "Meet The Killer" is that it works very well as a whodunit mystery, a ream of characters, all acting oddly, come and go to keep the viewer guessing right through to the cheery pay off. It's entertaining on two fronts and has a cast clearly having fun into the bargain. Super shadowy photography by Charles Van Enger as well. Enjoy! Now, about that Tortoise? 7/10

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