Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

Subtitles:

English (SDH), French, Spanish, none

Extras:

• Abbot and Costello Meet The Monster (33:19)

• Theatrical Trailer (1:40)

Digital Copy Information

Bitrate:

 

Description: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (which has the onscreen title Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein) is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable. In this film, they encounter Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man, while subsequent films pair the duo with the Mummy, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Invisible Man. On a TV special in the early 1950s, the two did a sketch where they interacted with the latest original Universal Studios monster being promoted at the time, the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). The film is considered the swan song for the "Big Three" Universal horror monsters – Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster – although it does not appear to fit within the loose continuity of the earlier films.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein looks as anticipated on Blu-ray from Universal.  The image is not overwhelming but certainly crisper than most scenes previously seen on SD. There is no noise in the many dark sequences and contrast seems solid. The transfer has a high bitrate and the image is very clean. Detail is not a prevalent attribute but in-motion the visuals are seamless and tight with unwavering black levels. This Blu-ray has a genuine feel only limited by the film's original appearance.  There is no digitization that I can detect. This is not a disc you will use as a demo - it is, however a great way to start a movie-night with friends - perhaps as a Double Feature with Buck Privates (which looks marginally poorer than ...Meets Frankenstein).

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Universal include a DTS-HD Master in stereo at 1773 kbps and original music is by Frank Skinner who did similar bouncy scores for Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man + Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. It's light fare with some sharper chills scattered about and all sounds pleasing in the lossless as do the occasional effects. There are optional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras :

No Digi-book this time (as part of the Buck Privates package) - but we do get a commentary by Film Historian Gregory W. Mank author of It's Alive! The Classic Cinema Saga of Frankenstein and Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, with a Complete Filmography of Their Films Together. He exports his knowledge in a professional manner. Abbott and Costello Meet The Monsters is a half-hour piece by David J. Skal made in 2000 about the pair's cinematic meetings with the Universal Monster line-up. There is a theatrical trailer and a couple of the '100 Years of Universal' pieces - The Lot (9:26) and Unforgettable Characters (8:18). The disc is My Scenes capable and there is an included DVD of the Feature with a 2-page leaflet on the Digital Copy information.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Movies like Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein are timeless and I don't even care to guess why. Bud and Lou's hi-jinks with the 'monsters' bring back plenty of nostalgia. Nice to see the comedy team continuing to be represented on Blu-ray. Again, I suggest that it would be more appropriate to slap 2 or 3 on one lone BD disc. Recommended for the fans. 

Gary Tooze

August 19th, 2012