Friday, October 5, 2018

Horror Countdown 2018: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

Abbot and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) dir. Charles Lamont, Universal-International Pictures





Moving into the end of our look back at the Universal Monsters, and the last Invisible Man picture made under the studio. Comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello found their careers revitalized by their staring in the 1948 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and the 1949 follow up Abbot and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, so why not use another monster costar?



Bud (Abbott) and Lou (Costello) have just graduated from private detective school and are looking for clients. No sooner have they hung up their shingle when they get a client. Tommy Nelson (Arthur Franz) desperately needs their help. He was framed for murder, plus he escaped jail. He has angle though, and needs them to take him to his fiancé Helen (Nancy Guild) and her uncle Dr. Gray (Gavin Muir).

Dr. Gray's been working on a formula to make people invisible, although as he warns Tommy, it might drive him totally insane like it did the first Invisible Man (Claude Rains). Tommy is willing to risk it and before the police arrive Tommy takes the injection and goes transparent.

Now with Tommy nothing more than an empty suit the next step is to figure out who framed him. Lou is to go undercover as a boxer, with Tommy doing all the ring work. Can they crack the case before Tommy cracks up?

Decent, although Bud and Lou's comedy might be a bit broad for today's audience. The effects are decent, although the focus is more on comedy than horror.



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