Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Monsters (2001)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Another extremely fun and insightful documentary from Universal about the making of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, the 1948 classic that had the studios most popular comedians teaming up with their most popular monsters. Bob Burns, Bob Madison and David J. Skal are on hand to offer up some history of the movie but we also get Bela Lugosi, Jr. who has some nice memories of being on the set and Chris Costello, who was one year when the film was made and tells a hilarious story of being scared by Glenn Strange who was in the monster make up. The documentary talks about the original screenplay, the fact that the stars hated it and of course we get stories about how Bela Lugosi wasn't the original selection to play Dracula. We get to hear all sorts of fun behind the scenes stuff but we also get some nice outtakes, which I'm sure most fans have seen elsewhere. The only disappointing thing about this documentary and the original DVD release is that there were many more outtakes not included. With that said, fans get some terrific interviews and one can't help but smile at the stories and most importantly is that the documentary makes you want to watch the classic film again. The later "Meet" films are also discussed but there's not as much detail on them.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Another extremely fun and insightful documentary from Universal about the making of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, the 1948 classic that had the studios most popular comedians teaming up with their most popular monsters. Bob Burns, Bob Madison and David J. Skal are on hand to offer up some history of the movie but we also get Bela Lugosi, Jr. who has some nice memories of being on the set and Chris Costello, who was one year when the film was made and tells a hilarious story of being scared by Glenn Strange who was in the monster make up. The documentary talks about the original screenplay, the fact that the stars hated it and of course we get stories about how Bela Lugosi wasn't the original selection to play Dracula. We get to hear all sorts of fun behind the scenes stuff but we also get some nice outtakes, which I'm sure most fans have seen elsewhere. The only disappointing thing about this documentary and the original DVD release is that there were many more outtakes not included. With that said, fans get some terrific interviews and one can't help but smile at the stories and most importantly is that the documentary makes you want to watch the classic film again. The later "Meet" films are also discussed but there's not as much detail on them.