Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

1949 "MORE GHOULISH GLEE THAN WHEN THEY MET FRANKENSTEIN!"
6.7| 1h24m| en| More Info
Released: 22 August 1949 Released
Producted By: Universal International Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Lost Caverns Hotel bellhop Freddie Phillips is suspected of murder. Swami Talpur tries to hypnotize Freddie into confessing, but Freddie is too stupid for the plot to work. Inspector Wellman uses Freddie to get the killer (and it isn't the Swami).

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Reviews

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Mjeteconer Just perfect...
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
bensonmum2 Two things I just love - old murder mystery movies and Boris Karloff. Put them together, throw in Abbott and Costello, and you've got a winner. While I don't rate this as high as A&C's similarly themed Who Done It?, it's still a whole lot of fun. In this one, A&C are working in a hotel that's become the scene of a murder. Costello (playing Freddie Phillips) becomes prime suspect number one. But the hotel has several other strange, mysterious types on-hand, including the mystic Swami Talpur. Can Bud and Lou find the killer before they're killed themselves?This isn't deep - it's just good old-fashioned fun. While some of A&C's jokes may miss their mark, enough hit to make it very funny. There are bits and pieces here as good as any you'll find in any other A&C film. One of my favorite moments has to be watching the great Boris Karloff working with Costello in the hypnosis scene. What a blast! The final chase/confrontation in the underground cavers is nicely filmed and includes a moment or two of real suspense. I've got no problem at all rating this one a 7/10.
utgard14 Despite the title of the movie, Boris Karloff isn't in it much. He's fun when he is, though. He was the one thing missing in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, so it's nice that the boys could finally do a movie with him. The story here finds the duo working at a hotel. Abbott's the hotel detective and Costello's a bellboy who keeps getting into trouble. Suddenly dead bodies are popping up all over the hotel and all clues point to poor dumb Lou. Very funny comedy murder mystery. Lou seems to be having a great time in this one. Nice support from Alan Mowbray, James Flavin, Roland Winters, and Lenore Aubert. More Karloff would've been nice but the movie succeeds anyway.
AaronCapenBanner Abbott & Costello play Casey Edwards(the hotel detective) & Freddie Phillips(the hotel bellhop) who get mixed up in murder as someone has murdered the boss, Mr. Strickland, and Freddie is the prime suspect because he had just been fired, and publicly threatened him. Now forced to prove his innocence, he and Casey investigate the crime, which has many suspects, including Lenore Aubert and Boris Karloff(of course) who plays a swami trying to convince Freddie to kill himself, in order to stop the police from investigating. This fails, and the real killer is pursued to a dangerous cavern in the film's spooky climax, which is really the best thing about this haphazardly structured comedy thriller. Boris is largely wasted, comedy is often strained.
TheLittleSongbird Abbott and Costello are one of the best comedy duos on film, and there are some great entries of theirs, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein being a contender for their best. Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff is not one their high-points, there are a few draggy spots, a rather standard story and while he is eerie and commanding Boris Karloff is underused(so much for the misleading title). The gags are well-timed and funny though, especially the dressing up in drag, Costello being hypnotised by Karloff and playing cards with a corpse. There is a very nice mix of zany comedy and suspenseful mystery elements, the dialogue is snappily written, the film looks good and is directed in a way that allows the stars to have fun and the story to breathe while not leaving things out of control. Abbott and Costello are still as funny as ever and their chemistry still sparkles even with contrasting personalities. The acting is solid enough from all, Karloff is still fine in his role, you just want to see more of him considering how great an actor he was and is. Overall, not among the greats with Abbott and Costello but makes for good fun regardless. 7/10 Bethany Cox