Our Abbott and Costello journey continues with ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF and we’ll discuss the elephant in the room right away - a complete waste of Boris Karloff. After coming off the success of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, it’s natural Universal would want to continue horror themed Universal films and the name of Boris Karloff is a very obvious marquee attraction. He was Universal’s top drawing horror star in the glory days, but the problem here is he’s used as an after thought. It was very shortly before filming began that they even decided to use Karloff, giving him a mystic swami part that was originally meant for a female. It’s very much an ensemble role with only one major scene of interest, that being the hypnotist scene with Lou Costello. It’s funny, for years in the forties Karloff got all the good major studio roles while Lugosi had a handful of butler red herring roles not worthy of his talents. In the case of initial Bud and Lou roles, things get reversed as Lugosi plays a signature Dracula role and Karloff plays - this. Still, Universal puts Karloff’s name in the title, exploitation at its finest. At least Karloff gets a better role next time he meets Bud and Lou.
Then there’s the whole murder mystery thing. Don’t even try to get me to explain the plot of this thing. Whatever part of the brain that is neurologically wired for such things does not exist in my skull. Even the classier mysteries like Charlie Chan and Sherlock Holmes I can enjoy on a superficial level, but the intricacies of the plot are beyond me. I think the problem is all the clues get explained away in a few sentences, Scooby Doo style, towards the end and A&CMTKBK (acronyms prevent carpal tunnel) is no exception. The Karloff suicide scene, the Lenore Aubert champagne scene, somehow they all tie into this jumbled mess. Taken on their own, they’re OK, but plot wise nothing really develops out of them. Really a shame in Aubert’s case, as she worked so well with Lou in A&CMF. Even the whole “romantic couple” just played out like one red herring, not really my thing.
OK, so I’ve said nothing positive about this movie for two whole paragraphs, yet overall, I like it. My reasoning for liking it is because it is simply an excuse for Lou Costello scare reactions. Scare reactions are one of the things Lou Costello was put on this Earth for, and he does plenty of them here. Reacting to dead corpses, playing up his innocence in a pandering style, reacting to the detox potion he is given, Lou is hyperactive and energetic throughout. The plot doesn’t matter so much in a Bud and Lou film when Lou is on fire like this and he carries the whole movie. Even the infamous suicide scene with Karloff is being carried by Lou. Hardly classic Boris in and of itself, what Boris does do is give Lou someone to work off of. The physical comedy and somnambulistic state Lou portrays here are an absolute riot. Using the knife as nail trimmers, the spray gun, the backward jumps with the noose and ledge, very well written and funny stuff. So is Lou conveying his complicated booby traps. Bud is OK with what he has but is not given that much like he had in say, AFRICA SCREAMS. However, Lou is awesome here and the main reason to watch this movie. Lou being hyperactive and scared is like watching The Three Stooges with tools - you don’t need plot as an excuse. Lou even makes a scene in drag funny, something I normally don’t care for yet he makes it work here. If you think Lou doesn’t help this movie, try imagining this script with Brown and Carney! I do have to add, that cave Lou is in towards the end is pretty friggin’ cool, so points for that as well.
A&CMTKBK is not going win any writing rewards and due to a lack of Boris, a severe disappointment for monster fans who don’t care for Bud and Lou by themselves. For this particular Bud and Lou fan, I cherish this as an opportunity to watch Lou go crazy and that’s enough to entertain me for 80 minutes. Beats the heck out of MEXICAN HAYRIDE.
