 Growing up on shows like 'Tiny Toons', I have seen quite a few parodies of this, but I never actually bothered to sit down and check it out for some reason. I won't lie, a part of it back then was always "black & white equals old and boring", but I didn't appreciate what these old films have gifted us over the years; often inspiring present-day works that I love. This particular title has become a bit of a legend, often dubbed one of the best comedies ever made. But is it dated in any way, or does it hold up as some sort of significant Halloween treat? Spoiler alert, it's most definitely the latter.
The film opens in London, England with good old Larry Talbot, aka the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) making an urgent phone call, overseas from a train station in Florida. There, Chick Young (Bud Abbott) and Wilbur Grey (Lou Costello) work as luggage clerks. Talbot tries to warn Wilbur about a shipment due for a local wax museum called "McDougal's House of Horrors", owned by a man named McDougal (Frank Ferguson). The shipment coming through apparently consists of the remains of Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange). The warning doesn't quite get through, as Talbot changes into a werewolf during the conversation. Carrying on, Chick and Wilbur eventually deliver the crates after hours to the museum for inspection from an insurance agent. Alone in the creepy wax museum, the pair continue to open the crates which unveil Dracula's coffin (with Dracula inside) and Frankenstein's Monster, although as old school comedy goes, Wibur is the only one who keeps experiencing face-to-face time with any monsters throughout the film. We soon learn that Dracula's grand plan is to give the Monster a better brain; one less brutish. The person in "mind" for the transfer ends up being Wilbur. Dracula then uses his lovely female "assistants" to lure him in, Dr. Sandra Mornay (Lenore Aubert) and the hypnotized Joan Raymond (Jane Randolph) and the comedy duo soon find themselves between various classic Universal monsters. This was a lot of fun, and I was quite thoroughly entertained by it after seeing so many of these monster movies that have taken themselves so seriously. Although these monster movies did start becoming a little more self-aware before this, I believe this was what truly solidified the concept. Apart from the comedy duo, the regular monster performances hold up great. Bela Lugosi brings back his classic charm to the Dracula character and plays it totally straight, even while goofy stuff is happening around him. As for Lon Chaney, I felt like he was all-too self aware of his role here, almost providing a stereotype of the role he's probably best known for - and that was a good thing. As for the Monster... well, he's the Monster, doing his thing as only a small portion of the film. Why it's not called 'Abbott & Costello Meet The Wolf Man' or 'Abbott & Costello Meet Dracula', I dunno, but there we have it. This may not have been the first horror-comedy in existence, but it probably has the distinction of being the most famous of the era, and I think it's for good reason. Perhaps the best part of this is getting some of those original and/or famous portrayals of these monsters to get in on the project. It seemed that with this, everyone involved was simply having a lot of fun with it. It didn't need to be dramatic in any sense, and by this point, the idea of a self-aware comedy really lends itself to the genre. This was most definitely a laugh and a half, and I had a great time with it. It's a solid hour and a half of Halloween fun for the whole family! 5/5
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 If you've been following along with these reviews, you may be wondering what happened to 'The Invisible Man Returns'. Well, funnily enough, I simply couldn't find it - invisible, indeed. It's actually one of the more difficult films to track down, unless you live in America and may be able to rent it through Amazon. But it didn't take me long to find a replacement with an early horror comedy starring Bob Hope called 'The Ghost Breakers'.
As a 'Ghostbusters' fan, I had to jump on it. There's a whole long story behind the film's namesake and some legal rights, but the fact that this film existed sort of helped put 'Ghostbusters' on the map. If nothing else, it helped inspire the film to get made, as Aykroyd's idea was to modernize some of these old horror spoofs. But I digress. We're here to talk about 'The Ghost Breakers', featuring the one and only Bob Hope, and a bunch of old, dated humor that might make one cringe today. It's very much a product of its time when it comes to a few racial jokes, but there's also a balance. It's sort of like going back to some old school Mel Brooks - there's something dated and uncomfortable there, but so much of the rest of the film is worth it anyway. The film follows Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) who inherits a mansion on Black Island, somewhere near the Cuban coast. The island may or may not be fictional, as in doing a bit of homework, the closest you get is an island in The Bahamas. Anyway, the mansion is said to be haunted. She is warned with a phone call from a stranger (Anthony Quinn) to keep away from the place, but Mary carries on with her plan to claim the property and sets sail towards the island. During all of this, a radio announcer named Larry Lawrence (Hope) lets some information slip over the radio about some members of the local underworld, headed by crime boss, Frenchy Duval (Paul Fix). This leads to a shoot-off, and Larry believing he shot one of Duvall's henchmen, which puts Larry on the run for his life. Coincidentally, he finds Mary (who he knows, and is living in the same hotel as Duval) and hides in one of her trunks, ready to head to Black Island with her. On the ship, he refers to himself as a "ghost breaker" - one who looks into, and gets rid of ghosts of the past. Little does he know just how literal he'll have to take his made up job. Along the way, Larry is aided by his valet, Alex (Willie Best), and this is where some of that dated humor comes into play. You sort of have to take it for what it was in 1940, and it's just funny enough to shake your head at it and question how much of it they'd ever get away with nowadays. Alex is very much the comedy relief in this; while Bob Hope has plenty of humorous lines and moments, Alex is that cowardly Scooby-Doo-like character who is so cartoonish that there's a point in the film he's so scared that he turns from black to white. So it teeters with some of its humor. But again, so much of it comes from Bob Hope, himself, who kinda keeps you on your toes with his delivery. Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the film, however, is that this is one of the first visual representations of what is called, in the film, a zombie. Zombies became a thing with 'White Zombie' back in '32, but they'd never become what they are today until 'Night of the Living Dead' in 1968. Up until then, there wasn't much more to them than being Mummy of Frankenstein-like, and it was more of a hypnosis thing than anything to do with the walking dead (at least as far as I know). The zombie is also impressively creepy looking for its time, portrayed by Noble Johnson, who often played extra roles as opposed to anything major. 'Ghost Breakers' is an interesting film, to say the least. Despite some of the dated humor, it's overall a pretty cool idea for the time, and one of the earliest examples of horror comedy. The super famous 'Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein' wouldn't be for another eight years, and one of the only horror comedies predating it is 'The Cat and the Canary'. It's always a lot of fun for me to go back in time and see what inspired my favorite subgenre of film, and I look forward to first-timing some more of these as I go. 4/5  We're finally into something altogether unfamiliar to me, which I didn't realize at first is one of the first horror comedies in existence. 'Abott and Costello Meet Frankenstein' (to be featured later this month) is often credited as the first commercially successful, but here we have one from the silent film era, and it holds up surprisingly well!
A rich, old man by the name of Cyrus West is shown being warn down by his prying relatives, comparing them to a bunch of cats surrounding a nearly defenseless canary, hence the title of the film. His relatives await his death so that they can grab some inheritance. However, he stipulates that his will waits 20 years to be read. The 20 years pass, and his relatives arrive at his large, eyesore of a creepy looking mansion. The will is read, and Annabelle West (Laura La Plante) is the only family member to inherit anything, since she's the only one left carrying the family name. That is, if she is deemed sane. If not, the money goes to someone else, along with some diamonds. The name of that someone is sealed within an envelope, which is picked up by a lawyer named Roger Crosby (Tully Marshall), but before it can be read, Mr. Crosby disappears. This begins to unravel a series of events that point to Annabelle being on the more unstable side of her sanity. I actually quite enjoyed this one, and would happily add it to my list of recommendations that lie somewhere under the radar. I found with this one, you get a little bit of that "meeting at the mansion" cliche, used in movies like 'Clue' or 'And Then There Were None'. But it combines with a sort of haunted mansion vibe, as the ghost of Cyrus West is still known to be haunting his house. This is actually a great title for horror comedy fans to take a look back on, to sort of see where things began. It adds a lighthearted creepiness to things, while up until this point, what I've seen has been pretty dramatic overall. It's not what you'd call a knee-slapper or anything, but the point is, it still plays with the concept much more than anything on my list I've watched so far. It's one of the best titles on my list yet, and it's not even what you'd call a big name as far as these classics go. You may have heard of it before, but it's not on par with anything quite like 'Nosferatu' or 'Hunchback'. The music is enjoyable at atmospheric, and the acting is well done, using so many emotional expressions. I can also appreciate the way the title cards are done. When someone's in fear, it'll change to some kind of horror font, but while things are reasonably calm, it's pretty normal. I think it's the first time I've really seen font add to the mood of things. All in all, it's a fun time, and far too under the radar. Hopefully this review helps get it out there a bit more. 5/5 |
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