Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)

Lou is believed to be the killer of a rude guest at a hotel where he works as a bell boy. However much more is going on, and all sorts of suspicious characters pop in and out for a ton of silliness in the team's first follow-up to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein which had been a tremendous success to you before. Boris Karloff mention in the title play a swami and may or may not be the murderer.All sorts of other wacky characters appear in and out of the action, before me to highlight of this scene between Loul, in drag, and flirtatious hotel guest Percy Helton who won't take no for an answer and tries to interfere in a card game between Lou and four murdered men. Yes there are some good laughs, but it's all pretty unbelievable.Lenore Aubert, who played the van in the previous years Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, is back for a second go around. Alan Mowbray offers some amusement as the snooty and suspicious hotel mas for Karloff, he truly appears to be slumming in this film, as if trying to capture some of the acclaim. So called rival Bela Lugosi had gotten appearing with the boy there before. He is funny in a diabolical scenery where he tried unsuccessfully to get Costello to commit suicide with hysterical consequences. But true that if you don't succeed, try try again, Karloff would be back again with them double years later when they met Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A slapstick conclusion in a spooky cavern adds atmospheric chills and is filled with suspense.

I wouldn't want to accuse Universal-International of "stunt casting", but one does get the feeling Boris Karloff's sole purpose for appearing in this movie was the marquee value of his name attached to it. Given his actual role in the movie--a role by some reports that was originally supposed to be played by a woman--it's kind of hard to argue that point.Karloff is only a minor player in the overall scheme of things--and perhaps Boris' reasons for taking the part was his way of trying to make up for not playing the part of the "Frankenstein Monster" in Abbott and Costello's legendary first "Meet" picture.In any event, as I've said elsewhere, this film was produced during that time period when A & C's feature films were becoming very hit or miss. There are some funny scenes--particularly amusing was when the cops & Bud think Lou has been poisoned & Bud proceeds to pour a whole bunch of solutions down Costello's throat.Still, this film is very heavy on plot & seemingly light on Abbott and Costello action. There are some intermittent chuckles throughout, but I would say this film pales badly when compared to the "Meet Frankenstein" film--but maybe it's not fair to compare the 2. Now that I think about it, most of the "Meet" pictures, aside from the first were pretty underwhelming & this is coming from a longtime Abbott and Costello fan.5 stars

Bud & Lou find themselves at the center of a murder mystery, the chief suspect? Why Lou Costello of course.As a comedy, Meet The Killer offers nothing fresh to what we haven't seen before from the boys prior to this 1949 offering, not that the comedy doesn't deliver, because it does, very much so. Be it Freddie (Costello) being too stupid to be hypnotised by the shifty Swami (Boris Karloff), or a wonderful sequence of events down in the creepy caverns, it's fun and very diverting. However, the strength in "Meet The Killer" is that it works very well as a whodunit mystery, a ream of characters, all acting oddly, come and go to keep the viewer guessing right through to the cheery pay off. It's entertaining on two fronts and has a cast clearly having fun into the bargain. Super shadowy photography by Charles Van Enger as well. Enjoy!Now, about that Tortoise? 7/10

There is a comment about the title of this addition to the Abbott & Costello films that is a little unfair - but only a little. Entitled ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF, some purists sniff that as Karloff is not the killer in the film, the title is as misleading as the later ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS (wherein they actually go to Venus). But the difference is that Karloff is a killer. Not only does he attempt to hypnotize Lou into committing suicide (which would enable the police to drop an investigation at a hotel where Karloff is stuck in), but he is also a former homicide case defendant who was acquitted thanks to his lawyer Amos Strickland (Nicholas Joy). No, Karloff is not the murderer of Joy, but he is a suspected murderer (the police feel that Karloff's acquittal was due to his lawyer, not to his not being the murderer). So the title is actually not a cheat. Like WHO DONE IT? it is a murder mystery comedy, but here the suspicion against Lou (an incompetent bellhop) is more realistic than in the earlier film. Lou and Bud work at a resort hotel. Bud is the house detective. Lou is involved in an incident where he bungles badly while handling the luggage of lawyer Joy. The latter complains vociferously to the hotel manager (Alan Mowbray), who fires Costello. Lou, realizing what has caused his dismissal, actually makes a threatening statement to Joy. So when the latter is murdered, Lou is the leading suspect. But it seems that Joy was on the verge of writing his memoirs, in which he might set the record straight about those acquittals he won. This would not be what Karloff, Roland Winters, and a few others would like - they are beginning to live down their murder trials. All of them happen to be at the resort too, so they are also suspects.The film has some nice set pieces in it, mostly handled adroitly by Costello - such as a drag sequence where he attracts an admirer, and has to play cards with a corpse. He also, towards the conclusion, gives Abbott an unexpected scare suggesting Bud is the killer. But my two favorite pieces are when Karloff tries to hypnotize Lou, and almost gets knifed in the process, and when Lou discovers the benefits of being the chief suspect - being under house arrest in a luxury hotel has unexpected benefits through room service. After all, the state pays the bill!