MovieChat Forums > Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949) Discussion > wasn't anyone else scared?

wasn't anyone else scared?

posted 15 years ago by NewtonFigg
10 replies | jump to latest

After I saw it at our local movie house, I had nightmares for weeks. Of course, I was just a little feller then. I haven't watched it since and, when my kids were little, and an Abbott and Costello feature ran every week on the TV, I always made sure to distract them to do something else when this movie came on. But nobody here seems the least bit scared. Is it possible some of the really frightening stuff has been edited out? One scene that got to me was Costello getting his head stuck in a hole in the rocks (imagine his head is sticking up through the drain hole in the bottom of a basin) and the hooded killer diverts a stream so the water will run into the basin and drown Lou. If that was supposed to be funny, it went over my head.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] stevenackerman69 15 years ago

That sequence was the first sequence I remember from this film when I first watched it. It didn't scare me because it just seemed funny to me the way Lou was screaming for Casey (Bud) as though he were his mother. The ironic thing is I wonder how Lou felt about doing a joke about drowning since he didn't like that after his son drowned in his pool. But one sequence that sort've shocked me was the first time we see Strickland's dead body. Maybe it was a combination of the music and the way he looked that got to me.

[–] NewtonFigg 15 years ago

Strickland. Was that the guy whose body fell forward with a knife in its back when Lou opened the closet door? I guess you've seen the movie more recently than I have if you remember that name. When I saw it, the newsreel between the features announced the death of Al Jolsen.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 15 years ago

A version I saw a thousand year ago had a segment with Abbot trying to teach crippled spastics to dance. Its been cut out of the tv version.

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (3385874) 15 years ago

Strickland is the first corpse Lou finds. The one that fell forward, if it's the one I'm thinking of, didn't have a knife in his back, but was hanging up like a coat it Lou's closet, and then later fell into the laundry cart when Lou closed a different closet door in his room, the dead person being Relia.

I'm afraid I can't think of anything.

[–] stevenackerman69 14 years ago

Strickland was the lawyer who came to the hotel to speak to Krandall. Costello sort of causes trouble for Strickland in an unconscious way and gets fired at Strickland's insistance. Costello then is ticked off and tells him he'll get even with him. He goes to see Strickland in his room a little later and finds him murdered. He is the first of three people killed in this film. The other two are Strickland's secretary Milford and Mike Relia, an old client of Strickland's whose gun killed Strickland.

[–] stevenackerman69 12 years ago

Strickland was that *beep* attorney at the beginning who gets Freddy fired. Anyway, Freddy goes to apologize and finds Strickland has been murdered. I don't remember any of the three victims doing what you described.

[–] frontrowkid2002 12 years ago

I think I may have seen this A&C when it first came out. I now have the video copy so I can refresh my memory. Don't know how I felt about the scenes in the spooky cave with the hooded killer lurking around, but I do remember seeing a couple of films that disturbed me more than that. Kiss of Death co-starred Riohard Widmark as a crazy killer who pushes an old lady in a wheelchair down a steep flight of stairs. Now that's something that will prey on a youngster's mind for a long time. Also there was a Roy Rogers movie where a pack of wild dogs attacked people. Now that's scary!!!

[–] dustinthewind25 11 years ago

I remember seeing this movie on tv when I was in kindergarten, and not being scared, just being on the edge of my seat hoping he'd hurry up and get rescued.

I think this is Abbott and Costello's most underrated movie. Part of the sharpness of the comedy, for me, is the film makers creating a story where the boys, more specifically Lou, is really in danger, it just heightens the comedy and the excitement for me. I thought this movie was REALLY full of atmosphere, especially that ending in the cavern.

[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 9 years ago

I don't see how this is classified as a horror when there are no horror elements at all except for maybe the cave sequence at the end, but even that's a stretch. Its more of a whodunnit.

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried