The boys had met Frankenstein (Frankenstein's
Monster, to be completely accurate, as well as Dracula and The Wolf
Man) and it was a classic film. They later met The Invisible Man and it
was a fine, amusing picture. Now in this film, they meet Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The third time was not the charm. Making a
conscious decision not to use their usual verbal routines in the film,
Abbott and Costello are left with little else but fright humor. Even
the presence of Boris Karloff and Reginald Denny doesn't do much to
lift the film up from the level of joyless slapstick. Truth is, if you
take Abbott and Costello out of the film, it might have made a nice
horror film on the level of THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN. Instead, it
wallows in endless turns of Lou being frightened and Abbott falling
down. The boys, God love 'em, were tiring, and their comedy, at least
in the movies, was now tireseome. - JB
Abbott
and Costello The Age of Comedy