Gas station attendants, Chuck and Ferdinand (guess who), inherit a broken down tavern from gangster Moose Matson (William Davidson) after he is slain by the police during a car chase. Forced to spend the night in their new piece of real estate with a group of genre regulars, including Richard Carlson, Evelyn Ankers and Joan Davis, the boys discover that a sleep over in a haunted house isn’t beneficial to the health of a short, heavyset man with multiple paranoid inflictions. Much gasping, sputtering and mugging ensues.

One of Abbott and Costello’s earliest and funniest comedies, HOLD THAT GHOST was the film that introduced the world to the classic Lou Costello scare take. The famous duo truly excelled at the scare comedy subgenre and Lou was second to none when it came to expressing quivering jello, frenzied out of your mind fear. Audiences ate the shit up and more A&C horror comedies followed, including the team’s masterpiece: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948). Best bit: The Moving Candle routine; a burlesque masterpiece of lowbrow humor.

Zevk,
Poe

• Author
• Recent Posts

Jon Abrams

Editor-In-Chief at Daily Grindhouse

Jon Abrams is a New York-based writer, cartoonist, and committed cinemaniac whose complete work and credits can be found at his site, Demon’s Resume. You can contact him on Twitter as @JonZilla___.

Latest posts by Jon Abrams (see all)

• [THE BIG QUESTION] WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FEMALE ENSEMBLE IN MOVIES? - July 22, 2016
• [IN THEATERS NOW] THE BOY (2016) - January 24, 2016
• Cult Movie Mania Releases Lucio Fulci Limited Edition VHS Sets - January 5, 2016

Tags: abbott and costello, hold that ghost