Abbott and Costello's comedies, while always pretty damn funny, eventually morphed into horror spoofs that reincarnated some of the studio's most notorious horror monsters. In their most famous movie, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, they not only have to survive running into Frankenstein, but Dracula and Wolf Man as well. Far from what was considered scary at the time, the movie is said to be the first successful comedy-horror film, due to its combination of well-known monsters and the beloved screwball comedy duo, according to Vulture.
Not only did AaCMF completely redefine how a horror movie can be written, it also paved the way for other types of horror comedies to be successful, such as dark comedies and horror parodies. As such, n 2011, the film was found to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the US Library of Congress, and was inducted into the National Film Registry, where it will be preserved as part of American history forever. While most people would roll their eyes these days if this kind of slapstick humor ended up in a modern-day horror flick, without it we might not have the more modern horror-humor films we love, like Shaun of the Dead, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, and Scary Movie But Not 3-5 Because Uck. And what kind of world would we be living in if those films didn't exist? Not a frightfully one, for sure.
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