History Film / AbbottAndCostelloMeetTheKillerBorisKarloff

House detective Casey Edwards (Abbott) and hapless bellboy Freddie Philips (Costello) work at the Lost Caverns Resort Hotel. When famed criminal attorney Amos Strickland checks in, he gets in a fight with Freddie, and gets him fired. Freddie finds his murdered body, and he certainly looks guilty of killing Strickland himself – he took Strickland's bloodied handkerchief without thinking about it, and the gun used to kill him was found in his bedroom. Though Casey tries to clear his name, even going so far as to plant the gun elsewhere, police inspector Wellman and Sgt. Stone keep Freddie in his hotel room while they investigate. However, there are 8 more suspects in the case at the hotel: Strickland's secretary Gregory Milford, and 7 of Strickland's former clients, including the sinister Swami Talpur (Karloff). Apparently, Strickland was about to publish his memoirs, and said clients are more than a little hesitant for their criminal pasts to come out into the open. All of them are willing to let Freddie take the fall for the murder, especially since Angela tricked Freddie into writing and signing a confession note that the former cons now have... but the only way they can make sure Freddie doesn't refute the note is if he's dead.

* CatScare: Freddie, jumpy at all the attempts on his life, gets badly startled twice in a row during a sunny day outside: first when a flowerpot from a ledge above gets knocked over by a cat and almost hits him, then when an arrow nearly misses him – but it's a suction-dart arrow shot by a kid.

* HereWeGoAgain: After have getting rid of one of the many PeekaBooCorpse before getting blamed for the murder, Freddie believes he can finally relax and go to bed, but once he open the closet he sees another dead body. His reaction; [[OhNoNotAgain sighs to himself]], calmly walks out to get the laundry cart that were used to remove the previous body and place it by the closet and proceeds to scream at the top of his lungs after Casey.

* InstantlyProvenWrong: After Freddie booby-traps his doors, he mentions he didn't bother with the windows because a killer wouldn't bother with those - they're three stories up. Cue someone shooting at him through the window.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After Freddie lets it slip that he burned the handkerchief, the killer traps him under a waterfall and leaves him to drown. Fortunately, the detectives rescue him in time.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After Freddie lets it slip that he burned the handkerchief, the killer traps him under a waterfall and leaves him to drown. Fortunately, the detectives rescue him in time.

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: The killer wears one in the Lost Caverns while stalking Freddie.

* HereWeGoAgain: After have getting rid of one of the many PeekaBooCorpse before getting blamed for the murder, Freddie believes he can finally relax and go to bed, but once he open the closet he sees another dead body. His reaction; sighs to himself, calmly walks out to get the laundry cart that were used to remove the previous body and place it by the closet and proceeds to scream at the top of his lungs after Casey.

* BrokenEcho: When Freddie gets separated from Casey, Sgt. Stone and Inspector Wellman in the caverns he calls after them, but only gets an echo for answer. He starts to hum into three different tunnel entrances, one note higher than the last in each tunnel but gets no answer. Just when he's about to leave all three different hummings answers back at the same time.

* SaunaOfDeath: Someone tries killing Freddie by turning the heat all the way up when he's locked in a steam bath.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Abernathy, a hotel employee, comes on to Freddie quite persistently while he's disguised as a maid.

* BungledSuicide: Freddie has a whole string of these while being hypnotized by the swami. First, the swami orders him to put a noose around his neck and jump off the bed, but he pulls the ceiling fan down instead. The swami then tells Freddie to put his gun to his head and use it, but the "gun" turns out to be a spray bottle. He then orders Lou to climb onto a windowsill and jump, and he does - right back into the room. Finally, he tells him to "plunge this knife into the heart of the man in the mirror". From Freddie's point of view, the swami is "the man in the mirror". HilarityEnsues.

* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Freddie accidentally admits that he hid two dead bodies in an elevator, essentially confessing to the murders he's been wrongfully suspected of.

* BungledSuicide: Freddie has a whole string of these while being hypnotized by the swami. First, the swami orders him to put a noose around his neck and jump off the bed, but he pulls the ceiling fan down instead. The swami then tells Freddie to put his gun to his head and use it, but the "gun" turns out to be a spray bottle. He then orders Lou to climb onto a windowsill and jump, and he does - right back into the room. Finally, he tells him to "plunge this knife into the heart of the man in the mirror". From Lou's point of view, the swami is "the man in the mirror". HilarityEnsues.

* ChekhovsGag: An increasingly nervous Freddie booby-traps his room in several places, and two of them catch Casey and Wellman as one-off gags… but a third catches Melton in the climax when he tries to flee.

* Rewatch Bonus: Mr. Melton goes out of his way to accuse Freddie of the murders and even tells the cops that they're wasting their time with an investigation. [[spoiler: That's because ''he's'' the killer.]]

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff is a 1949 horror comedy starring [[Creator/AbbottAndCostello Bud Abbott and Lou Costello]], and co-starring (who else) Creator/BorisKarloff.

The film is generally seen as a fairly well-made, solid movie, more of a straight parody of film noir than Abbott and Costello’s usual silliness with murder mysteries and horror movies, and today it’s often looked on as something of an underrated gem.

* Exact Words: Abernathy asks Freddie for "a little smack" (kiss). A few seconds later, we hear a loud noise from the next room.

->'''Casey''': What happened?\\

'''Freddie''': Well, he asked for a smack, so I gave it to him.\\