Supernatural Review: Season 4 Episode 5 "Monster Movie"

By: Ben Edlund

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

          Dean in lederhosen; now there's one sight I'm never going to be able to unsee! What do you get when you combine Sam and Dean, Young Frankenstein, and a Bela Lugosi wanna-be? YOU GET JUST ABOUT THE BEST EPISODE OF SUPERNATURAL EVER!

          I am a big fan of satire and spoofing. This is why books such as Tales From Dust River Gulch and Catherine, Called Birdy are so near and dear to my heart. They are funny because they take a set genre or type of story and lovingly parody it, exposing all of the peccadilloes and absurdities of the tropes and trends that come along with it. One of my favorite movies of all time is the aforementioned Young Frankenstein. Needless to say whenever this episode opened with the classic Warner Brothers black-and-white titles and music, I was wriggling in my seat with delight.

         So what's the story? Basically it is Sam and Dean taking on a crazier than usual shapeshifter with a fetish for the old monster movies. The episode is full of puns and references that both play homage to and poke fun at those old black-and-white classics. We've got Dracula, Wolfman, and Mummy alongside organ music, Oktoberfest, and lots of dry ice fog. SO much work went into this episode to make it the masterpiece it is (shooting in black-and-white and making it look good isn't easy, after all) and little touches like Dracula fleeing Dean on a moped are just the icing on the cake. Even if you're not a die-hard SPN fan, you need to see this episode!


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- I love the way the flash of lightning makes the sign momentarily flash from 'Pennsylvania' to 'Transylvania' as the boys drive by.


- Dean and his giant pretzel...

- Dean and Sam use the names Agents 'Angus' and 'Young'. Angus Young was the lead guitarist from AC/DC. Gotta love Dean and his alias choices!

- For the purposes of this episode the brotherly tension and impending world doom has more or less been set aside, bar a short discussion at the beginning of the story. It was about time we got some lightheartedness after the past four episodes.

- "This killer's some kinda grade A whacko, right? Some Satan-worshiping, Anne-Rice-reading gothic psycho vampire wannabe."

- As soon as they introduce that one girl as 'Lucy', my suspicion sensors went on overdrive. True it could just have been a clever reference to Bram Stoker's infamous tale...but this is Supernatural. Nothing is that simple.

- This episode has a VERY Young Frankenstein-y feel to it. Jamie even looks a little bit like Inga!

- Dean spends a lot of time calling Sam 'brother' in this episode, particularly whenever they're hanging about the bar and having lunch together. For a moment we were almost seeing the relationship from pre-Hell era. *sigh* If only it would last...

- So Dean scores a date with Jamie and very heroically saves her from Dracula (ripping off its ear in the process) before taking her out for a bracing drink. During the conversation that follows (during which Sam barges in) are given this nice little exchange:
Dean: "We need to catch this freak before he creature-from-the-black-lagoon's somebody."
Jamie: "So you guys are, like, Mulder and Scully or something, and The X-Files are real."
Dean: "No. The X-Files is a TV show. This is real."

- Sam then goes off to the old movie theater to apprehend their supposed culprit. This is a great scene, full of fun shadows and angles, and backed by the haunting music of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. 

- Of course the moment when it switches from pipe organ to jazz makes me laugh out loud.

- Turns out that Lucy was actually the shapeshifter (the same one portraying Wolfman and The Mummy) in disguise. 'She' drugs Jamie and Dean and carts them off to a dungeon where Dean wakes up strapped to a Frankenstein table...in lederhosen. HAHAHAHA!

- The entire monologue scene is just priceless. Dean is being his usually cocky, smart-mouthed self while the shapeshifter is just waxing poetic about how utterly insane he is (Dracula's bride is reborn? Seriously? What has HE been smoking?!) and drawing out the execution of our hero (he thinks Dean is Jonathan Harker) to a ridiculous length. Dean looks absolutely nonplussed whenever the doorbell rings.

- Dracula orders a pizza. No. Really. Just let that sink in for a minute or two...

- "Is there...GARLIC on this pizza?!"

- Todd Stashwick simply embodies the persona of the shapeshifter, managing to be both funny and tragic at the same time. Usually whenever a show tries to make the audience feel pity for one of the villains/monsters they just come across as preachy and pushy. But here we get a chance to really feel for this poor soul, even as we recognize that he must be stopped. His accent is hilariously perfect too.

- There is a particularly funny moment whenever Sam rescues Dean (after mockingly calling him 'Hansel') and they are on their way to save Jamie so Sam tries to kick in the door. But, because it's just a theater prop, his foot goes right through and he ends up stuck. It's twice as funny because it's a self-parody on the number of times the brothers have beaten down doors that way.

- I picked up definite Young Frankenstein vibes in the monster's death scene. I've played the Transylvanian Lullaby and that backing violin music DEFINITELY carried shades of it. Perfect!

             This was a fun, funny little break from all of the tension and angst. Ben Edlund stories are always a lot of fun to watch (and, clearly, to make) and this one may just be my favorite. It's not just because of all the perfect parody elements, though that does play a big part in my enjoyment. There's just so little true parody available in professional and popular media. This is how it's done, folks! Monster Movie was funny, touching, dark, touching, and just about everything you could wish for in an episode of television. It is a 5/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?