Recap / Supernatural S 04 E 05 Monster Movie

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Recap of Supernatural
Season 4, Episode 5:

Monster Movie

Dean Come on, man, it's like the good old days! An honest-to-goodness monster hunt! It's about time the Winchesters got back to tackling a straightforward, black-and-white case.

Written by Ben Edlund.

Directed by Robert Singer.

Air Date: October 16, 2008.

Sam and Dean go to investigate a possible vampire killing only to end up involved in a series of murders modeled after old monster movies of The Golden Age of Hollywood.

Body count

For this episode = 2 humans and 1 shapeshifter.

For the series so far = At least 270 humans (of which 3 were witches), 14 demons, 24 ghosts, 10 vampires, 6 changelings, 3 gods, 3 shapeshifters, 2 werewolves, 1 crocotta, 1 djinn, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shtriga, 1 wendigo, 1 zombie, 1 rugaru, and 1 dog.

Tropes

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• All in the Eyes: When we first see Dracula, his eyes are framed in a beam of light.
• Big Electric Switch: Drac takes his time reaching for it, to draw out the suspense as much as possible.

• Buxom Beauty Standard: Plenty of buxom beer wenches with Oktoberfest on.
  Dean: "I never forget a pretty [glaces down at Jamie's chest] everything."
• Captive Date: Dracula kidnaps Jamie and uses violence against her when she rebels.

• Classical Movie Vampire: Dracula. Invoked by the shapeshifter.
• Cliché Storm: Beautifully and hilariously invoked.
• Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Jamie shooting Dracula In the Back.
• Credits Gag: The opening credits list several producers, co-producers, executive producers, co-executive producers...
• Curse Cut Short: "You sorry sack of sh-" [punch]
• Damsel in Distress: Jamie. She turns into a Damsel out of Distress when she stands up to "Dracula" and is the one to kill him.
• Deliberately Monochrome: As an homage to classic black and white horror films.
• Dramatic Thunder: Can be heard throughout.
• The End... Or Is It?: A question mark appears after THE END.
• Evil Is Hammy: Justified Trope with Dracula who's channeling his movie persona.
• Face Death with Dignity: Despite his earlier Genre Blindness, Dracula accepts that his death is in fact the most appropriate ending.
• Faux Affably Evil: Dracula drops his polite demeanor and is Suddenly Shouting when Jamie refuses to put on the gown.
• Freudian Excuse: It's revealed that the shapeshifter suffered from Parental Abuse and publical shunning which made him become a real monster.
• Frequently Full Moon: Played with. The night Sam and Dean arrive in town, the moon is a Waxing Cresent, and still at least 9-10 days from being full. However, a few nights later when the shapeshifter takes the form of a werewolf, the moon is very full.
• Genre Blindness: Dean points out that the monster gets killed at the end of every monster movie. Dracula replies that this is his movie, and this time the monster wins and gets the girl! ...good thing this isn't actually an episode of Supernatural, or he might be wrong about that!
• Girl of the Week: Jamie for Dean.
• Glamour Failure: When the shapeshifter's face gets demolished by Dean.
• Grievous Bottley Harm: After realizing he's been drugged, Dean smashes the bottle to carve up the person responsible...then keels over unconscious.
• Immune to Bullets: The Mummy, but not Dracula (who is shot with Silver Bullets).
• Impairment Shot: Dean seeing his glass 5-fold.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Spoofed; the first witness drinks from a huge beer stein when giving his statement to the Winchesters, the next witness drinks from a super-size soda cup.
• Intermission: That lasts like 5 seconds.
• Iris Out: In the second to last scene.
• Knockout Punch: Dracula knocks Jamie out with a punch.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Dean notes before getting to the town that the supposed vampire investigation is a simple, "black and white case."
  Dean: The X-Files is a TV show. This is real.
• Left the Background Music On: Haunting '50s music plays during the Title Sequence as we view in on Dean, who then meddles with his car radio, complaining about how bad the local station is.
• Lightning Reveal: The sign in the beginning of the episode reading "Pennsylvania" changes to "Transylvania" when the lightning flashes.
• Mad Scientist Laboratory: Dean is Strapped to an Operating Table in Frankenstein's lab, so Dracula can electrocute him.
• Moment Killer: Lucy interrupts Jamie and Dean kissing.
• Monster Mash: Dracula, a Wolf Man and a Mummy. Technically subverted, as it's one monster: a shapeshifter.
• Neck Lift: The Mummy killing the security guard.
• The Noisy Straw: Anne-Marie makes loud noises sucking on her drink when being interviewed by Sam and Dean.
• Not So Stoic: Whenever something happens with Jamie that isn't according to Drac's script.
  Drac: "PUT ON THE GOWN!"
• Oh, Crap!: The security guard when seeing the mummy rise from the grave. He also drops his phone.
• Ominous Fog: Turns out to have created by a bucket of dry ice in the Mummy's coffin.
• Ominous Pipe Organ: Sam enters an old movie theater (currently showing Phantom of the Opera) and sees the sinister shadow of someone pounding away on a pipe organ. The man then presses a button and starts playing light music instead, as the 'organ' is just a digital keyboard resting on an old dresser.
• "Open!" Says Me: Sam goes to kick down a heavy wooden double door, only to knock a hole in what's actually a flimsy prop. The second kick sends it off its hinges.
• Our Vampires Are Different: The bite on the first victim's neck is two neat little bites, which confuses Sam and Dean, since in Supernatural vampire bites are huge, messy wounds.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Like the vampire, the Wolf Man causes the Winchesters some confusion, since Supernatural werewolves aren't like the traditional Wolf Man.
• Pivotal Wake-up: The Mummy rising from its coffin.
• Playing the Heart Strings: Plays when Dracula is lethally wounded by Jamie.
• Red Herring: Ed.
• Running Gag: Sam mistaking an innocent person for a monster and then awkwardly apologizing after attacking them.
• Screaming Woman: Anne-Marie.
• Shout-Out:
  • To many, many classic monster movies, from Dracula (1931) to The Phantom of the Opera.
  Jamie: So you guys are like Mulder and Scully or something and the X Files are real?
  • Dean also mentions the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
  • Dean after figuring his virginity's been restored says "The dude will not abide."
• Silver Bullet: Apparently Sam's weapon has these.
• Slashers Prefer Blondes: The villain isn't a slasher, but it's likely not a coincidence his preferred 'bride' is blonde, given their popularity in the movies he's copying.
• Slipping a Mickey: The Shapeshifter roofies Jamie and Dean.
• Smash to Black: "And... scene." [boots Dean in the face]
• Special Edition Title: A parody of classic black and white monster movies, with a black and white opening.
• Stalker with a Crush: "Dracula".
• Take That!: "Satan-worshiping Anne Rice-reading psycho Gothic vampire wannabe"
• Tempting Fate: "Anna-Marie, there aren't any wolves in Pennsylvania." [wolfman pulls him out of the car]
• Terror at Make-Out Point: A teen couple is attacked by a Wolf Man.
• Theatre Phantom: Sam is seen walking into a moviehouse called the Goethe Theater after hours. The feature film is The Phantom of the Opera. In the stereotypical Phantom fashion, a "mysterious" shadowy figure inside is at the organ playing Bach's "Toccata and Fugue". Believing this organist to be a murdering shape-shifter, Sam sneaks up behind him in a gender-bender parody of the unmasking scene in an attempt to tear off his ear. This turns out to be an embarrassing mistake for Sam.
• This Is Reality: What The X-Files isn't.
• Title Drop
  Drac: It is a monster movie, after all.
• Tourism-Derailing Event: In the episode, Sam and Dean are investigating a series of deaths that appear to be caused by classic movie monsters such as Dracula, the Wolfman, and the Mummy. It's occurring during the town's Oktoberfest, which the Sheriff is not happy about. That leads to this exchange while he's in the morgue showing the body of the first victim to Sam and Dean.
  Sheriff: Last thing this town needed, what with Oktoberfest and all.
  Sam: (Sarcastically) Well, it's definitely the last thing she needed.
• Unexpected Virgin: Played with. After being brought back from Hell, Dean believes he has been "re-hymen-ated". Sam, however, believes that his history is so sordid that even an angel can't wipe it clean.
• Unlikely Hero: Jamie proves much more than a Damsel in Distress when it is she, not one of the Winchesters, who shoots the shapeshifter dead.
• Vampire Hickey: A dead body with two neat puncture wounds on the neck confuses Sam and Dean, who know that real vampires have far more fangs and far worse bites. Justified because the shapeshifter was impersonating Count Dracula instead.
• Vampires Hate Garlic: On their pizza.
• Vampire Vords: Dracula speaks with an accent.
• Villain Ball: Yes, Dracula, go and answer the door before flipping the switch to electrocute Dean to death.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Spoofed with Drac putting away on a moped, including honking the horn.
• Villain Has a Point: At the end, Dean admits that he agrees with the shapeshifter that life would be simpler if it was like a movie.
• Villains Out Shopping: The monster takes a break from killing Dean to get his pizza, and tries to use a coupon to lower the price.
  Delivery Guy: Look, mister, I got four other deliveries to make. You want to just pay me the money so I can go?
  Dracula: Of course, yes, but I have a coupon.
• Would Hit a Girl: Dracula knocks out Jamie with a punch.