Review

The Winchester head to Oktoberfest in deepest darkest "Pennsylvania" following up a story about a vampire attack. When they arrive they discover it was indeed a vampire attack, except more like out of an old Dracula movie and less like they have experienced previously. Thinking the job is some sort of hoax they decide to leave only to be stopped as apparently the Wolfman and the Mummy also launch late night attacks on victims. All suspicion falls on Ed Brewer, the creepy new guy in town who works down the local cinema.

Dean discovers what they might be hunting after saving barmaid Jamie from Dracula, who escapes on a Vespa, seems a shape shifter with a fondness for old monster movies is in town. Can the Winchesters discover who the monster is before the freak "Creature from the Black Lagoon's" someone? A return to old fashion Universal monster movies ensues.

It was cool to take a break from the end of the world, Satanic omens, and Angels on missions and return to good old fashion Supernatural shenanigans involving the monster of the week. Except with Monster Movie Director Robert Singer is really talking "old fashion", we get a black and white episode that pays tribute to all those monster movies that Hammer and Universal used to send our way. There's a real authentic feel to the episode, including score, dark and stormy nights, and even a sort of Eastern European village feeling happening via the Oktoberfest thing going down. Add in some dry ice, from a props company in Philly apparently, and the sort of storyline dragged kicking and biting from The Bride of Dracula and you pretty much have an episode that isn't taking itself seriously but which still has a few nice touches to remind the viewer that Supernatural never ever lets it's guard down when it comes to a professional episode.

While I'm going to heap praise on the episode for the inherent humour writer Ben Edlund injected I also have to point out a couple of poignant scenes that really nailed the episode for me. In the first Dean is talking about his life as a hunter to love interest Jamie, who pretty much thinks it sucks. Dean finally breaks it down to being on a mission to save people, and more importantly, being on a mission from God. Has Dean come to the conclusion that what he does is ordained, his fate, the one aspect of his life that provides meaning? Considering the dude has been all about family up to now that is some declaration, he didn't previously believe in God, now he does, and he admits to a mission to save the innocent. Has Dean finally grown up and is taking it seriously? Oh hell no, but I think he has finally come to terms with his place in the Supernatural cosmos.

An excellent and unexpected episode that had me bright eyed and bushy tailed

Equally our monster for the evening talks about being an outcast, of being the freak amongst normal people, of finding power in the classic monsters of filmdom. In his mind he was driven to the role he has adopted by the unacceptance of society, a recurrent theme in Supernatural, Jamie points out that he is still murdering people, which kind of takes the wind out of this particular sail. And yes loved the line "it was beauty that killed the beast", perhaps the most well known quote ever from a dark genre flick.

Naturally the episode does revolve around the humour element that is never far from the pens of Supernatural script writers. Whether it's Dracula escaping on a Vespa, not something you see every day, or Dean remarking that it's good to get back to a "black and white" case, Ben Edlund is dropping both punch lines and visual gags in at an alarming pace for those who simply wanted the chills. I didn't actually get any chills from the episode, but nevertheless was rocking out to the visuals as Dean and Sam fumbled their way through a case that was slightly on the surreal side.

I was also digging the references to the old black and white movies that were being thrown my way. Multiple Dracula moments had me nodding my head in approval, the lycan attack on the couple parked out in an isolated lovers lane, the Phantom of the Opera moment, and of course the classic Hammer moment of the Mummy rising from his sarcophagus. It was awesome stuff and I was certainly giving my screen two thumbs up.

About the only query I had, and this is minor, was with Lucy constantly doing the lippy thing on a paper napkin. Just wasn't drawing the reference there and was left somewhat adrift as it was clearly meant to be a clue, one I think Sam picked up on. I can't recall anything similar from the two previous episodes that have involved this particular creature, and thus far haven't discovered anything on the net to shed a light.

Not surprisingly the episode is light when it comes to mullet rock, though I would add that Monster Movies includes a lot of references to classic Horror orchestral movements including Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor". For once I'm not going to complain about the lack of tunes, the episode score fitted the subject matter perfectly without the need of even Black Sabbath or Kansas.

Well Monster Movie was certainly boarding on eccentric, but as a divergence from normal Supernatural fare really hit the nail on the head for some reason. When a season involves the biblical apocalypse you are not expecting a lot of laughs, the team pulled it off with this episode that took a break from more weighty issues. An excellent episode that underlined the ability of Supernatural to pull something surprising out of left field, I'm giving it full marks.