The black-and-white episode was a risky experiment for the show, and it paid off.
Heading back to work for season 4, star Jared Padalecki remembers a specific feeling around the production.
Series creatorEric Kripkeadds, We were in a really great spot by season 4.
Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in “Monster Movie”.Everett Collection
More than 15 years later, it’s still remembered as one of the series' strongest episodes.
Alongside Edlund was director Robert Singer, an executive producer on the series and a massive movie fan himself.
I was always hoping that we could start taking those same kinds of swings.
Todd Stashwick in “Monster Movie”.Everett Collection
But I think Ben came up with the shapeshifter.
That makes no f—ing sense.
ROBERT SINGER (Director):I think that script was Ben at his best.
Melinda Sward in “Monster Movie”.The CW
KRIPKE:Bob has an encyclopedic knowledge of movies, especially older films.
I really took pains to make it look as old fashioned as I possibly could.
We did a lot of shadow play.
Jensen Ackles and Todd Stashwick in “Monster Movie”.SERGEI BACHLAKOV/THE CW
The answer was Todd Stashwick.
TODD STASHWICK (Dracula):They wanted a full-on replication of Bela Lugosis performance.
I went in [to the audition] and just swung for the rafters.
Todd Stashwick in “Monster Movie”.SERGEI BACHLAKOV/THE CW
That was an easy call to cast him.
KRIPKE:We needed someone who could stick the landing on the Dracula part and thats really hard.
Its hard to do it and have it not come off like a bit.
Todd is a remarkable mimic of Bela Lugosi and brings humanity and soulfulness and depth to it.
PADALECKI:That episode belongs to Todd Stashwick.
Hes so damn good.
KRIPKE:At the time, there was a young female fan named Jamie.
And she responded and said, Thats amazing, but can you just do me a favor?
Can you check that its a character that doesnt die?
So the female lead in this one we named Jamie.
That was one of the only times we ever named a character after a real person and a fan.
ACKLES:Jamie was one of my favorite Dean Girls.
Melinda was so good and so fun.
SINGER:Right from the opening of the Warner Brothers shield, you know where youre going.
It set the tone perfectly.
The font, the way you list every crew member, and it just goes on forever.
And [composer Christopher] Lennertz wrote real orchestral music for it.
I just love the opening of that episode and the way we did that title sequence.
Suddenly everyone looks like European villagers and everything becomes a real monster movie.
SINGER:And that location was a party site, but it worked perfect for us.
PADALECKI:It was like an amusement park in the outskirts of Vancouver that we rented out.
It ended up unfortunately getting torn down and turned into condos or something.
So naturally, Dean punched the shapeshifter in the face.
A fight ensued, one that ended with Dean holding an ear and Dracula … riding a vespa?
It touches it all.
Bob said it early on and it became a mantra of ours: No joke is too cheap.
STASHWICK:Thats the infamous assault scene.
ACKLES:He caught me with an elbow but he probably thought he hit me harder than he did.
It was a mix between a good shot and a graze, but he immediately broke character.
He was like, Are you good?
And I was like, Yeah, that one woke me up.
Her friend Lucy (Holly Elissa) then showed up just in time to spike their drinks.
By the time Dean woke up, he was wearing Lederhosen while strapped to a table in a dungeon.
SINGER:Jensen was like, Oh god do I have to wear this?
So to make him feel better, I put on the Lederhosen top.
ACKLES:I remember that!
He directed in that shirt.
[Laughs] Those were authentic leather Lederhosen from Bavaria.
Only the best for Dean.
So they had to make it a little bigger cause hes kind of big.
Dean wasnt in the dungeon long before Dracula left him to go answer the doorbell.
It seemed the shapeshifter ordered a pizza … and he had a coupon.
Thats almost a direct ripoff of the Steve Martin movieThe Man with Two Brains.
And then the way the pizza guys so bored and over it: Did you order garlic?
And then he says, No!
Its the way that hes so bored of this Dracula at the door.
And Bob would be like, Is there garlic on it?
So that became a little ism on set.
I have the no’s that are heard around the world.
No matter how crazy, he always has such a talent for capturing humanity.
I give him all the credit in the world for that.
So even with all this fun, we managed to give him something a little more to do.
This monster just really loved the movies.
He was the ultimate cosplayer.
It might be the thing Im most known for outside ofStar Trek, that one episode of TV.
THE END…?
KRIPKE:I remember it getting a positive reception.
I think people appreciated the swings we were starting to take.
I just love that this small little supernatural show thats arguably aBuffyripoff on The CW got so experimental.
ACKLES:This was really when we were hitting our stride.
We were in the pocket with these characters, with the storytelling, with the writing.
And then third season we started playing a little bit.
So by the fourth season, were like, “Now we know where we need to be.”
This was the perfect time to do one of these outside-the-box episodes.
This is definitely one of my top 10.
I just had the best time doing it.
