Episode Recap: In the Shadows

The field of contestants is steadily thinning, and that's pretty scary; kind of like a horror movie where you start with fifteen friends and they keep getting picked off, one by one...To keep the spooky theme rolling, McKenzie brings the remaining artists to a dark, shadowy warehouse and introduces them to Oren Peli, mastermind behind the Paranormal Activity phenomenon. Oren begins to explain their next challenge, as the lights flicker and shadowy forms appear on the wall: Monsters, goblins, and murderers! At least there's no sign saying "Double Elimination." That would be really scary.

In this solo challenge, they'll have to create a creature that is completely their own, yet matches the silhouette on the wall perfectly. After some initial sketching, they head back to the lab to make some monsters. Mr. Westmore drops in, and when he reaches Tanner's work, he notes that the nose looks a little...cute. Definitely not cool when you're trying to scare Oren Peli! Tanner resculpts the face, losing some time - but it's worth it. The next day, he starts in on the horns, which he intends to come out of the head and arc through the chest. It's a risky move, since he won't know if it works until application day, but he moves forward with his vision.

Checking in on the molds, it's mayhem, as usual. Niko and Cat are struggling to get everything done by the end of the day, but they make it through when Tyler comes in to lend a hand. Corinne finds her cowl mold completely locked. She realizes she has to ditch it and begin Plan B: a silhouette created only by the face, a wig, some pre-made prosthetic ears, and an amazing paint job.

At the reveal stage, Oren Peli returns to guest judge the creepy creations. He - along with the other judges - loves what Corinne did. It's understated, but gets the silhouette across perfectly, and her work mottling the skin of the goblin is a thing of beauty in and of itself. Niko's giant minotaur, the largest makeup he's ever created, is beautiful and spooky. Graham, who forced some truly unusual shapes (bug legs with teeth and fingernails) into a face sculpt, also does well and earns a spot on top. Niko and his minotaur nab the win this week, and he's absolutely elated.

Cat's concept was to create a praying mantis predator, but since the focal point of her makeup, two giant claws, didn't come out of their mold, her work looks more alien and less scary. She's joined in bottom looks by Daran, who focused on a giant mouth on the back of his character, but didn't do much original work on the face or the rest of the body. And the gamble that Tanner took on the horns of his creature fell short - he spent so much time trying to get the heavy things on that his paint job suffered, and the saran wrap fix he attempted for the body fell flat. He hit many tough points this week, and he's sent home, knowing he has much better work in him for the future.