'Face Off' Recap: 'Cryptic Creatures'

The mouth of the Mapinguari!
BY ASHLEY ADRIANCE

Ten artists remain on “Face Off” this week. The artists meet Mckenzie Westmore is an open field with renowned makeup artist Howard Berger ("Kill Bill," "Oz," and "Breaking Bad").

FOUNDATION CHALLENGE
There is no more terrifying fantasy creature than the orc, they are brutal warriors who never travel alone. This week’s foundation challenge, artists must work together in teams of two, choose a war banner and use it to inspire a feature orc and his nine members…. yes nine! Howard Berger told the artists he would be looking for design and execution elements as well as looking to see how their orcs work with the banner. Artists were only given two and a half hours to complete the daunting challenge. Only one team can win and only one artist can win immunity this week.
The teams and their corresponding flags were:

Chloe and George - Black
Corinne and Matt - Blue
Graham and Tyler - Orange
Niko and Daran - Purple
Rashaad and Cat - Green

Top Teams - Chloe and George and Corinne and Matt
Winning Team - Corinne and Matt
Winning Artist with Immunity - Corinne

SPOTLIGHT CHALLENGE
Meeting in the middle of nowhere in a swamp, the artists meet up with Mckenzie to receive their spotlight challenge. She tells them that mysterious creature sightings are on the rise and they include such beings are the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. This week’s spotlight challenge involves working in teams of two, choosing a set of coordinates and bringing that location’s cryptid to life. The teams are:

Graham and Rashaad - Bunyip
Niko and George - Vodyanoy
Corinne and Matt - The Jersey Devil
Cat and Daran - Chupacabra
Chloe and Tyler - Mapinguari

Special Guest judge this week is Hollywood’s most sought after creature actor, Doug Jones ("Falling Skies," "Pan’s Labyrinth," "Fantastic Four," and "Hellboy"). He tells the artists that this week he will be looking for something organic, something that looks like he woke up that way and something the actor can move and perform in.

Artists set right off to work in the lab sculpting and fabricating their designs. Already, Daran wants to change the skin tone of their Chupacabra to something other than what the story of their creature states. Cat isn’t too happy about the decision but she focuses on other aspects of their cryptid design. Matt is also expressing his concerns about the challenge as he isn’t experienced in sculpting animal forms. He says that if his team is in the bottom looks this week, he could face elimination because Corinne has immunity. Matt's confidence level is dropping.

Cat’s also having some frustration issues as Daran takes over her cowl design. She feels that Daran doesn’t trust her and her frustration continues to mount on application day when Daran starts to use Cat as more of an assistant rather than a partner. By the time the clock runs down on Application Day, Cat is disappointed in their design because she let Daran make all the decisions.

ELIMINATION DAY
The artists meet Glenn, Ve, Neville, and special guest judge Doug Jones on the “Face Off” reveal stage. The creatures parade onstage and allow the judges a closer look at each cryptid. Ve made the commented that Corinne and Matt had visibly done less than the other teams.

Tyler and Chloe were one of the top teams this week with their Mapinguari cryptid. Glenn wanted to see their creature fight Captain Kirk and that it was “one of the finest paint jobs ever on this show” and it was “funny and believable." Neville loved that the creature had character within the character and Doug loved the mobility of the mouth on the stomach.

Another top team this week was Niko and George with their Vodyanoy cryptid. Neville thought there were some really good things in this creature and the “details look physically purposeful." Doug loved the “consistency of the fins throughout the creature." The last team to make top looks this week were Rashaad and Graham with their Bunyip cryptid. Doug said they were able to “make the ridiculous come together” and Ve thought they had “the kitchen sink boogie man” with an “amazing profile."

Bottom looks this week were Matt and Corinne’s Jersey Devil. Ve said they didn’t do enough this week and their wings “look like drapery.". Neville also expressed his lack of interest in the creature by telling them that they “didn’t execute a high end makeup." Daran and Cat’s Chupacabra cryptid was also bottom looks this week. Glenn told them they were “off the tracks with their anatomy” and Doug said that the sculpt around the mouth would limit the actor’s expressions. Ve said the creature “looks like silly putty."

Top team - Tyler and Chloe
Winning Artist - Tyler
Eliminated - Matt

Tune in next Tuesday's all new episode of “Face Off," "Open Sesame” at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.