S13.E02: Midnight Monsters 2018.06.12

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

In the first elimination challenge of the season, the artists battle it out as they create fun and lighthearted monsters inspired by real life day jobs.

[DEG9]

why, oh why do I cringe anytime Kelly opens her mouth?

[DEG9]

Hate to say it, because I do like this show, but I'm kinda glad this is the last season. 

[Maelstrom]

2 hours ago, DEG9 said:

why, oh why do I cringe anytime Kelly opens her mouth?

Because you have ears! And I’m right there with you.

OK, Bunny Cop was pretty cool. I could actually see that character in a movie. The rest... well, the less said, the better. They varied from wholly uninspired to downright awful. Although this challenge was a pretty tall order. How could they realistically come up with anything creative in two and a half days? I get frustrated when reality shows don’t give enough time to come anywhere close to decent work.

Are we actually getting a non-monster challenge next week?! Aztec-inspired aliens could make for some pretty cool makeups.

 I’m sorry Jo and Sasha are gone (more because they both have come across as genuinely decent people in both of their seasons than because of their makeup prowess) but not surprised. Can Kelly be next? Please? Also, it doesn’t seem fair that she had an extra person helping her, but since she didn’t win anyway I guess it doesn’t matter.

Edited June 13, 2018 by Maelstrom

[Frozendiva]

I was kinda happy that the lady with the large earrings was one of the ones to go. It's not something I go for - it is a personal choice and great for those who like the look - but the lobes were a bit off-putting. Just my two cents and not relevant to anyone else. Thought Mel would be the second one.

For All-Stars, I expect a bit better. Granted, there are still 14 facetestants and none of the looks really wowed me. Once they hit the last 6 or so, I start to pick the best one.

Monsters seem to be the easy choice. Having some whimsy or playfulness is tough. Walter's probably was the best of the bunch and am happy that he won this week.

I like the show but the talent pool seems to be getting more wading pool size. Maybe a couple years' break is what it needs.

[enoughcats]

Reading Mr. Westmore's book about his career, he worked in the industry (sometimes with little pay), then had a three year apprenticeship and then had to pass a test before he could be the makeup man for a TV show. 

That level of dedication doesn't seem to be there for most of these contestants.  It may be four years since we've seen them, but they don't seem to have grown that much.

I think I'm more disappointed with the childish posturing of Kelly and Mel's sort of mellow sort of hohum and then there was Sasha who just seemed to be a second grader passed to third grade before she was ready.

[GaT]

I didn't think a single one was good tonight. The only thing that looked whimsical to me was the big teeth monster, & non of the gags were any good IMO.

[mlp]

What part of whimsical did 10 out of 12 of them not understand?  I think Jason's would have won if he'd been able to make the tongue suddenly unfurl like he planned to do.  Without that bit, there was no sight gag as the judges said.  The rabbit was good because of its expression more than the horror element IMO.  The rest of the make ups were basically awful.  

I was happy to see Jo go because looking at her made me cringe.  Mel needs to go next.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I got annoyed when one of the guys was freaking out because the set was pink. Now I really hope that one of the future challenges is something like candyland glitter fairies just so whoever it was has to do something that is decidedly unmonster like.

I liked the bright colors that Jordan used for his dentist which gave his look a big impact even from a distance. But I was sure that the judges would not like that the entire head piece was essentially a stiff mask which didn't allow for movement. His was the only one that I thought had the kiddie aspect of the challenge.

Matt's dentist just looked like a regular monster with teeth stuck all over his face. I get the spurting blood but I didn't love it.

Kevon's waitress had a horrible looking face in the back. I don't mean horrific either. It just looked terrible. I know it's a monster but it just looked so unrealistic and like a Halloween mask.

Kelly's waitress head looked like a giant flower. I also didn't like the beard which seemed totally unnecessary.

Jo's firefighter looked so much better when it was a metallic silver. Once she put that red on top, it lost what I liked about it. The blockiness reminded me of Jim Carrey in The Mask.

Derek's firefighter slug thing wasn't my favorite but at least he got his gag done.

Damien's green judge was decent but I loved when he took off the green face and we saw the fleshy looking face underneath.

Graham's judge was too cartoonish for my taste.

I didn't like Yvonne's purple hairdresser because her face looked so plastic. I would have liked the second face on top better if it had been executed better.

Sasha's hairdresser looked like a bug. Her reveal was pretty disappointing. On the plus side, her model is gorgeous! What was Sasha wearing at judging? It looked like what the muses wore in Hercules.

Walter's rabbit police officer gets points for not looking like a straight up monster before the reveal. His was one of the few that looked more whimsical beforehand. I didn't love the slimy brain reveal though.

Mel's police officer looked almost alien to me. I liked that her gag reveal had a very vivid color contrast, but that's about it.

[DEL901]

What annoyed me was when Glenn questioned the skill level of one of the contestants.  Aren't these supposed to be "All Stars?  You guys presumably chose them.

[strippedhalo]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I got annoyed when one of the guys was freaking out because the set was pink. Now I really hope that one of the future challenges is something like candyland glitter fairies just so whoever it was has to do something that is decidedly unmonster like.

Yeah, I was immediately done with Graham when he started in on that.  I don't mind people expressing apprehension about challenges if they just straight up say that they're nervous because something is out of their comfort zone. That's honest! But a lot of times when contestants complain about "whimsical" challenges they seem to shoot for an "I'm too cool and edgy for this *coughgirlycough* challenge," which (to me) makes them sound childish. Pink is dumb! Monsters are cool! Girls have cooties!

I liked Jordan's dentist and Damien's judge the best. I know people are glad not to see Jo's ear gauges anymore (me, too, but I was more distracted by the blocky tattoo that goes from ear to ear under her chin), but I was sad that she went because she seemed like a nice, fun person. Not that Mel isn't!

[enoughcats]

1 hour ago, strippedhalo said:

. Pink is dumb! Monsters are cool! Girls have cooties!

I think we have the next challenge:  Incorporate this!

[HurricaneVal]

I didn't like any of them.  In my opinion, each and every single one of them failed at the challenge.  The characters were supposed to turn from dreams into nightmares, right?  Even the bunny cop was creepy and scary looking before the transition to nightmare.  They all went from ugly horror character to a moister and bloodier horror character.  Enough with the glistening slime, do a good whimsical makeup folks!

[Suzn]

I've really appreciated this show for the lack of contrived conflict and drama.  The people are competing, but seem to support and help one another.

Unfortunately, they have apparently run out of truly talented people, so I'm ready for this to be the final season.

32 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

I didn't like any of them.  In my opinion, each and every single one of them failed at the challenge.  The characters were supposed to turn from dreams into nightmares, right?  Even the bunny cop was creepy and scary looking before the transition to nightmare.  They all went from ugly horror character to a moister and bloodier horror character.  Enough with the glistening slime, do a good whimsical makeup folks!

ITA! Yes, the bunny was creepy before and disgusting after.   There wasn't a one that was whimsical - none of them seemed to even understand the concept.  I didn't care for any of them on this episode and not really on the last one either.

While I'm complaining, I've wondered for several season why the challenges are almost completely monsters, demons and aliens now.  They started the show with a lot of more interesting challenges, like painting someone into the background.  There is so much more to makeup than this.

A final complaint - I think somewhere in there, Mckenzie is an attractive women, but I really dislike the way she styles herself with the painted on dresses, excess makeup and garish hair color.

Edited June 13, 2018 by Suzn

[SherriAnt]

13 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

got annoyed when one of the guys was freaking out because the set was pink. Now I really hope that one of the future challenges is something like candyland glitter fairies just so whoever it was has to do something that is decidedly unmonster like

I think if that happened we'd be seeing a lot more tears during the talking heads! 

 

4 hours ago, Suzn said:

I've wondered for several season why the challenges are almost completely monsters, demons and aliens now.  They started the show with a lot of more interesting challenges, like painting someone into the background.  There is so much more to makeup than this.

I know, right? There was so much more creativity. They also had more restrictions, like having to use a surprise assortment of prosthetic pieces, or the face has to actually move. 

I guess they really did empty the talent pool. Now if only Glenn, Ve or Neville would apprentice (mentor) someone, I'd watch that. Or about doing the makeup for a movie, like from concept to finished product.

4 hours ago, Suzn said:

Mckenzie is an attractive women, but I really dislike the way she styles herself with the painted on dresses, excess makeup and garish hair color.

Yes, she definitely needs a new stylist. Is she still married to Patrick Tatopolous?

[sourpickles]

All right, I  came in a bit late.  I do not think when they were filming they knew it was final season...or all stars.  I will take the eliminations this week....you knew Jo was going to go because, let's face it, HOW many of us on here, or in general, watched S1?  Sasha, well, whatever.   They missed a socks opportunity there.  The Gherkin called a Jo elimination but I don't know how much more I can take of Mel or Kelly ( I really didn't realize how much she annoyed ppl., and then I paid attention....).  I disagree with the rabbit thing, only b/c I would swear that has been on here before.  After a while, I much preferred Jordan's mouth piece, which I can't quite place but has a style I can get behind. I was glad they only whipped out the "w" word once...there were two sets of makeups neither one of us liked, but I'll tell ya later because the Gherkin has to go to bed...............I still love this show!  I'll take the last season.

[Quilt Fairy]

Thirteen seasons in and even returning contestants STILL do not understand the meaning of the word "whimsical".  A handful of 2nd place finishers does not an All-Star season make.  I have good memories of a lot of the show's contestants but no one from this group.   This show is going out with a whimper instead of a bang.  

[Taeolas]

Not the best of makeups but the Rabbit did work the best. I think the contestants don't really 'get' whimsy as pointed out. The rabbit guy was worried that he'd be docked on the Whimsy aspect because he made a rabbit, when 'cute furry creatures' is probably one of the best ways to make a whimsy. 

I do wish he came up with a different gimmick than the hat reveal. Overall I didn't mind the look and liked it; as the judges pointed out, with the hat he was on the edge of the whimsy/scary line, but without the hat, the design choices flipped the gimmick and made it legit scarier. If he had ditched the ooze and maybe did something else on the scalp it might have been better.

 

The other officer, that was Rhino-inspired might have been stronger if she had gone full Furry on it and made him a legit rhino creature. It would have fit the whimsy aspect fine that way. The challenge then becomes creating the scary reveal which I admit stumps me a bit. Maybe an exploding horn or something with red lenses added to the eyes. 

 

Sasha's hairdresser might have survived if she had been a bit more creative with how the gimmick activates. Attach a pullrod to the top of the mohawk so the model could activate it by pulling something behind her back, and she would probably have been safe.

 

All in all, a bunch of meh designs and a fairly disappointing round. Oh well things usually start improving as the show goes on and the contestants whittle down. 

[LadyMustang65]

On 6/12/2018 at 9:30 PM, DEG9 said:

Hate to say it, because I do like this show, but I'm kinda glad this is the last season. 

I had not heard that.  We'll be sad to see it go, but I agree the talent pool seems to be a bit thin the last couple of seasons.  So far this season we have not been wowed by any of the makeups.  We can appreciate the tremendous amount of work people are doing, and I freely admit I couldn't do 100th as well as they do, but I can remember in past seasons being just completely blown away by at least one makeup, if not several, each week.  

We've watched every season except the first, but I have to admit we didn't remember at all probably half of the contestants.  What would have been cool for a final season was if they brought back every single winner (I know that would probably be impossible) and pit them against each other to come up with a "Grand Champion" of Face Off.  That would have been awesome.

[Suzn]

I watched the first season of this show and I refreshed my memory of the challenges and makeups.  It confirmed what I and others are saying about the decline in talent.  There were absolutely breathtaking makeups compared with things ranging from mediocre to abysmal so far in this season.

I would like to be wowed by something in this final season.

[Token]

Wow, that was a whole bunch of suckage.  All stars, my ass.

And.… 327 seasons in and these idiots still don't know what whimsical is.  In the history of this show, has anyone figured out what whimsical actually means???

[diebartdie]

Everyone complains endlessly about "whimsy" both the contestants and the audience. I agree, this particular challenge nobody really hit the mark as far as I am concerned but look, this season (which should have been titled "Coulda been a contender") has folks who have done whimsy, even scARY WHIMSY. Just look at this thing Graham made in his first season...

 

Edited June 15, 2018 by diebartdie
poor picture, syfy pages dont yield good results anymore

[Rammchick]

Watching the gags, or the lack thereof, all I could think was, where's Roy when you need him?  This would have been so right up his alley.

Definitely some of the problems, as people pointed out above, stem from the lack of time.  How could you possibly design and create one solid concept in 3 days, let alone two concepts, one of which would probably require some sort of fabrication.  It's no wonder we had the lackluster results we got. 

And speaking of whimsy, funny thing that Tim Burton's name came up, and then was immediately dismissed as not being appropriate for this challenge.  Why not?  Some of the best, most whimsical makeups came from the Tim Burton challenge from several seasons ago.  

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

And speaking of whimsy, funny thing that Tim Burton's name came up, and then was immediately dismissed as not being appropriate for this challenge.  Why not?  Some of the best, most whimsical makeups came from the Tim Burton challenge from several seasons ago.  

If I think of horror whimsy I would think of Tim Burton first and foremost. The first thing that would pop into my head is Beetlejuice. 

[seacliffsal]

I was really glad that Warren won and not the other person they were considering as he did not have a gag but did have a wonderful piece.  If he had won instead, it would have rewarded someone who ignored the parameters of the challenge by not including a gag.  Sasha's gag was criticized by the judges and she went home.  However, by not including a gag he actually had more time for the paint job which the judges really liked.  Perhaps if others had spent time painting/creating instead of having to come up with a working gag, their work might have been more impressive.  I can understand having him be safe, but to acknowledge that he was in second place while ignoring the gag element sends the wrong message to the contestants "we will hold you to the requirements of the challenge unless we don't..."  I understand that he tried to have a working gag, but he didn't.  Some of the other paint jobs could have be outstanding had the artists/contestants dedicated an additional hour or more to the painting rather than on gags.

[sharkerbaby]

I mostly agree with your overall point in that Warren was the appropriate winner of this challenge.   Just a minor point of order; he did not "ignore" the gag per se, his gag failed.  You do acknowledge the fact towards the end of your comment but the focus of your argument seemed to be that he "ignored" rather than "failed".

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Face morphs:

 

Clips:

 

 

Edited June 20, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[enoughcats]

You've got to watch the Kelly one with the sound off.  The young lady has a great future as a meme background.