It’s no secret that our beloved horror movies are often snubbed at the Academy Awards. The horror genre as a whole just doesn’t get all that much respect in the world of cinema, which is why it’s so important for us fans to support and spread the word on the movies we love. Quite frankly, if we're not doing it, nobody’s going to do it for us.

That said, there are a handful of horror movies over the years that have defied tradition, and have actually managed to snag themselves those little golden statues. With the 86^th Academy Awards heading our way this weekend, today we shine the spotlight on 10 of those movies, which made all of us horror fans proud!

DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

Though the Academy Awards ceremony wasn’t televised until 1953, it actually began way back in 1929, held at a private dinner party. Just a few years after being established, the horror genre scored a win at the ceremony, with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde becoming the first horror film to scoop up an Oscar, in 1932. It was Fredric March’s performance as the title character(s) that earned the film a Best Leading Actor statue, and it was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay.

ROSEMARY'S BABY

Rosemary’s Baby seemed poised and ready to become the first horror film nominated for Best Picture, but it did not receive such an honor, at the 1969 ceremony. It was, however, nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Ruth Gordon won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, for her role as Rosemary’s whacky neighbor Minnie. Oddly enough, Mia Farrow was not even nominated for her performance, which many consider to be a big time Oscar snub.

THE EXORCIST

At the 1974 Academy Awards, The Exorcist was nominated in a whopping 10 categories, including Best Leading Actress (Ellen Burstyn), Best Supporting Actress (Linda Blair), Best Supporting Actor (Jason Miller) and Best Director (William Friedkin). It also scored a nomination for Best Picture, making it the very first horror movie to achieve such an illustrious honor. Unfortunately, the film didn’t win any of those awards, but it did scoop up statues for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.

JAWS

In 1976, Jaws also scored itself a Best Picture nomination, but lost out to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film made up for the loss by winning all three of the other categories it was nominated in, which included Best Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound. Steven Spielberg was famously upset about not being nominated for Best Director, calling Jaws a “director’s movie,” and saying that he was hurt by the snub. There’s even video footage of Spielberg watching the announcement of the nominees with some friends, including Maniac’s Joe Spinell, which is definitely worth a watch!

THE OMEN

The following year, The Omen was celebrated at the ceremony, thanks to the film’s memorable score. Composed by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, the score won an Oscar for Best Original Score, and the iconic theme song ‘Ave Satani’ (aka Hail Satan) was also nominated for Best Original Song. It’s interesting to note that the 1976 Oscar win for The Omen’s score was the only Academy Award win in the late Goldsmith’s entire career, despite the fact that he was nominated for his work on 16 other films.

ALIEN

Speaking of Goldsmith, he also composed the score for Alien, which nabbed him a Golden Globe nomination in 1980. At the Academy Awards that year, however, Alien was only nominated for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction, and it took home the visual effects statue. Seven years later, in 1987, the sequel Aliens also won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, as well as Best Sound Effects Editing. It was also nominated in another five categories, proving that sequels aren’t always inferior to original films!

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

A few horror films immediately come to mind when I think of practical effects, and one of those movies is without a doubt An American Werewolf in London. In 1982, Rick Baker was honored with the Best Makeup award for his incredible work on the film, which was actually the inaugural year for that specific category. Baker has since received a subsequent six Oscar wins in the makeup category, and his latest win was for The Wolfman in 2011, where he once again brought a memorable werewolf to the screen.

THE FLY

1987’s 59^th annual Academy Awards was a ceremony that honored a handful of horror films, including the aforementioned Aliens, Little Shop of Horrors and even Poltergeist 2: The Other Side. In addition to the double win for Aliens, David Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly nabbed itself the Best Makeup award, for Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis’ memorably grotesque transformation makeups.Shortly thereafter, Walas was put into the director’s chair for The Fly 2, which he also designed and created the effects for.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

What’s the only horror film in the history of cinema to win an Oscar for Best Picture? That’d be Silence of the Lambs, which cleaned up at the 1992 event. As if the Best Picture win wasn’t impressive enough, Silence of the Lambs is one of only three films to win all of the ‘Big Five’ awards, which also include Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. Though it was nominated for Best Editing and Best Sound, the film didn’t take home those awards, but that’s of little importance when you consider how many it did take home. We salute you, Silence of the Lambs, for being the biggest horror film success story in Oscar history!

BLACK SWAN

The most recent win for the horror genre at the Academy Awards was Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, which was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. In the Best Actress category, Natalie Portman was presented with the naked gold dude for her performance as a mad ballet dancer, in the dark re-telling of Swan Lake. Don’t even try and tell me that Black Swan isn’t a horror film, because I’d have a hard time finding a genre that it belongs in more than the horror genre!

Other horror and horror-themed films that have won Oscars; The Phantom of the Opera (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1946), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1963), King Kong (1977), Beetlejuice (1989), Misery (1991), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Jurassic Park (1993), Sleepy Hollow (2000), King Kong (2006), Pan’s Labyrinth (2007) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008).

Sick of the Oscars? Check out nine horror alternatives to this year's nominees!

Sometimes when actors give a brilliant and memorable performance it becomes their identity, the only role people can see them in.  It becomes difficult for them to perform other roles because they are perpetually trapped in this iconic performance. In that regard, everyone knows Anthony Perkins as the legendary Norman Bates from Psycho.  But both before and after Perkins played the lanky mama’s boy, he was appearing in other fascinating roles. One of my fave non-Norman roles is Perkins’ performance in 1989’s psycho-sexual fetish-laden flick Edge of Sanity. Though graphic and sleazy, this little film is also visually captivating and has Perkins giving a brilliant performance as he pushes decency. After both meager VHS and DVD releases, this title seems to have been forgotten by genre fans (or never was remembered to begin with) making it an excellent inclusion to The Unseen. 

Henry Jekyll (Perkins) plays a scientist working on inventing a new form of pain killer.  His experiments go awry when his new drug transforms him into a visceral beast by the name of Jack Hyde.  After becoming Jack Hyde, the good doctor is able to live out all those dark forbidden sexual and murderous fantasies. These include but are not limited to a strange ass fetish, the desire to watch a nun do a few pelvic thrusts, and he does live up to his “Ripper-esque” namesake by killing unsuspecting “ladies of the evening”.

I remember seeing this as a teenager. It must have been playing on television or been one of the many I picked up at the local rental store. I recall at the time being confused by the weird stylistic choices (which I’ll get into in a moment) and also put off by Perkins playing a role that is so far from his Bates days. Now, I have grown to view the “semi-period” stylistic choices as daring and effective and can see past Perkins’ Psycho past to realize that even in this small sleazy film, he is giving a hell of a good performance. 

Now back to that aforementioned style. Edge of Sanity is, at first glance, set in Victorian times. But yet, something is slightly amiss. Neon colors abound. Prostitutes roam the street in mesh tutus and wear belt buckles that say “BOY”. It is a weird melding of Sense and Sensibility merged with a WHAM! video. It is bizarre. And yet…it works. Somehow this Victorian culture with 80s bleeding through the seams looks amazing on screen. Think of it as Steampunk if instead of the “steam” elements they had a 1980’s “valley girl’s” closet.  

Which bring me to the director. At first I was confused by the heavy amounts of sex in this film. And I do mean confused. Though body parts and dry-humping abounds, the film is in no way arousing. It is kind of icky, but beautifully filmed. I was curious by the director’s presentation of sexuality in this manner so I sought out some of Gérard Kikoïne earlier works. French director Gérard Kikoïne built a career out of shooting soft core. But these were not just the standard bawdy films. These were artistic, stylish, and well-composed T & A films. This guy knew how to shoot sex to make it alluring and visually stimulating! So the icky nature of sex in Edge of Sanity was clearly an intentional maneuver on his part. And it works. As Jekyll/Hyde sinks further into the seedy underworld of drugs and prostitutes, the standard home life of his Victorian wife becomes all the more attractive. 

When you consider the time in which this film was created, the drug-use also takes on a whole new meaning. In 1989 the country was in full and official crack-ademic panic.  Late night news magazine shows were spoon-feeding the public with tales of grade school drug dealers and chainsaw-wielding crack-heads.  This social event bleeds through onto screen as Perkins smokes his drug (which is a rock-like substance). Even the Victorian pipe looks just a little too familiar.  

Edge of Sanity may seem like a twisted sexploitation flick overflowing with debauchery and strange fetishes, but there is something really special about it as well. Anthony Perkins plays both Doctor Henry Jekyll and Jack Hyde, the former akin to the Robert Lewis Stephenson character, while Hyde is more of a sex-crazed Jack the Ripper.  Anthony Perkins performs “crazy” with both subtlety and ferocious vigor, taking Hyde’s dementia to a whole new level.  Sure Perkins gave us some chills in Psycho, but in Edge of Sanity he makes us want to scream, “Oh please, make the bad man stop.”

Edge of Sanity had a small initial release but scathingly bad critical reviews left it struggling to find a foothold. Now over 20 years later, it is worth another look. The DVD is relatively cheap on Amazon. So grab your Victorian monocle and day-glow tutu. It’s time to smoke some rock! 

Horror fans know director Victor Salva as the madman behind Jeepers Creepers. He is back with a new vision of terror, Dark House - and FEARNET wants you to attend the world premiere!

The screening will take place Tuesday, March 4th, at 8pm at the Harmony Gold Theater in Hollywood. The screening will be followed by a Q&A (moderated by ME!) with filmmaker and cast.  To attend, please email darkhouse@submarinenyc.com by Monday, March 3rd with your name, whether you require a +1, and that FEARNET invited you. You MUST RSVP to be admitted to the screening. Admission not guaranteed unless confirmed.

Dark House is a suspenseful thriller about a young man and a chilling old house that has survived decades, awaiting the return of its prodigal son. Tobin Bell (the Saw franchise), and Luke Kleintank (Pretty Little Liars) star.

Several years ago, we showed you an awesome 'Shark Attack Coffee Mug,' which had the head of a Great White lurking beneath the surface of your cup of morning Joe. If sharks aren't exactly your preferred monsters, then you'll be happy to know that there are now several different variations of these attack mugs available, which are sure to put a little pep in your step.

They're called Creepy Creature Cups, and they allow you to uncover a human skull, catch a giant spider, hook an octopus and dig up a T-Rex. Crafted from quality porcelain, each of the mugs features a surprise ingredient in your cup of coffee or tea - because the best part of waking up... is a creature in your cup!

$25 each, from Firebox

Let's just get it out of the way from the beginning: it'd be really hard to make a worse Cabin Fever (2002) sequel than Cabin Fever 2 (2009). Arguably the only weak movie in Ti West's filmography (and he's not a big fan of it himself), Cabin Fever 2 was the victim of endless studio tinkering, release delays, and really sloppy post-production decisions. The sequel has gone on to earn a small but vocal fanbase, however, and Eli Roth's original squirm-fest continues to bring in new horror geeks all the time. So surely there's some gas left in this franchise's tank, right?

READ FEARNET'S PARTNER REVIEWS OF CABIN FEVER 3

The imminent release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is bringing a close to the tragic trilogy that rebooted the struggle between Dracula and the Belmont clan, now is as good a time as ever to take a look back at games over the years that have featured fangs and boasted bloodsuckers.  This is by no means a definitive list (nothing, nothing could make me discuss Vampire Rain at length), but a tiny taste of a subgenre of games to numerous to…Count.
 

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

The second title set in White Wolf’s World of Darkness universe, Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines had all the potential to be a new classic.  Casting players as a fledgling vampire unwillingly sired into the fold (a big no-no in World of Darkness lore), it featured a unique cast of characters populating a neon-drenched Los Angeles, rife with vampiric politics and supernatural happenings.  Unfortunately, the few phenomenal setpieces (that goddamn haunted hotel) were scattered in a game infested with bugs and thrown out the door unceremoniously before the developer, Troika, was shuttered.  However, a surprisingly active fan community has offered a series of unofficial patches that fixed the majority of the game’s issues, making the game wholly enjoyable for those willing to take the time to apply the multitude of fixes.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

With dozens of entries on the series, one could devote an entire article to the ups and downs of Konami’s classic Castlevania franchise.  If one had to pick one out of the list, however, Symphony of the Night is a no-brainer.  The first title to feature Koji Igarashi in an assistant director role, SotN set the stage for Castlevanias to come, introducing heavier RPG elements and a gothic flavor that were a series trademark, including several classic entries on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, finishing off with Order of Ecclesia.  While the bombastic stylings of Igarashi may have been absent from Lords of Shadow, their influence is no less profound.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard

Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series has been no stranger to the supernatural in the past (the third entry, Morrowind, allowed players to become a werewolf in the Bloodmoon expansion), but the sizable Dawnguard expansion for Skyrim allowed the prophesied Dovahkin to play as either a vampire-hunting member of the Dawnguard or as a bloodsucking Vampire Lord, complete with imposing gothic castle as a stronghold.  Both sides have their own quests, each related to a spell that has the potential to blot out the sun over the land of Tamriel.

Bloodrayne

A game that blended together many of my favorite things (vampires, Nazis, and bondage gear), Bloodrayne put gamers in the stiletto heels of a dhampir named Rayne, a fiery redhead sent by the Brimstone Society to stop the mysterious machination of the Gegengheist Gruppe, who sought supernatural artifacts to empower Hitler in his quest for world domination.  This led to a sexually-charged, leather-clad rampage as Rayne sucked on stormtroopers and made a meal out of monsters in order to stop the GGG from recovering all of the dismembered parts of the demon Beliar.  The game series has since moved on, with later installments dropping the WWII setting entirely and spawning three exceedingly disappointing films directed by B-movie hack Uwe Boll.

Darkwatch

Like the just-discussed Bloodrayne, Darkwatch featured a unique character—in this case the vampric gunslinger Jericho Cross—recruited into a secret society of monster hunters.  Blending together horror and western genres (a sorely underused combination, in my opinion) with a dash of steampunk for good measure, the game let players make a binary decision by the game’s end: either heroically stopping th vampire menace or giving in to his bloodlust.  The development studio, High Moon Studios, has since moved on to developing Transformers games and the immensely amusing Deadpool, so a return to the bloodthirsty boots of Jericho Cross seems unlikely.

Are you ready to check in to season two of Bates Motel? We sure are. We spoke to Vera Farmiga, Max Theiriot, Nestor Carbonell, Olivia Cooke, producer Kerry Ehrin, and new cast members Kathleen Robertson, Michael Vartan, Michael Ecklund, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Michael O'Neill, and Kenny Johnson about what we can look forward to in season two.

Bates Motel returns to A&E on March 3.

Repentance is not your typical revenge film. Anthony Mackie and Mike Epps play Tommy and Ben, brothers whose lives take very different directions after a car accident nearly kills both of them. Tommy becomes a self-help guru and best-selling author, while Ben is in and out of jail and deeply in debt to some unsavory characters. To help his brother and make some fast cash, Tommy agrees to take on a private client, Angel (played by Forest Whitaker), who is having a hard time getting over the sudden death of his mother.

The film, directed by Philippe Caland, is a loose “remake” of Caland’s own film, The Guru & the Gypsy. Whitaker, who starred in Caland’s The Ripple Effect, describes it as a “re-envisioning” of that early film. “It deals with karma and people’s subconscious.” But he also believes that there is a touch of the supernatural in Repentance. “I don’t necessarily believe we are seeing [Angel’s] mom, but playing the character, I had to believe it was true.”

Of course, things sour in the film when Tommy attempts to “break up” with Angel, and Angel won’t take no for an answer. “Anthony went through a lot: being tied up, wrapped up, suffocated, water thrown all over him. It was a strange experience,” Whitaker admits. “I surrendered to it; I lived in it.” Angel takes Tommy hostage, and that is when things fall apart. “He is looking for the truth,” he says simply.

With an open-ended finale, Whitaker says it is more complicated than a simple morality tale. “I definitely see it as dealing with the healing process of things that we’ve done. You don’t really see if he feels redeemed or not.”

Repentance opens in theaters today.

Thanks to his daughter, Victoria, late legendary actor Vincent Price is very much alive online as the focus of a new official website.

Victoria Price in December launched VincentPrice.com to give fans of the horror film great a personal look at "The Elegant Side of Evil." In a recent phone interview, Price told me what fans are getting now is just the start of what promises to be a comprehensive look at her father's life and career.

To date the site has a blog that Price authors, along with video, fan resources, and assorted news regarding her father, including an initiative to get Vincent Price on a U.S. Postage stamp. There's also a new section on the 50th anniversary edition of A Treasury of Great Recipes, which Vincent and his wife, Mary authored in 1965. The commemorative edition will be released in 2015, Victoria Price says.

Price – a designer, art consultant, author and public speaker who runs Victoria Price Design for Living in Santa Fe, N.M. –  says that she doesn't anticipate VincentPrice.com being the definitive resource of her dad's films and life, but an extension of what's already out there.

"There are so many people who have fantastic sites. Rick Squires and Peter Fuller are two people that immediately come to mind and they've done such an amazing job of preserving my dad's legacy online," Price tells me. "Yes, maybe I have some inside scoop on things that perhaps they don't know about, so in a way I'm just sort of working with them to keep preserving my dad's legacy."

The interesting thing about Price is, while she's a big fan of her dad – she's not necessarily big on his horror films. That's not say she thinks they're bad movies. She's simply just not a fan of the genre.

"As I say to people when I do speaking engagements, 'I'm not a horror fan, but I'm a fan of horror fans,'" Price says with a laugh. "It's the horror fans who have kept my dad's legacy alive. I'm really glad that they've put the energy into it."

Price says she hopes to have a lot of fan interaction on the site because it's just the sort of thing he would have wanted. She's also making an effort to have a larger presence at horror conventions.

"Interacting with the fans is something my dad did really well," Price says. "I'm much more of a quiet, private person, but I really enjoy talking to fans. I'm trying to push through my own natural shyness to get out there and do more of that. I've been trying to make time to go to the horror conventions. When I go to those events, I give them my undivided attention. The fans are always wonderful."

Price says one of the main reasons she never liked watching her dad's films was because she loved him as a dad first and it bothered her to see him in dire situations, even though they were fictitious.

"I never liked watching my dad get killed or killing someone," Price recalled with a laugh. "People say, 'Oh, my God, you had Vincent Price as your dad, don't you want to sit and watch all of his movies?' And I say, 'No, because they scare me.'" 

Nonetheless, some horror is mixed in among her favorite films of her dad's.

"My favorite of his is Laura, but of his horror movies, I'd have to say my favorite is Theatre of Blood," Price says. "I'm a big fan of Shakespeare and my dad was such an incredible verse speaker. Besides, who doesn't want to see the critics get killed, right?"

Of course, Theatre of Blood was one of the many films that showed Vincent Price's great acting range, something that Victoria was just reminded of the other day.

"Just recently I re-read a piece where somebody was quoting the People magazine article when he died that called him 'The Gable of Gothic,'" Price says. "That was such a great phrase and it really captured who he was. I really loved that."

Tim Lammers is the author of the new ebook "Direct Conversations: The Animated Films of Tim Burton," which includes a foreword by Burton.

The horror fan is often difficult to shop for. It’s not always easy to guess what he or she already has versus what they want. One can always ask their horror-loving friend what they are lusting after, but that takes the element of surprise out of the equation. So, with that in mind, this installment of gift guide is aiming to bring you a nearly foolproof gift solution that will work for the horror fan that has everything. There’s no need to thank us. 

Today, we bring to you a custom made pair of Vans that sport a cool hand painted A Nightmare on Elm Street design. Since these shoes are custom painted and not available in stores, the owner of these kick ass kicks can rest assured that they will be the only one in the room sporting these hand painted shoes. 

These ANOES Vans are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Off The Wall Customs has to offer. Buyers can request any design that strikes his or her fancy; the artist does everything from Disney to Dark Shadows. The brand website has photos of hand painted designs from Friday the 13^th, Saw and much, much more on display. Off the Wall Customs gives you the choice of having your design applied to a pair of Vans or Converse All Stars. Since they are custom made to order, each pair is unique. 

There is not a preset cost for these hand painted shoes; the price varies based on the current price for the footwear you select and other factors. But whatever the financial investment, the effort and attention to detail that goes in to creating these handmade designs is almost impossible to put a price on. 

Off the Wall Customs on Facebook

Off the Wall Customs on the web

It might not sound like much of a compliment to compare an independent horror movie to the long-running TV series Supernatural -- but it's not meant as an insult either. The certifiably strange new horror flick Dark House throws all sorts of old-fashioned genre tropes into a blender, including a few ingredients it they probably didn't need, and tops itself off with some new-fangled gore, gristle, and occult-style mayhem. Basically there's a lot going on in Victor Salva's Dark House, and at least 70% of it is fun stuff.

Last month we told you about a brand of cheese made from human bacteria, which the mere thought of just about made us lose our lunch. If that story didn't quite make you hurl, then we promise this one will have you running for the toilet!

USA Today reports that the world's oldest cheese has just been discovered on a handful of Chinese mummies, including the one seen above, which dates all the way back to 1615 B.C. The dead at Northwestern China's Small River Cemetery Number 5 were buried in such a way that essentially kept them vacuum sealed for freshness, and upon exhumation, strange crumbs were discovered on the necks and chests of several of the mummies. Chemists determined that the crumbs were actually pieces of cheese, which were preserved right along with the bodies.

Scientists had previously found fragments of ancient cheese-making strainers in Poland, but this remarkable find is said to be the new world record holder, in the oldest cheese department. They're unsure of why hunks of cheese were entombed with the bodies, but they suggest that perhaps they were offerings of food for the afterlife.

Pretty remarkable, considering cheese typically rots and liquifies very quickly!

Since the year 2000, London has played host to the FrightFest film festival, which has become one of the leading genre festivals in the world. In addition to the annual festival, the dudes who run it launched FrightFest Originals back in the summer of 2012, a label that releases limited edition art prints in tribute to fan-favorite genre films from the past and present.

Now available from FrightFest Originals is the John Carpenter poster collection, which features artwork from five different artists, inspired by five different Carpenter classics. You will notice that Halloween and The Thing are not in the collection, which was a conscious decision on the part of the festival's founders, who wanted to offer up some love to Carpenter flicks that don't always get it.

Check out the complete collection below, and purchase prints over on the FrightFest Originals website. Only 60 of each are available, and the Christine and Fog prints go up for grabs on March 7th and March 14th, respectively, while the others can be ordered right now. There's also a They Live color variant, while you'll see over on the site!

I've never quite understood the hobby of whale watching. To me, that sounds a bit like going into Camp Crystal Lake, and spying on Jason as he carries out his daily tasks. A whale's domain, just like Jason's, is a dangerous place to hang around, as one unlucky student just discovered...

As we spotted over on Gawker, a whale watching expedition off the coast of Mexico in Baja California took a turn for the horrifying last weekend when a massive whale got just a little bit too close for comfort, and literally smacked young student Chelsea Crawford with its tail. Thankfully, Crawford was not injured by the world's largest bitch slap, though I'm willing to bet she won't be going near the water anytime soon.

What does it look like, when a whale slaps a human? Well, the whole ordeal was captured on video, and we must say... it's pretty damn hilarious. Check out the video below!

Over in Argentina last year, whale watchers had no idea that they were the ones being watched. Check out one hell of a frightening photograph, which shows a giant whale underneath a tiny boat!

Grimm Episode 313
“Revelation”
Written By:  Jim Kauf and David Greenwalt
Directed By: Terrence O’Hara
Original Airdate: 28 February 2014

In This Episode…

We pick up exactly where we left off a few weeks ago: with Monroe’s parents fighting Nick. Monroe breaks the fight up, but they are pissed. Bart finds it unnatural; Alice doesn’t know her son anymore. They leave. Nick tries to apologize, but Monroe doesn’t want to hear it. He also doesn’t want to hear Nick begging for help on a case. After sulking for a bit, Monroe lets himself into the spice shop and apologizes to Rosalee. She doesn’t want to cause a rift between him and his parents for fear that he will regret it, and then he will regret her. Monroe insists that he doesn’t believe what they believe. They doze off, but Monroe wakes a few hours later, determined to take care of this. It is not even 6:30am, but he calls his mom and says he is coming over to say his goodbyes. They are waiting for him when he arrives. Monroe takes some blame, in a passive-aggressive way: I should have told you about Rosalee; Nick coming over was just bad timing. Bart insists that mixed marriages never work - there are reasons they stick to the rules. Then Bart accuses Monroe of being ashamed to be a blutbad. The two almost-volg, then Alice splits them up. “I love Rosalee and I am going to marry her. If that ruins the family, then that is how it is.” He leaves. Alice is hurt and wonders if they did the right thing.

After coming home from Monroe’s house, Nick fills Juliette in on what is happening, and tells her about the scalping murders. This gives Juliette nightmares, so she wakes up early and decides that if Monroe won’t help, she will, and does lots of research. When Nick is called out to a crime scene, Juliette goes to the spice shop to check on Rosalee. She mentions the scalpings, and Rosalee is concerned. Monroe comes in and starts to apologize for the way he treated Nick, but Rosalee tells him about the scalpings. He was right to come to Monroe with that.

At the most recent crime scene, it is more of the same: a sheriff deputy found scalped and torn apart at an illegal campground. A second car at the site suggests they are looking for two suspects.

Monroe’s parents are about to leave, but Alice changes her mind. She doesn’t want to leave things like she did with Monroe. Bart stubbornly decides he is leaving anyway. Alice doesn’t go to Monroe’s house, but to the spice shop. She tries to make amends with Rosalee, not by apologizing but telling her that she and Monroe have to decide what is right for them. She then suggests some kind of wesen ritual that apparently has both women volg out and sniff each other.

Monroe goes home and finds Bart sitting on his porch. He thought Alice would have come here. Monroe doesn’t have time for another “episode,” and isn’t interested in changing his mind. “The first time I met Nick, it didn’t go so well either. But you know what? We got to know each other and trust each other. We’ve saved each others’ lives.” He stands by his decision to help Nick and suggests dad leaves before he arrives. Too late. Bart backs out of the house slowly - but they hear him howling outside. That can’t be good. Monroe fills in Nick on what the scalpers mean: they are wildesheer, fierce warriors whose arrival signal something much worse on the horizon. If they are in Portland, they are undoubtedly hunting Nick. The men head out to the trailer to check for ways to kill the wildesheer and arm themselves. Bart watches from beyond the treeline.

At the trailer, Monroe and Nick arm themselves and discuss where they should go to lure the wildesheer. But it is too late: they hear the wind rustlin outside, signaling the wildesheers have found them. They go outside and fight mightily, but don’t seem to be making a dent. Then a third wildesheer shows up. But Bart also shows and throws himself on the third beast. This emboldens Monroe and Nick to keep fighting. Nick follows up on a hunch that one of his ancestors made in his notebooks: scalp the scalpers. He does so, and it kills the wildesheer immediately. Bart admits when he heart what Monroe was going up against, he couldn’t just let him fight alone - though he never thought he would fight on the same side as a Grimm. His grandpa always said that if these guys came back, something bad was going to happen - bad enough that it would change the world.

Meanwhile, in Vienna, Stefania gives Victor an update on Adalind and the baby. It could be any day now, but Victor doesn’t want to wait, and arranges the verrat to go pick her up. Sebastian warns Renard, who instructs him to take Meisner and go to Adalind. He then calls her and warns her that Stefania is working with Victor, and he is pretty sure that her baby is his. She doesn’t know why she should trust him, but she does have to pick a side. Meisner arrives and tells her to pack, while Sebastian keeps watch downstairs. He calls to give them warning, and Meisner hops in bed, making it look like he and Adalind are lovers. The verrat enter, insistent that Adalind  go with them. Meisner shoots one through the comforter, and a pen floats telekinetically across the room, impaling the other verrat in the eye. Adalind is pretty sure the baby did that, because she sure didn’t, but not time to reflect on that now; they’ve got to get out of there. They meet up with Sebastian, who drives them to the middle of nowhere. Then Meisner and Adalind get out and walk through the forest until they come upon an abandoned cabin that had been in his family for decades. This is where they are going to hide out until she gives birth.

…which will be next week, as Adalind goes into labor at the end of tonight’s episode.

Dig It or Bury It?

I might be getting a little bored of Grimm. I feel like every episode is the same. There is a strange killer on the loose, certainly a wesen, Monroe gets really alarmed by what the wesen is, they research it, then go kill it. There are little hints of royal drama scattered throughout, but I just really want to focus on the friggin’ history already. I complain about this a lot, but how long can we drag out this royal conspiracy stuff? Three seasons, apparently.

Prophecies?

Adalind gives birth, and gets her powers back.

Hannibal Episode 201
“Kaiseki”
Written By: Bryan Fuller & Steve Lightfoot
Directed By: Tim Hunter
Original Airdate: 28 February 2014

In This Episode…

What looks like a quiet dinner between Jack and Hannibal turns into a brutal fight to the death. Jack strangles Hannibal, but Hannibal grabs a knife and stabs Jack. Then the title card comes up: “12 Weeks Earlier.” (Um, spoiler alert!) Twelve weeks earlier, Jack and Hannibal are having a civilized dinner of seasonal sashimi. They are mourning the “loss” of Will - the Will they knew. Hannibal also insists that Jack must follow up on Will’s accusations that he was the one who killed Abigail Hobbs.

This season starts pretty much where season one ended. Will is in Chilton’s asylum, in a tiny, almost medieval cage that makes it seem like Will is in a zoo. Chilton is trying to talk to him, but Will keeps regressing to his “happy place,” fly fishing in a river. Of course, even that isn’t a wholly happy place, as he is stalked by the moose man there. Coming out of his reverie, Will declares he will only speak to Dr. Lecter. Alana and Jack have their own problems: Alana filed a formal complaint about Jack, saying that he exhibited a “lapse in judgement” when he put - and kept - Will in the field, and an official inquiry is opened. Hannibal is still seeing Bedelia, who is worried about Hannibal going to see Will. She believes Hannibal is obsessed with Will, and that the two are manipulating one another (whether or not they realize it). Hannibal still insists that Will is his friend. Bedelia has Hannibal sign a waiver, giving her permission to discuss with Jack her sessions with Hannibal, as they pertain to Will. She doesn’t like having to speak to Jack, saying it puts her in a position to lie for him. “Again.” “Jack is less suspicious of me than you are,” Hannibal muses. “Jack doesn’t know what you are capable of.” “Neither do you.” It is the subtlest of threats.

Against Bedelia’s advice, Hannibal visits Will. Will does not see Hannibal as a friend, which Hannibal responds to with a typical shrink answer: it is easier to blame him than accept responsibility for his actions. Will swears that what Hannibal did is locked in his mind, somewhere, and he will find it. “I will remember, and when I do, there will be a reckoning.” From there, Hannibal goes to see Beverly, who takes a DNA sample and collects his suits to be swept for evidence. She is mad that he didn’t protect Will, like he was supposed to, but she is no angrier at him than she is at herself. “You’re not a suspect; you’re the new Will Graham.” Of course, being Will Graham was what got Will Graham into trouble.

With Will in prison, Jack enlists Hannibal’s help to give a psychological profile on their most recent case. The FBI has discovered at least five bodies in the river. They have each been coated in resin and injected with something that resembles silicone. The suspect is making human models, and these are his discards.

Alana has been taking care of Will’s dogs. She reports back to him that they are all doing well, but Winston keeps running away to Will’s house. Alana doesn’t believe that Will is responsible for his actions - but she doesn’t believe Hannibal did it, either. Will asks to be hypnotized, and for her to help him recover memories. She agrees, but seems to be doing this just to placate him. In his hypnotized state, he sees Alana as a shadow monster with smoky hair and black eyes who absorbs him. Next he is sitting for a lavish dinner at Hannibal’s home, but the food is all rotted and covered in bugs. The moose man is his dining companion, and a human ear is plated before Will. He wakes with a start, scared. “This isn’t going to work.” Later that night, Chilton joins Hannibal for supper and tells him (warns him?) that Alana hypnotized Will - but was not successful.

Next to visit Will is Beverly. They have hit a dead end with the case (Hannibal is clearly no Will Graham) and she wants his help. She is not sure how she feels about Will, but there are a lot of people missing, and they have no idea how the killer is picking his victims. Will takes the file and sorts out the pictures of the missing. “It’s a color palette.” That night, as Will eats his meal mechanically, he has a vision of Hannibal standing over him, forcing a huge tube down his throat, and a human ear down that tube. He spits out his mouthful of steak. I guess the hypnosis worked - at least a little bit. When Jack comes to visit, he suggests he is recovering his memories, which Jack dismisses as meaningless. He is actually agitated by the idea.

Meanwhile, the killer is seeking out his next victim. On the subway, he touches the hand of a young man and compliments him on his nice skin. Later that night, the man’s car alarm is going off, so he goes to check on it. He finds plastic sheeting hanging out of his trunk. When he opens it up, the killer knocks him out and stuffs him into his trunk. Back at the killer’s “workshop,” the victim is injected with heroin and hosed down with liquid resin. He is still alive, but the heroin takes effect quickly. Unlike the other victims, the heroin doesn’t kill him. When he wakes, he finds himself stuck to other victims in a specific position. There are bodies all around him, and we pull out to reveal dozens and dozens of victims, all arranged to form what looks like a human eye.

Dig It or Bury It?

I am happy to see that nothing has been diluted since last season. The tension is suffocating. The death is gruesome and imaginative. The tableaus are eerily beautiful. It seems that the color palettes have been diluted, surely to make sure the audience feels the bleakness of Will’s situation.

It’s a little hard to be excited about this episode because next week’s episode starts out insane. 

Chef’s Specials

In season one, all the episode titles were named after French dinner courses. This season, it looks like we are in store for Japanese-themed episodes. Tonight’s episode, “Kaiseki” refers to a traditional style of multi-course Japanese dinner. They are generally small portions that balance taste, texture, and color.

Prophecies?

We get more info on the horrors that await subway-victim guy. It’s pretty epic.