In my review for Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable I lamented the lack of love for “b-games,” the low-budget no-man’s-land of the video game world.  AAA titles with behemoth budgets will receive reams of recognition (or drown in derision when they come out poorly), and tiny indie titles will usually find a cult following to join them under the radar of the masses.

B-games, however, don’t get that love.  They don’t have the massive production values of the big boys, nor do they have the artistic merit of their micro-budget indie brethren.  Earth Defense Force 2025 falls squarely into this sad void, which is a damn shame, as it’s unabashedly stupid, loud, and most of all fun.

8 years have passed since the Ravagers were repelled by the Earth Defense Force (in Earth Defense Force 2017, of course), and mankind has breathed a collective sigh of relief.  We quickly fell back into focusing on the things that matter most, like flatbread pizzas and reality television, which made us all the more vulnerable when the giant insects that signaled the Ravagers’ return quickly burst forth from the ground and started laying waste to the planet again.  What follows can only be described as bonkers, as if Bert I. Gordon directed a Toho-produced adaptation of Starship Troopers (which might be the greatest thought I’ve ever had).  Joining the giant insects are armies of giant robots and snarling kaiju monsters that compound the absurdity, making the game wear its love for atom-age sci-fi on its sleeve.

If you’ve played Earth Defense Force 2017 you know exactly what EDF 2025 is going to be: reducing swarms of giant insects to puddles of bouncy goo.  There’s a level of absurdity to the game that’s stunning, with buildings crumbling around you as hundreds of enemies storm towards you.  There are moments that the Xbox chugs painfully trying to process all of the carnage, but they sheer catharsis of the devastation that you wreak is second-to-none.  Each massive wave of enemies that you fell is punctuated by a mad dash to pick up all of the items that were dropped, be they new weapons or armor enhancements for the following missions.

This lunacy is compounded by multiplayer, which is delivered both online and locally via splitscreen.  There are four classes to choose from, from the versatile Ranger to the airborne Wing Diver (which, coincidentally, is an amazing name for a Paul McCartney/Ronny James Dio cover band).  I plunked down on the couch with my buddy for some splitscreen, and the fun we had was ridiculous, although the beers we’d had may have helped.  By the way, I was originally planning on suggesting that you could make a drinking game where you take a drink every time they say “giant insects” in the in-game dialogue, but I don’t want to send any of our readers to the ER with alcohol poisoning.

EDF 2025 is a special kind of game, the kind that tickles the same part of your brain as Roger Corman movies and Pabst Blue Ribbon.  It’s not great, but it’s so undeniably fun that you keep coming back for more.  Long live the b-game!

Supernatural Episode 915
“#Thinman”
Written By: Jenny Klein
Directed By: Jeannot Szwarc
Original Airdate: 4 March 2014

In This Episode…

Dean has picked up a case, and is heading out without even asking Sam if he wants to join. After last week’s snub from Sam, Dean seems to have just given up. But Sam wants to help, so off they go to Springdale, Washington, where a good religious teenager named Casey was snapping completely innocent selfies. A terrifying figure appears behind her in one of the photos - then kills her. The photo - with the monster in it - surfaced online two hours after her death.

When the guys roll into town they discover someone has beaten them to it: the Ghostfacers! It is down to just Ed and Harry now; the others abandoned ship. As you can imagine, Dean is pissed that they are there. Sam does his due diligence and discovers Ed and Harry have written a book about a boogeyman they call Thinman, who first started as a world wide web phenomenon, a creature who appears in the background of your life (aka selfies and other photos) until ready to strike. Most of the photos he has found online were obviously faked, but Casey’s was most certainly real - and she is most certainly dead. Dean still stands by his ghost theory, but hasn’t been able to find any deaths that would result in a disgruntled spirit.

That night, the asshole manager of the local diner is closing out the register when he hears a noise. He turns on the security cameras and flips through the feeds. Nothing on the camera he is on; nothing outside; nothing in the back; wait! He gets back to the camera of himself and there is Thinman, right behind him! (Yeah, we all knew that was coming.) Thinman slits the manager’s throat, right on camera. When Sam and Dean (and Ed and Harry) get there in the morning to investigate, the video shows a shadow of someone or something moving in the parking lot, suggesting that whatever this is can teleport. Watching the murder seems to spook Ed, and he is downright troubled when later that day, someone posts the video of the murder to their Thinman blog. He wants to leave it to “the professionals” (the Winchesters) but Harry refuses to let go. They have worked so hard on Thinman, and now that they have proof, Harry wants to ride the fame wave.

But Ed still can’t shake the fear. He drops off Harry in “the woods” (actually, some trees behind the grocery store) to investigate, then he goes to the Winchesters, begging for their help and promising to stay out of the way. But first he has to tell them something.

Ed made Thinman up. Harry had no knowledge that this all came from Ed’s imagination. But Harry was going to get married and leave Ghosthunters in favor of a “normal” life. Ed didn’t want lose the last scraps of the Ghostfacers team, so he faked the Thinman images and built up this legend. Now there is a real“Thinman” out there, and he is scared. (But apparently not scared enough to go get Harry.)

Sam, Dean, and Ed head out to the “wood” to find Harry. The Thinman found him already, and knifes him in the gut. He stumbles onto the street in time for the Winchesters to scoop him up and bandage his non-fatal wounds. This is the kick in the ass Ed needs to admit to his lies. Harry is devastated. While the Ghostfacers hash it out, Dean gets a lead off a tire track he found near where they found Harry. The track is for an old Geo Metro, there is only one in town, registered to a guy named Roger and tracked to a nearby factory.

The deputy goes with the guys to let them in - but tasers them. They wake inside, tied up, with the deputy hovering over them evilly. “You can’t be Thinman,” Dean quips. “You look like you ate an entire fat camp.” This is true, so the deputy reveals his cohort Roger - a tall thin young man (the waiter at the diner) in a Thinman costume. The two psychopaths met at a bar, found they had a lot in common - they are both conspiracy nuts - and found that blogging wasn’t enough for them. So they started acting out the Thinman legend. Casey died because she wouldn’t date Roger; the manager died because he was a “douchewheel;” and the sheriff was killed because he wouldn’t give the deputy any time off. The deputy is carely to say that he never actually killed anyone, but no jury would ever consider him “innocent.” As Roger is about to slit Dean’s throat, a noise outside draws the killers away. They find Ed and Harry there, trying to make good on the insanity they (well, Ed) started. They are easily captured by Roger and the deputy, and taken back to where they left the Winchesters. Naturally, the boys were able to wiggle free from their restraints, so they jump out and surprise the psychos. Dean struggles with Roger and ends up knifing him to death. The deputy is about to shoot Sam when Ed jumps in the way to save him. The deputy is just fine shooting Ed as well, but Harry comes in for the save and shoots the deputy dead. Despite this heroism, the Ghostfacers are officially dead, and Harry catches a ride with the Winchesters.

Dig It or Bury It?

Yay Ghostfacers! Boo for the end of Ghostfacers! I loves me some Ghostfacers - who doesn’t? - but I don’t like that Ed and Harry have parted ways. Look, it was a stupid and mean thing that Ed did, but now we all suffer.

I find it interesting that this episode ended up not having any supernatural elements to it. It is the only episode I can think of in which they are dealing with human psychopaths. I also can’t remember if Dean has ever killed a human before. He handled it pretty well though.

Sibling Rivalry

Sam initially being slighted seems to have warmed him up to Dean - just the tiniest bit. Dean tries to go a little further by reminding him of a time when they were little. Sam, age five, dressed as Batman and jumped off the roof of a shed, promptly breaking his arm. “I was just following your lead!” he insists. Dean, age nine, was dressed as Superman and had jumped first. “Well everyone knows Batman can’t fly.”

Prophecies?

Crowley has a bad blood addiction - and the Winchesters are going to hold an intervention.

Face Off Episode 608
“Ego Trip Abroad”
Original Airdate: 4 March 2014

In This Episode…

The group has a wonderful time in Japan. Lots of travelogue nonsense before they meet Kazuhiro Tsuji (arguably the greatest makeup artist in the world) who will judge their foundation challenge: create an original oni (a Japanese demon, who we are spending a lot of time with in Teen Wolf, ironically enough). Daran wins, and will have immunity for their spotlight challenge.

The contestants head to Akihabra, the anime capital of the world. This is to inspire them, for they are going to create their own anime characters, an alter-ego of themselves. A famous anime artist will be mentoring them. They will then return to Los Angeles and create the actual makeups in their lab.

The Creations

Daran wanted his alter-ego to find freedom. To him, that was either fish or birds, and he was inspired by the koi, so he created a character with a fish face and koi wrapped around it. I loved this one - it was colorful and clean. You knew exactly what you were looking at. It was wild. Glenn thought the attention to detail was impressive; Ve thought the transition from water to fish was exquisite; and Kazuhiro found it incredibly unique, with a great sense of proportion.

Corinne incorporated Halloween into her character. I thought it was kind of a bland character, but the judges were impressed. Neville thought she did a great job capturing the essence of anime; Glenn was impressed that he drew on the reflection in the oversized eyes; Kazuhiro thought it was the “most” anime character of the bunch.

George’s character was not particularly special and I didn’t really see any bits of him in it. Kazuhiro thought the suit looked cheap and cheesy; Glenn thought it read anime from far away but upon closer look, he saw the horrible decisions and a bad, sloppy paint job; Ve liked the face sculpt but it didn’t go with anything; Neville thought the entire thing was subpar, especially for George.

Graham made a mad scientist that I loved. It had a big viney arm, the result of an accident with a plant in the lab, crazy hair, and oversized goggles. The judges were not taken with it. Ve thought it looked like a reject from Poison Ivy’s lab - not in a good way. She didn’t “get” the viney arm; Kazuhiro simply thought Graham didn’t have enough time; Glenn thought the hair felt anime but didn’t understand the big googly eyes.

The Verdict?

Daran won. Graham was sent home - or would have been, but the judges used their “special immunity power” and kept him in the competition. So no one goes home this week.

Dig It or Bury It?

I loved this challenge. It is perhaps the most unique challenge they have ever had on Face Off. To create a live-action cartoon character. I just loved that. Making them the alter-egos of the contestants was even better. I felt that the successful makeups were really successful. 

Prophecies?

The contestants get to play mad scientist and create bizarre human guinea pigs. Sounds fun!

The Originals Episode 115
“Le Grand Guignol”
Written By: Declan de Barra and Diane Ademu-John
Directed By: Chris Grismer
Original Airdate: 4 March 2014

In This Episode…

Elijah digs out the bone dagger from Klaus, then leaves him in the care of Cami because she is the only one he thinks Klaus would not immediately kill on sight. He wants her to feed him from her vein because the vervain in her system will keep him from gaining full power. But with so much rage flowing through him, he cannot be stopped. Cami tries to talk him out of slaughtering Rebekah, but he reveals the whole story, and we get to see what a monster Mikael truly was.

Flashback to 1919. In the face of Prohibition, New Orleans is a united city. Werewolves, witches, vampires, and corrupt cops all drinking together in a speakeasy. Klaus is spoken of with reverence, not fear. He even toasts Rebekah and Marcel - their relationship was a poorly kept secret, and he urges them to not hide it any longer. Six months had passed since Rebekah and Marcel summoned Mikael, and they thought maybe they had dodged a bullet.

But of course, they didn’t. Mikael was just biding his time. He makes his presence known to Marcel, swearing he will not hurt Rebekah (“Truth be told, she was always my favorite”) and even tries to enlist Elijah onto his side. Elijah steadfastly refuses to help him kill Klaus. But that’s not going to stop him. The kids are going to the opera, and while Rebekah is in the lobby looking for Marcel, Mikael slips into their box and presses his white oak stake into Klaus’ back. The fear in his eyes makes Klaus look like a frightened child. Mikael promises they are going to chat first, but Klaus has nothing to say. Mikael has plenty, and tells him what an embarrassment he has been to him. Frankly, it sounds like more than a little of Mikael’s vitriol should be directed at the wife that cuckolded him. 

Anyway, the curtains go up but instead of an opera, it is the Grand Guignol. A half-dozen people and supernaturals are on stage, staked, trussed, crucified, and set on bloody display for a compelled audience. Mikael is impressed that Klaus is spoken of in such regard in New Roleans, but he can’t live with that. He vows to kill everyone who had ever known Klaus simply so that no one could speak of him, and there would essentially be no memory of Klaus. All the Mikaelsons’ fight, with Elijah insisting that that Rebekah and Klaus get out of there. They try to free the still-living Marcel, but cannot get his binds undone. He is left behind, while Elijah fights off Mikael long enough for his siblings to get out town. Mikael burns down the opera house and everyone inside it. They assumed Marcel died in the blaze.

Int he present day, Cami is horrified by Klaus’ story, but tells him not to turn into his dad, chasing Rebekah and Marcel to the ends of the earth like Mikael did to him. Klaus has never been called something so offensive. He assures Cami that he will not torment them; he will find them and end them, swiftly. He has with him a white oak stake that he “fashioned himself” that cannot be destroyed. I don’t know how all that happened, but maybe that is because he will sink it into Rebekah’s heart and nothing will happen. Maybe he found a scientist to create a new white oak seedling.

Rebekah and Marcel have, obviously, not left town. They have decided that the smartest thing they could do is revive Davina so she can cast a cloaking spell on them. Of course,  that means killing three very powerful witches. Thierry agrees to help them, and calls the witches forth. Only Genevieve and Bastianna show (we will get to Sabine in a minute) but it is all a set up to kill them. Marcel and Rebekah sneak-attack them, and while Marcel pops off Bastianna’s head like the cork off a champagne bottle, Genevieve throws up a spell that will set them on fire if they try to follow her. 

Elijah is desperate to find Hayley, and thinks Sabine has her. He seeks out Monique’s help in casting a locator spell, but Monique has no interest in helping a vampire. She believes that Sabine is on their side, that she will sacrifice herself and all the power will return to the earth, but Elijah knows better and shows her a page from his mother’s grimoire as proof that Sabine / Celeste will simply jump into another body.

Hayley and Eve are holding Sabine at gunpoint in the bayou. Sabine doesn’t hate Hayley, even feels for her, so when Hayley demands she cure the werewolves, she whips a potion. Elijah shows up - he and Monique have made a little bet on whose side Sabine is on, and he discourages Hayley from taking the potion. Elijah spirits away Sabine and the potion, and Sabine insists that she isn’t lying - that potion will cure the werewolves. It is a win-win for Sabine. If he trashes the cure and kills Sabine, Hayley will hate him forever. If he does nothing, and the spell is successful, Hayley will leave him eventually to be with her own kind. Elijah realizes this is true and return the potion to a gleeful Hayley. Elijah takes a big, bloody bite out of Sabine and whisks her off to the cemetery. When she wakes, she is amused - she knew he would bring her there. But she has a secret for him. She has cast a boundary spell on the cemetery: Originals can get in, but they can’t get out. It is a lunar spell, so it will be broken on the next new moon - but she doesn’t think Rebekah will make it that long. Sabine exits and kills herself so she can jump into another pretty young body. Monique comes out of the shadows, shocked that Elijah was right - Sabine was only out for herself. Celeste resurrects in her own body, and Elijah is there to kill her with the bone dagger.

Rebekah and Marcel are in the cemetery, retrieving Davina’s body. Rebekah cannot leave, and insists that Marcel take Davina’s body someplace safe, that she will meet with them as soon as she can. Marcel doesn’t want to leave her, but he has few options. So he returns Davina to her church attic bedroom. She wakes, and he clutches her, swearing to keep her safe.

Elijah finds Rebekah in the cemetery and is upset to see she hasn’t left town. And who is that coming down the path… but Klaus. With murder in his eyes. The three of them face off, vamp out, and growl, ready to attack.

Dig It or Bury It?

Sooooo good. Next week is going to be brilliant, with original versus original versus original. But leading up to the inevitable face off was pretty awesome as well. I felt like with tonight’s episode, we finally got an insight into how horrible Mikael really was. In The Vampire Diaries, I never got the sense that Mikael was any more a monster than any other child abuser. But the glee he took in killing people and then stringing them up on display, and the fact that he would destroy an entire theater full of people just because he could… that’s pretty damned monstrous.

Prophecies?

Vampire on vampire on vampire action!

There will be blood flowing down the aisles in theaters soon thanks to Eva Green's menacing turn as the ass-kicking Artemisia in 300: Rise of an Empire; and for fans of the French-born  beauty, they'll get a chance to see even more red come May in her hotly anticipated Showtime horror thriller Penny Dreadful.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Green told me that, while the trailer for the series released last month promises a bloody affair, there's much more to the show than the clip is letting on.

"The trailer for Penny Dreadful has to have an impact straight-away, so there's sex and blood in it," Green told me. "It's definitely bloody, but there's also a lot of complex psychology involved with all the characters."

Created by Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan, Penny Dreadful is set in the Victorian Era, where such literary icons as Dr. Frankenstein, his monster, Dracula and Oscar Wilde’s age-defying creation Dorian Gray are all woven into a new narrative.

Green plays London psychic Vanessa Ives, who invites the likes of Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) to "a shadow world full of sex, drugs and monsters of all sorts," Showtime says.

"All the characters have secrets that make them special and alienate them from society," Green said. "The show asks the question, 'Do you want to be normal or not?'"

Penny Dreadful premieres on Showtime May 11. In the meantime, fans will get more than their fill of the gushing red stuff in 300: Rise of an Empire, Green says.

"There's lots of blood and lots of dead people," Green says, laughing.

The film, which tells a story parallel to the perilous journey of the 300 Spartans in the 2006  original starring Gerard Butler, opens in theaters and on IMAX screens Friday.

Green is also reteaming with 300 creator Frank Miller when she stars as the "dame" Ava Lord in "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," due in theaters Aug. 22.

Tim Lammers is the author of the new ebook "Direct Conversations: The Animated Films of Tim Burton," which includes a foreword by Burton. http://directconversations.com/2013/12/24/available-now-direct-conversat...

Let's get a few things out of the way right now. We'll call them "universal movie geek truths."

READ FEARNET'S PARTNER REVIEWS OF OLDBOY

The Visitor is a classic 1979 sci-fi/horror/action flick that is getting a new release on blu-ray from Drafthouse Films and Cinedigm. In this exclusive clip from some of the new special features, Lance Henriksen talks about how he got the job, and being starstruck while working with John Huston.

John Huston plays an intergalactic warrior who joins a cosmic Christ figure in battle against a demonic 8-year-old girl and her pet hawk, while the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. Multidimensional warfare, pre-adolescent profanity and brutal avian attacks combine to transport the viewer to a state unlike anything they’ve experienced – somewhere between hell, the darkest reaches of outer space and … Atlanta.

Did you dig our 2009 FEARNET original web-series 'Fear Clinic?' Well then, you're going to love this! Director Robert Hall is back with the brand new movie version of 'Fear Clinic' and we're thrilled to share with you the first trailer for the flick. Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund headlines the cast as Dr. Andover, alongside Fiona Dourif ('Curse Of Chucky'), Thomas Dekker ('A Nightmare On Elm Street'), Kevin Gage ('Laid To Rest'), Slipknot's Corey Taylor and Angelina Armani ('Chromeskull: Laid To Rest 2'). In 'Fear Clinic,'  a doctor (Englund) works to cure patients suffering from crippling phobias by placing them inside his invention which induces and controls hallucinations. Needless to say, they hallucinate some pretty wild, horrific stuff! I'm also most excited to see glimpes of the FX work of living legend Steve Johnson in this trailer, who makes his grand return to horror with this flick! Check it out! We'll keep you posted on a release date as soon as we hear it!

Creepypasta, for those who don’t follow this particular flavor of fiction, is a short horror story that’s distributed primarily via the internet.  There are literally thousands of these stories collected in various corners of the internet, with sites like the Creepypasta Wiki replacing the campfire of old for spinning scary stories that may or may not be real.

Some of these stories are being illustrated in the upcoming zine /creepythread, compiled by Peter Schmidt and Jensine Eckwall.  The duo is working with twenty different illustrators to bring life to everything from Russian Sleep Experiment to the SCP Foundation series.

Check out a few of the illustrations below and you can check out even more, or order the zine when it’s released on the official /creepythread Tumblr.

X-Ray Glasses

Russian Sleep Experiment

Peripheral

Dead Mother

If you told me that PopCap was looking to branch out its Plants vs. Zombies franchise into other genres, I'd simply shrug at its inevitability.  If you told me that their first attempt at expansion was the class-based shooter Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, I'd raise my eyebrows quizzically.  If you told me that Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was a genuinely good game, said eyebrows would lift right off of my head and soar into low orbit.

Yes, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a class-based, multiplayer shooter--an obvious attempt, given the popularity of Call of Duty and EA's own Battlefield franchise--and it's a surprisingly competent one that manages to work really well in spite of the legacy of its franchise.  Taking the previously strategic game and reworking it as a pseudo-Team Fortress 2 is a ballsy move, and in spite of a few missteps it's a worthy addition to the franchise.

There's really no need for explanation on PvZ from a story standpoint.  Plants and zombies duke it out, case closed.  Sure, there are a few hints at the greater mythology of the series (Crazy Dave and Zomboss, for example) but any sense of story or progression is thrown completely out the window in exchange for self-contained multiplayer arenas where plants and zombies blast each other to smithereens.  Once you wrestle with the remarkably unruly process of syncing the game up with EA's Origin services (inexplicably, I had to build a whole new account and was unable to tie the game into my existing account), you're plunked into a lobby where you can engage in co-op or competitive matches or, in the case of the Xbox One copy I'm reviewing, engage in some local split-screen co-op. 

There are several classes to choose from on each side, and they're fairly analogous to Team Fortress' various types.  Sunflowers are the game's healer units, peashooters are your basic shock troops, etc.  The same holds true on the zombie side, with parallel classes to even out the two groups.  There's really no advantage to playing Plants over Zombies or vice-versa, so most of the initial decision can be chalked up to personal taste.  Once you're in the game proper, the more strategic elements of the game start to sprout: select points on the map can be set up with automated weapons to help hold down chokepoints, and completing certain actions will net you a quantity of coins, which in turn are used to buy Sticker Packs.

Thus, the self-sustaining organism of PvZ:GW really starts to show some of its flaws.  The Sticker Packs, while incredibly nostalgic for this reviewer (I was raised on Panini sticker books), require a decent amount of in-game currency to purchase, meaning that there are times that you are "grinding" through certain levels without these helpful buffs, fighting a losing battle just to try and get more money to buy more Sticker Packs.  Of course, sometimes you don't get all of the helpful units you were hoping for, and instead get things like moustaches and tattoos to customize your in-game avatars, or a portion of a larger unit that you collect piecemeal.  It gives the game a weird rhythm that can be frustrating, especially in the multiplayer sphere.

But even when you're strapped for support, the game itself is a lot of fun, with a certain irreverence that a lot of the dead-serious shooters of the day are lacking.  The graphics are clean and bright, with sharp textures and cartoony style that may not have the breathtaking photorealism of a AAA shooter, but are no less alive for it.  Sound is suitably punchy, from the bursting pop of a peashooter round to the satisfying snap of a zombie's head being liberated from its body.

Hopefully (inevitably), there will be a few more game modes to round out the experience via DLC, as the team deathmatch mode, while fun, starts to wear thin after a while.  Even the co-op only goes so far, but what's on display here, as lean as it is, is nothing less than a blast.

The Vampire Diaries Episode 515
“Gone Girl”
Written By: Melinda Hsu Taylor
Directed By: Lance Anderson
Original Airdate: 6 March 2014

In This Episode…

Nadia is in bad shape. She is definitely dying. Katherine vows not to leave her side - but she also refuses to call Klaus for the cure. That would mean outing herself - not a risk she was willing to take. Instead, she calls Wes, who takes a sample of the werewolf toxin and promises to create an antidote. 

Stefan, Caroline, and everyone else have finally figured out that “Elena” is really Katherine. They all feel pretty guilty about not having figured it out sooner, as well they should. All they have is the element of surprise, so they need to bring Katherine to them. The only way to get Katherine away from Nadia is to make an offer that Elena could not say no to. They try a surprise birthday party for Bonnie (“I am setting up funeral arrangements for Aaron”); Bonnie tries an “I’m feeling blue” coffee (“I am out buying you your birthday present”). All they succeed in doing is annoying Katherine, who wants to know why her friends are being so clingy today. They it dawns on her: they know. So she tests them back by calling Damon. He invites her over (even though yesterday he tried to eat her) and she agrees. “They know.” But her willingness to come over sets off warning bells with Stefan: she knows they know.

Tyler is babysitting Damon, who pushes his buttons until the hybrid enters the cell. They argue until Tyler gets close enough that Damon can grab him and feast. This satisfies his bloodlust (for now) and makes him insanely strong - strong enough to break from his chains. It is like King Kong breaking free from his chains, or the Hulk hulking out. He goes to pay Wes a visit. Unsurprisingly, Wes isn’t inclined to help Damon, so Damon shoves his hand into Wes’s chest, throws him up on a table, and takes a scalpel to his eyes.

Wes is taking a really long time with the cure, so Katherine leaves Nadia in a church to keep her safe (not sure how that works, but okay) then goes to find Wes. She is too late - Wes is long dead, and he didn’t seem to leave an antidote behind. Stefan calls and reveals they know it is Katherine. They have Nadia at the Salvatore mansion. Katherine realizes this is it. She truly does want to spend whatever remaining time she has with her daughter, but showing up at the Salvatore mansion would ensure her death. Surprisingly, she chooses Nadia.

She arrives at the Salvatore mansion. Everyone (Stefan, Caroline, Tyler, Matt, Bonnie, and Jeremy) lets her in and she sits with Nadia, apologizing for being such a lousy mother, and describing what their life should have been together. “Your mother loves you,” she says, and Nadia dies. Bonnie ushers her to the other side. Katherine stands, and stares at a room full of frenemies. She gives it one last go and zips to the door, only to throw it open and find Damon waiting for her. That’s it; she’s cooked. Accepting this, she goes around and says goodbye to everyone (didn’t we do this a few weeks ago?) in that special way only Katherine can. The only one she is genuine to is Stefan. She admits her undying love and takes one last kiss from him. He gives her that much - then sinks the traveler dagger into her back. Katherine collapses, and we see her eyes flash black. Katherine leaves the doppleganger body and we are left with only Elena. 

Stefan and Damon keep watch over Elena, waiting for her to wake up. Matt decides that Nadia deserves better than an unmarked grave in the forest (Stefan’s suggestion) and takes her corpse out of the house. Tyler and Caroline talk, and she stands up for herself: I am allowed to make mistakes; I slept with Klaus after you walked out on me; I am done feeling guilty about this. Bonnie goes to the church and lights a candle for her dad. Katherine meets her there, almost ready to cross over. But first, she has a villain speech to give: her last hurrah. Katherine knew that, once Stefan had Nadia, it was all over. She wanted to spend what time she had left with her daughter. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life running. She knew she would never have Stefan. And what did that leave her with? Nothing. That is why she accepted her fate and went to say goodbye to her daughter. But Katherine isn’t going to go quiet into that cold night. While at Wes’s lab, she learned that Wes hadn’t intended on helping her and Nadia at all. He simply wanted the werewolf toxin to add to the ripper virus, making it even more dangerous. Once Katherine heard that Stefan had Nadia, she injected herself with Ripper Virus 2.0 so that when Elena woke, she would be infected. She even left the syringe in her jacket pocket, a little “present” to Elena.

Ah, but the joke, ultimately, is on Katherine. Now that she has laid out her evil deeds, she is ready to cross over. She puts her hands on Bonnie’s shoulders - and nothing happens. She removes her hands and tries again. Nothing. She is getting frustrated, and Bonnie is too. This has never happened before. She is supposed to cross over. A wind whips up in the church, the doors fly open, and a deep, dark abyss appears. Katherine is dragged into the darkness, kicking and screaming the whole way.

Dig It or Bury It?

This one had some pockets of sentimentality, chunks of empty blather and a less-than-slick way of laying out the rest of the season (like we didn’t need Katherine giving the traditional “bad guy reveals his plan” speech) but otherwise, this was a very enjoyable episode. First off, Damon going Dr. Mengele on Wes was a scene of epic beauty. It was swift, it was violent, it was slick. I would not have minded seeing a little more of Damon’s “playtime” with Wes. Katherine going to hell was an obvious choice, but I liked the way they did it. The comedy of her slapping Bonnie’s shoulders, trying to get it to work, then just getting swallowed up by darkness.

The werewolf toxin added to the ripper virus was a nice little twist. I don’t really understand how the werewolf toxin won’t just totally poison whatever vampire it is injected into, but let’s just pretend that the ripper virus neutralizes the toxin. How much worse could the toxin make the virus? Will she only be able to last four hours between feedings?

Prophecies?

Katherine is gone for good, and Elena is in charge again - except she has the virus and is losing control.

I have a unique relationship with water: I love it, love swimming, love splashing around in it...but I'm terrified of drowning.  Needless to say, the announcement for the upcoming survival-horror game Narcosis has my interest more than a little piqued.

Set deep under the Pacific Ocean, Narcosis has us donning a deep-sea diving suit of an industrial diver, severed from the surface by a mysterious accident.  Running low on oxygen, players will have to reach the surface before their air supply, and their sanity, run out.

The plodding, underwater pacing, coupled with a sense of claustrophobia that only the ocean floor can give, look to make this an incredibly anxiety-inducing experience, especially with the eerily beautiful Unity-engine powered graphics.

Check out some screenshots and a trailer below.  You can get more info at the official website, or right here at FEARNET.

When you see things happen in slow motion, you notice things that you wouldn't notice, when watched in regular motion. That's what the YouTube channel Distort is all about; manipulating time to show us things that the naked eye might otherwise miss.

While the dudes that run the channel are typically doing harmless, everyday things like lighting matches, dropping breakable objects from high altitudes and shooting off silly string, it was a much more terrifying distortion that really caught our eye...

All in the name of science, host David Prager recently subjected himself to the sting of a scorpion, to show us viewers what such an attack looks like, in slow motion. A non-venomous Emperor scorpion was placed in way too close for comfort proximity to David's arm, and his co-host Mauricio Balvanera goaded the West African creature into stabbing him with its razor sharp stinger.

So, what does it look like, when a scorpion sinks its stinger into human flesh? Check out the video below, and see for yourself!

At the tail end of last year, scientists discovered a new species of scorpion in Turkey, which is quite a bit larger than most. Check it out!

Recent horror films don't get much more impressive than 2008's Swedish vampire flick Let the Right One In, which told the beautiful and haunting love story of Oskar, a human boy, and Eli, an undead blood-sucking girl. The film was adapted from a 2004 novel of the same title, by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and now the romantic tale of vampire love is set for another adaptation, this time taking the form of a stage play.

Let the Right One In opens at London's Apollo Theatre on March 26th, which comes hot on the heels of a sell out run at the Royal Court Theatre, also in London. Adapted for the stage by BAFTA award winning writer Jack Thorne, and directed by Tony Award winner John Tiffany, the play serves as a re-imagining of the novel, taking the darker elements of the story and turning them into a "deeply chilling piece."

I'm not typically a play kind of guy, but I find it hard not to be excited about one that promises "dark, graphic horror"!

Check out a teaser trailer for the stage adaptation below, and learn more on the Apollo Theatre website.