Blood is prevalent in so many types of films that it would take years to fully digest how it is used as an effect and why. Even the Meyer's "Thicker than Water" could only discuss blood symbols in the ancient world with a limited amount of success.
Human blood on the screen is one thing that can make us as viewers immediately relate to a character and have a rush of emotion invested in the movie. Even when we see teenagers in slasher movies make mistakes time and time again and think to ourselves how stupid they must be, we still jolt when their blood splatters. The grotesquery of seeing a cannibal tear apart a man's body affects us, even if the man being torn apart is a despicable figure. Gore is a seminal way that can cause a really visceral connection between an audience and an actor -- no dialog or emotional storytelling needed.
Why do we enjoy these feelings caused by bloody scenes then? Is it our own pent up violence waiting to be released? Is it a simple adrenaline rush? Or is it some deep-down hatred of our fellow man? Is it some psychosexual thing that we get off on seeing the objects of our sexual affection destroyed? Or is it a cultural phenomenon, that we are indulging in something uniquely taboo with other people?
We all know what slasher films are, so I will not linger too long on the subject. In the genre, we see many examples of mass chaos caused by a psychotic killer on a rampage against, by and large, very fertile young men and women. Blood as fertility is seen time and time again here, as is bloodshed simply for the sake of shock and horror.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The mother of all slasher films with an amazing amount of bright red blood and catastrophic body splatters. Somehow, the awkwardness of the attacks makes the fear more palpable and the realism of the blood is overshadowed by the constant production of new splatters. An exercise in excess rather than restraint, setting the tone for the entire genre.
Friday the 13th (1980 and on)
This clip shows every death scene in all of the Friday films back to back. One can get a sense of the overwhelming amount of stage blood they must have used! And the screaming!
Scream (1996)
A meta-slasher series! The trailer above lays out, ironically, the "rules" so many slasher flicks followed (like I said, some big-breasted, sexually active, seemingly stupid girl gets mauled first!).
Why do "we" like watching these kinds of films so much and seeing this particular demographic get stabbed to death? Is it that we find it somehow gratifying to see youth destroyed? Or is murder of sexy people even sexier? Does the simple relentless violence in slasher (or for that matter, extreme gore like Hostel or Saw) films get our rocks off somehow?
I stumbled upon this great horror documentary! The beginning hints very strongly at an opinion that horror films are an expression and release of the fears of every day life: a reflection of violence rather than a creation of itself.
Another angle on consumption of flesh and blood is portrayed through cannibalism. It's portrayed in media as something only savages, or the very deranged, do. When compared to the vampire genre, cannibal films rely more heavily on shock value, gore, and the actual sight of blood.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
This film seems to be the gem of the genre, and incidentally has a similar trick to suggest realism by using shaky "camcorder" style footage. Prior to this in the film, the white "invaders" raped and killed a girl and burned down the natives' village, seemingly "earning" their fate here. The use of blood here is surprisingly subdued for the gory reaction of disgust I immediately experienced. It seems the flashing of flesh with shocks of red is enough to suggest the horrifying gore here. To top it off, horror of all horrors, Cannibal Holocaust here highlights genital mutilation and consumption, which is an entirely different topic. Compared to slasher films of the 90s or modern cg blood fests, this blood is neither splattering nor in your face, but its presence here is necessary.
Cannibal Girls (1973)
Ha! This film brings the sex appeal back to cannibalism, as "very sexy" women seduce men in order to consume them. I'm having a difficult time finding bloody scenes online, but the trailer suggests it's "especially gruesome." I bet.
Delicatessen (1991)
Delicatessen is a surreal film which I cannot recap in a few sentences here, but suffice it to say that cannibalism is a main thread here. In this alternate world, food is very scarce and this small town butcher feeds its people by ensnaring young men to do work for them... and then killing him and slicing up his meat for sale. Not gory by any means, but it's a highly complex film which uses cannibalism in an almost casual manner.
Cannibal films, like many other "blood" films I've written about here (or, one could say, most films in any genre) seem to attempt to portray sexuality and blood side by side. Nude natives consume a man's penis before the rest of his flesh and rape a woman before eating her. Lady cannibals use their sexual wiles to seduce men into becoming dinner. The role of blood effects here is secondary, but the role of blood symbolism and tradition is certainly present.
Very much connected to the ideas of vampirism and "sucking blood" is Christian imagery. Crucifixes, holy water, and sacred ground protects you from a soulless vampire's teeth.
Blood imagery is prevalent in Christian art, poetry, and hymns, "emphasizing the physicality of Christ's body" and his humanity. The concepts of stigmata, self-flagellation, and the Holy Communion (representing the body and blood shed from Christ) have been accepted in Catholic churches for hundreds of years. Not surprisingly, symbols of blood in this context have made their way from the church to the cinema.
The Eucharist
"This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." (Luke 22:20).
Otherwise referred to as "Holy Communion," the Eucharist is a rite performed by most Christian churches. Surprisingly, wikipedia has a very illuminating article highlighting different congregation's beliefs surrounding the Eucharist. In short, participants eat bread and drink wine as symbles of God's grace, "Sacred Mystery," but most prevalently the Body and Blood of Christ. The consumption of His Blood is, most often, considered to be a tool for atonement of one's sins. Here, the concept of consuming blood is seen as a spiritual act rather than the view of vampirism, cannibalism, or the idea of "blood libel" as a violent and evil act.
Stigmata From Wikipedia:
Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus... The majority of reported stigmatics are female.
Stigmata is a particularly interesting phenomenon relating to Christian blood iconography--in this case, Roman Catholic iconography. Why are "stigmatics" mostly female? Perhaps it is a reflection of the idea of female suffering and weakness. Who knows. Obviously the most explicit film that uses this concept in the ultimate aim of horror and excitement is Stigmata.
Stigmata (1999)
The cinematography is vomitously 90s: high contrast, flashing lights, shaky cam, the whole nine yards, which in my opinion detracts from any real fear you can build up. The images of blood are obscured and crucifixion images are cut in again and again, leaving no mystery to any scene, and never lingering long enough on the blood to be gory. The seeming lack of gore makes the movie feel far too serious for its own good. I can't enjoy the shock or disgust when I am being hit over the head with religious metaphor...
Vampires are probably one of the more obvious vehicles for art about blood. As elements of superstition and folklore, vampires are difficult to define 100% clearly, but in general they are considered human undead who survive by feeding on the blood of living humans. Sometimes they wear capes, sometimes they fly, sometimes they are deterred by garlic... and so forth.
Anyway, vampires are highly attractive for filmmakers -- they're mysterious, sexy, and evil, all in one.
Nosferatu (1922)
Quite eerie - unfortunately to me, the title cards take away from the real spook factor.
the "same" scene from Dracula (1931)
Delightful! That hungry look!
El Vampiro (1957)
High cheese factor, it's got everything: the fangs, the cape, the automatic coffin opener...
Blacula (1972)
And it just gets campier. Here we see a unique angle on the very Eurocentric vampire film genre.
Blood For Dracula/Andy Warhol's Dracula (1974)
This Dracula requires blood of virgins, not any old horror film hussy. This looks to be an excellent camp film and I intend on indulging in it sometime soon.
Rabid (1976)
Not really about the classic vampire, but about blood-suckingas a transmitted virus. Much like Cronenberg's other films it has elements of disease, transformation of the flesh, mutated genitalia...
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)
A philosophical vampire. Here, Nosferatu is back to his hideous self -- he's not charmingly suave, and is somehow more animalistic than other iterations of the Dracula story, while having a more clear-cut "emotional" meaning... Here, his bloodlust is palpably painful as he quivers near the end of this clip.
Cronos (1993)
Cronos is in the same camp as Cronenberg's "Rabid" -- rather than one "master" vampire, we have a device which contains a vampire parasite in the end goal of immortality. Again, this is interesting. In many other movies, immortality is just an effect of becoming a vampire, and not truly a goal. We see, also, vampiristic bloodlust being satisfied by dead flesh, which significantly detracts from any "sensual" mood other movies have.
John Carpenter's Vampires (1998)
Here, rather than the simply "seductive" bite on the neck, Carpenter's vision of a vampire is outright erotic. The thing most illuminating here is trying to determine where horror and pain ends and pleasure begins (or vice versa).
Frostbiten (2006)
This video shows a collection of visual effects in the first (!) Swedish vampire movie. Very illuminating on just how much visual effects work is done in a movie like this. The content here is an interesting combination of the classic "master vampire" blood-sucking and the Cronenberg-esqe "disease" view if vampirism, as this mass of infections start after teenagers accidentally consume infected blood capsules.
There are countless other vampire films, television shows, and various portrayals of vampires. The folklore of vampires have been interpreted in many ways: the sensual and romantic view of the connection between a vampire and his/her "prey", the eroticism of bloodsucking [I didn't even delve here into the massive amount of porn films about vampires], the concept of bloodlust as a virus, the aspect of immortality... Through all this, blood represents a powerful substance of vitality that no other symbol has.
While women's blood suggests some representation fertility, Meyer suggests that men's is tied to the hunt. Women's blood "of life" and men's "of death" are in constant tension with one another, often seen in religious sacrificial rites to goddesses, and often toward the end goal of fertility.
Here, I could discuss years of war/cowboy/hero films, watching men spill their blood for a cause vs. the amazing amount of gore/pulp/exploitation films dedicated to fair maidens being shred apart a masked man. I've been struggling with how to fairly analyze the film world's portrayal of "blood sexism," but have found it highly difficult without a background in feminist analysis. Suffice it to say that film isn't the only place there is a strange imbalance of bloodshed.
The most widespread metaphorical trope attributes life-giving qualities to blood, both in terms of procreation and agricultural fertility.
Papua New Guinea, ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and so forth, all have literal and symbolic blood rites to promote fertility. The most obvious symbol here is that of menstruation. In her analysis, Meyer lingers quite long on the idea of menstruation and the sociology surrounding menstruation in many cultures. In the frame of reference of ancient culture, this is particularly fascinating--the ways in which many cultures dealt with menstruation (and, indeed, menstruating women) ranges from social quarantine to ritual cleansing to the deifying of menses.
However, as cultures have advanced, so has our relationship with menstruation. It has been sanitized and shifted to a hygienic routine rather than one of cultural significance. In the realm of modern cinema, then, there is not much to be said about menses per se: there is more to be seen in the representation of women's shed blood.
Carrie (1976)
Carrie is an interesting film in this context--it contains both blood of menstruation and of violence. The scene above is the opening of the film featuring Carrie's first period, her reaction, and reactions of those around her. Her primary gut reaction of extreme fear nearing rage is astounding, and it sets the frame for her viciously violent interactions with those around her by the end of the film, when it is no longer her blood showering down! The taunting of her classmates, too, sets a frame of reference of the commonplace relationship with menstruation in the 70s, with sanitary pads and tampons abounding. Her classmates' relationships with their menses is casual, and to see someone react so foreignly to her own blood is worthy of mocking. The third relationship to menstruation here is Carrie's mother, who brings in an element of religious fervor nearing the occult. Her insinuation here is even more extreme: that menstruation only comes as a repercussion of sin, particularly sex. Fertility in Carrie is not a positive thing, as it marks the beginning of her telekinetic powers. Carrie's "demonic" behavior should not reproduce, and she is told time and time again by everyone around her that she is not worth the gift of life.
The Dreamers (2003)
I'm trying still to find a clip or to upload one, but there are two important blood as fertility scenes. One is when American student Matthew breaks Isabelle's hymen and they share a bloody kiss. The other is when menstruates in the bathtub while they are bathing together. The first scene is one celebrating fertility, in a way -- Matthew passionately accepts the blood-soaked gesture. The second is the celebration of continuing fertility rather than new life--that is, Isabelle is not pregnant by the young man, and they can continue their affair.
Zatoichi (2003) Apologies for this clip being in German, but it's the best one to show of some of the effects scenes with blood... Those start ~3:10.
Zatoichi is a recent revival of a long-running series of Japanese films about a blind masseur/swordsman. While Zatoichi's duty is grim -- to protect village people from the Yakuza -- the film has quite a bit of levity in the form of a dance number. In addition, the violence is considerably less gory than one might expect. The gracefulness of the blind swordsman is highlighted by the very stylized use of the CG blood. Here, the red blood is set off by purposefully monochromatic scenes.
300 (2007)
Now, 300, as a mostly digital production, makes sense to use digital blood (rather than practical, shooting it against the green screen) for the same reason as Zatoichi -- it's more a stylistic choice than anything else. Here, the surreal amount of violence is turned into something like a dance by being slowed down with the blood spurting out gracefully. I'm not a professional on murderous rampages, so I can't know for sure that it's unrealistic -- but it's certainly not believably disgusting as you might expect from a "war film."
har har... Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Obviously this clip doesn't use digital effects, but I'd like to show it in comparison with the blood seen in the previous images. Here, the ridiculousness of the blood is for obvious comedic effect. In looking for tutorials on CG blood, one finds a lot of filmmakers forums with complaints that there is no way to make digital blood look real -- and perhaps at this point, that's true. But, indeed, stage blood seems difficult to wrangle with as well to make seem realistic. The stylistic and narrative intent clearly has a lot to do with the outcome of any blood effect.
Blood has been used symbolistically far before the advent of film. Perhaps it is the simple fact that blood is something that all humans have, and therefore is a particularly potent symbol across all cultures. Indeed, all cultures across history have uses for blood in their rituals, art, and religion.
In Thicker than Water, Meyer also reminds us of anthropological findings findings in linguistics.
According to linguists, all languages use color terms that conform to the same evolutionary sequence: (1) black and white, (2) plus red, (3) plus green or yellow, (4) plus green and yellow, (5) plus blue ... The neurobiological basis for the universality of color perception and classification is the most important epigenetic rule for explaining the origins of blood metaphors.
I found this interesting as a designer interested in bloody films. Pure red is very often used in graphic design--its a go-to for its "eyecatching" and boldness. Maybe it is because of this "neurobiological" reaction that red is used so frequently. Stylized uses of blood in film seems to serve the same function, not necessarily to evoke strong repulsion or feelings about gore, but on another visual level.
This kind of blood stylization is seen a lot in giallo films or even in modern films using digitized blood effects (think 300, Sin City, Zatoichi... I'll discuss this in a future post). The sheer redness of blood is, at first glance, primary -- the violent nature of the scene comes later.
Melissa Meyer's Thicker Than Water: The Origins of Blood as a Symbol is a scholarly investigation into blood symbolism in the ancient world. She takes a rather overt feminist stance on the subject, which upon reading the synopsis I did not expect. I found her repetition of menstrual blood throughout the book to be somewhat confining in scope, but it was overall a good base with which to look at more contemporary blood rituals, even in cinema. Meyer has provided an abundance of primitive examples, and, while limited, I hope to discuss and draw from her overall thesis in future posts.
In just this trailer, you can note another very interesting use of blood. It isn't only here for the shock value of gore, but to create suspense: see the reflection of the other figure shifting back and forth in the puddle of blood! Very interesting, as the blood here is not realistic at all, so it serves a very different aesthetic and narrative purpose.
It makes me feel kind of funny when I realize that my dad's love for "Blue Velvet" probably developed in my infancy. Maybe this has something to do with my love of "creepy." ANYway...
The infamous candy colored clown scene is a funny one -- no real gore, no blood splattering. But I think it's funny/freakin scary how the punches to the face are somehow "foreshadowed" by their smudged red lips.
Do you know of any extremely violent clips in "Blue Velvet" which feature blood? It's been a while. Let me know.
The official "The Shining" trailer seems to have disappeared from YouTube and replaced by spoofs, but it can be viewed here. Regardless...
From IMDB:
Stanley Kubrick, known for his compulsiveness and numerous retakes, got the difficult shot of blood pouring from the elevators in only three takes. This would be remarkable if it weren't for the fact that the shot took nine days to set up; every time the doors opened and the blood poured out, Kubrick would say, "It doesn't look like blood." They had tried shooting that scene for an entire year.
I'm looking for the how-to of this scene and will return to update...
Ah, the shower scene. It's interesting to me how you never see the knife entering flesh -- instead, the sound and the blood resulting from the apparent wounds tell the story.
There's no splatter on impact, like we might see in movies today -- nothing cascading on the walls when he stabs her. The blood and water combination puddling at her feet is most important, here (starting about 0:59 into the clip). Apparently, the blood was created using chocolate syrup as it shows up quite well on black and white film. You can see how the syrup reacted with the water at the first shot at 0:59. It ends up clumping in bits around her feet, but by the second shot down at the water at 1:02, we can see a diluted, fairly consistent texture.
At ~1:40, the stream of blood running toward the drain is quite affective although subtle. You can see pulses of clouds of blood instead of a consistent texture -- I wonder how precisely this was accomplished.
Now, check out the 1998 Van Sant remake.
This is a "shot by shot" remake, but it fails, even in this scene alone. Did you catch that smear on the wall around 2:40? Yeah. And the color of the blood is a complete failure here. It's bright red, almost magenta. And at ~2:50, at the overhead shot, we see too much blood, including the stab wounds on her back. In this version, the blood seems secondary even though there is more of it. It's more about Heche's (bad) acting and her limp body dangling over the tub. Van Sant does, however, capture the original cloudiness of the blood running down the drain.
