Let it bleed

Now with the script in hand I'm needing to get down to business. (I keep using this "business" word. It's getting annoying.) One of my utmost concerns? Finding a good, realistic, but affordable recipe for fake blood.

I suppose I must admit to being a fan of fake blood. I think that the blood Alfred Hitchcock used in Psycho was fantastic! The way is ran down the drain? Beautiful. It's also chocolate syrup. Since I'm filming in color, not black and white, I'm thinking that's not going to work so well for me.

In his book "If Chins Could Kill," Bruce Campbell gives the secret recipe for the blood used in Evil Dead. He also goes a little bit into the side effects such as turning a shirt set out to dry into peanut brittle. (Oops, should I have mentioned that there was going to be a spoiler there?)

Still a little looking around on line, and the karo syrup pops up in an awful lot of the recipes, or corn syrup if you will. So I suppose I need to consider if I really want to purchase a bathtubs worth corn syrup and red food coloring?

Some alternate recipes get a bit more scary. There are some more "professional" ones that involve developer of some kind. I've been in dark rooms and the smell alone as kept me from taking up old school photography in any way shape or form. So why would I want to splash that on my actors? The funny thing is, based on previous experience, I could probably get them to do it. Those wacky actors are up for anything for their art.

I think there's something to be said for lots of blood in a horror film. But I'd like to not poison any actors in the process please.

Other props I need to start scoping out include a complete human skeleton, a convincing looking old trunk, fake dust, crates, and turn of the century era tools (my assistant producer is all over the tools). For some reason, over all that I'm worried about the blood. I may be obsessive. Dunno.