(piano and humming)

(keys clacking) (steam whistle blowing)

It's the most magical time of the year.

I love Halloween because it's the perfect excuse

to watch gut-churningly-gory movies and shows.

(static buzz)

(dramatic music)

Now wait a minute.

Something's wrong here.

(dramatic music)

Yeah, something's terribly wrong.

Great Pec-n-Paw's ghost,

this is terrifying.

Not the show, the besmirching of a grand tradition.

How can anyone enjoy these zombie mutilations

when the blood is so clearly computer-generated.

(spooky music)

Authentic movie blood is made of Karo Syrup

and red food coloring, on set.

Gore-meister H.G. Lewis used kaopectate

for an even more loathsome consistency.

And geniuses like Tom Savini loaded gallons of fake blood

into squibs and balloons connected to little explosives,

or rigged up elaborate pneumatic systems

so blood would spray and splatter properly.

But nowadays, real genuine authentic fake gore

is falling into disuse.

(muffled screaming) (blood spraying)

You can't add ultra-violence in post.

I get it Hollywood.

It's easier.

You don't have to keep getting new squibs

and clean clothes for each retake.

You can fine-tune the explicitness

to appease the demands of ratings agencies.

Give me practical effects or give me death.

Stage blood may be fake,

but using it adds realism.

The actors convey real fear.

Humans respond to the sight of the red red cru-vee

the same way that a bull responds to a toreador's cape.

And when a tiny explosive opens up a squib,

an actor knows that's the precise moment

that their character's been shot,

and they can crumple or recoil properly.

Maybe all of this CG

is why pop culture vampires aren't scary anymore.

They add in all the digital blood and fangs

along with the sparkly skin in post-production.

If you can turn a rom-com

into a hunky vampire movie in post,

you're committing a crime against humanity.

Also, why does blood erupt like Old Faithful

from the noggin of a Walking Dead zombie?

I'd assume the undead would have pretty low blood pressure,

but apparently it's off the charts.

Now, who wants some candy?

(candies clattering)

(whooshing)

What's your favorite movie blood spray?

Kurosawa's Sanjuro? Tarantino's Kill Bill 1?

Let me know in the comments

and subscribe to the WIRED channel.