We can see it now, the wizards at The Dark Arts company, those Masters of Make-up Art trawling through their ancient book of spells to come up with creative concoctions of congealing bloods and mixing lotions and potions to create what we think are simply spellbinding SFX products.
Chanting “Double, double, blood and trouble; Fire burn, and wound gel bubble“ over their cauldrons of blood (no eye of newts were harmed in the making) and guts, those SFX sorcerers have come up with a brilliant range of bloods in three great colours, that are pigment perfect across the range. So from a Slow Flow blood to a Slash and Stay blood you know you are getting colour consistency throughout, perfect for continuity.
The Dark Arts Company were so kind as to send out a range for us at The Mill to try. We had imagined the delivery man may turn up on a broomstick but sadly it was just DPD at the door, although it was truly magical to receive such an array of bloods for us to review. See below for our in depth delve into the dark underworld of The Dark Arts new blood range :
Spray Gel Blood :- This is a marvel of make-up magic if we have ever seen one! A blood that has a thick gel consistency, that you can spray and it stays...it sounds like witchcraft to us. This gel blood is a totally new texture in the world of bloods and is great for creating very large areas of gore quickly. We love it for brain matter spatter!
Contour Gel Blood:- A lovely wound filler that has a great pliable texture for filling wounds and adding depth. We also really like it to create smears of blood across the skin, for example from an old nose bleed and scuffs on the knuckles as the gel it bends with the skin without cracking.
Form Gel Blood:- This is a great alternative to directly applied 2 part silicones for creating super quick 3d blood effects. It is malleable enough to mould into shape, but firm enough to stay put. Great for very quick out of the kit wounds. We love putting a little of the Contour Gel Blood on top to really flesh out the wounds.
Fast Flow Blood:- Want the perfect nose bleed? Want the perfect bleed out all over the kitchen floor? Want blood to gush from the wound? Look no further than fast flow blood. Quicker than the speed of light this blood and Usain Bolt put together this blood flows like Niagara falls, for those nose bleed effects that come out of no where! It dries slowly which is wonderful for real time continuity and the blood stays looking fresh for longer. It smears brilliantly in hair as-well and keeps looking wet, great for reset times.
Mid Flow Blood:- Take it easy, sit back and relax as you unwind...hold on this isn't a spa day we are talking about. The mid flow blood is a great blood that gives a little grab and resists, where you want a trickle of blood rather than a torrent. It dries in minutes so its perfect for those wounds that are a little less than fresh.
Slow Flow- This has a more gel like texture but still has some movement to it, it is lovely in larger wounds and sits great on silicone too. It dries like congealing blood and stays well. What we love about all the flows is you can now control the speed of the blood, something that was all guess work or required a blood rig!
Spray and Stay :- This more for those arty farty art department folks but we at The Mill couldn't leave it out of our review, we love spray bloods but often find it hard to get a good spray blood that doesn't clog up in the nozzle after one use. Or when you make your own and thin it down with water you loose a lot of the texture and colour of the blood itself. Not with Spray and Stay, the colour is true to what it says on the tin and there is a strong colour pay off. It becomes rub proof on contact but will wipe away too.
Slash and Spray :- Another liquid blood but its truly like no other. You will never have to worry again when it comes to blood rigs clogging mid take as this blood does not contain any sugar syrup and does not have to be thinned down to get through tricky tubing. It comes in three great colours for all types of rigs or you can leave it in the handy spray pump bottle provided!
We at The Mill think that the Dark Arts Company definitely have us spellbound by this new blood range. It is also really affordable and we love the variety yet clarity that having three set shades offers. Our favourite has to be the Fast Flo blood, we love how it dries and how fast it moves! There is definitely something magical about this range and we cant wait to see what other tricks the DAC have up their sleeves!
