‘It: Chapter Two’ Used 5,000 Gallons of Fake Blood in 1 Scene
It: Chapter Two was every bit as horrifying and gory as the first It movie. To up the gore factor, director Andy Muschietti used an astonishing 5,000 gallons of blood in the bathroom scene with an adult Bev played by Jessica Chastain. The movie based on the Stephen King novel of the same name has been well received by critics and fans alike. Let’s look at how the movie used 5,000 gallons of blood to create one of the bloodiest scenes in film history.
‘It: Chapter Two’ was a success
The gamble on the particularly bloody scene certainly paid off. The movie was an immediate success, and fans loved Bill Skarsgard’s spin on the supernatural Pennywise the Clown as much as they did in the first It film. Both movies were a remake of an early made-for-TV version of the film starring Tim Curry as Pennywise. Curry put his own unique twist on the evil clown that was darkly comic. Meanwhile, Skarsgard’s version of Pennywise is chilling and unsettling.
The first movie adaptation of Stephen King’s It became the highest-grossing horror film of all time. It earned a staggering record $700 million in ticket sales worldwide. However, that’s no real surprise, as Stephen King adaptations have traditionally done very well at the box office.
The scene that broke a fake blood record
According to Indiewire, the bathroom scene was meant to be “Carrie on steroids,” says Jessica Chastain. What resulted was a record 5,000 gallons of blood used for the same, more than any other Stephen King adapted movie. It has been reported that it is the most used in any horror film, though Fede Alvarez reportedly used approximately 50,000 gallons of fake blood in one day for the final scene of his 2013 Evil Dead reboot. At any rate, the scene is one of the scariest and goriest scenes in the movie.
Chastain was virtually bathed in blood for the scene. She immersed her entire head in the blood, which was not a requirement, but it definitely showed commitment to the scene. Clearly, she was invested 100% in selling the scene for which a record-breaking amount of blood was used.
‘It: Chapter Two’ isn’t the only blood fest
In the movie Dead Alive by Peter Jackson, it was reported that around 300 liters of blood were used in a scene where a lawnmower mows over a bunch of dead bodies. The movie has been reported to be one of the goriest and bloodiest movies in film history. There was half as much used in the first It movie, and they used 200 gallons of fake blood for the iconic bloody elevator shot in The Shining.
Another iconic Stephen King adaptation is Carrie, which was released in 1976, features the iconic pig blood scene that took a while to shoot. Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie, was dedicated to the scene. Taking days to film and wanting to keep the continuity, Spacek was so dedicated that she refused to change her clothes and slept in her bloody prom dress until filming for the scene had wrapped. She did this for three days.
Stephen King’s movie adaptations of his books have been wildly successful over the last several decades. King even sometimes makes cameo appearances in his movies, legitimizing the movies and essentially giving his stamp of approval in the process. In It: Chapter Two, King appears as the drug store owner that sells Bill his old bike.
Even though the books are arguably better than the movies, the last few King adaptations have been very successful. King’s movies are always delightfully unsettling in the most entertaining ways. Pound per pound, King’s movies collectively reign supreme in the realm of most blood used in a film.
