Did you know that when someone is shot (with a gun no less) in a major motion picture that their skin isn’t actually being pierced by a bullet? That their head doesn’t really explode? And more often than not that the blood spraying, spurting, and splattering out of the actor’s internal organs is often not even real blood? The “bloody” explosions are actually what’s colloquially known as a “squib” or an “exploding blood pack.” I’ve known this Hollywood secret for years (I definitely did not just learn about this looking at Wikipedia on my phone instead of feeding my cousin’s baby which he reluctantly let me watch for the weekend while he and his ex try to “reignite the spark in their relationship”), and now I’d like to share some of my favorite squib shots with you, my adoring public.

RoboCop

Look at all that blood. And to think that most of it isn’t even real.

Point Break

I really hope this is a squib. Not only because it looks very cool, but can you imagine if someone actually shot your foot for a movie? No thank you! I like my foot!

Django Unchained

No one told me that squibs can go two ways! What’s next? A whole head squib?

Scanners

Dude. What? Did y’all know about this? It’s like someone was reading my mind (this is a little joke because that’s more or less the plot of the 1981 science fiction film Scanners ha ha ha)

The Wild Bunch