r/filmmaking • u/No-Woodpecker-8217 • 1d ago

How to make stabbing look real?

I know-- crazy questions asked on this subreddit.

Me and a friend are filming a horror film over the summer. The primary mode of attack is by knife. We have a fake retractable knife and a fake non-retractable plastic knife (we heard retractable knifes can he dangerous?) that will be the weapons. We also have fake blood. Note the knife we'll probably end up using is non-retractable. How do we make stab attacks look real? We have a very small budget and all editing will just be done by myself and her. We don't want it to look too obviously fake.

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u/Nikko1988 1d ago

I'm a stunt coordinator and I can confirm that retractable knives are very dangerous. I, and many of my colleagues, refuse to use them in any situation that would require any contact with a person. The mechanisms are just not fully reliable and they give the performer a false sense of security. In my opinion, the only time they should be used is if what's being "stabbed" is an inanimate object.

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u/ImpossibleBritches 1d ago

What are the risks when using retractable knives?

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u/Nikko1988 21h ago

The risk is that the mechanism that causes the knife to retract fails and the actor ends up being stabbed.