User blog comment:Creeper50/Why Blood is More Hated Than it Should Be/@comment-6548012-20160724142604/@comment-4849011-20160730001854

I have to agree. Also, I think the problem is "writers" who just have blood and don't feature any other scary, intense, or interesting elements. "I'll just throw some blood in here and call it good! Yeah, that's the ticket!"

I agree that blood can be good if used in the right context. I saw a scene in the 1936 movie version of Show Boat that I found unsettling (and I'm not the only one). The film is set at a time when interracial marriage was illegal in America. A white person could not be married to someone who was black or mixed race. The authorities came to confront this couple, Steve and Julie, because she was part black, and thus she couldn't legally be married to the all-white Steve. They knew the authorities were coming, so Steve took out a pocket knife, cut Julie's hand, and guzzled down some of her blood. The reason for this? When the authorities came in, he could claim that their marriage was legal because he had some "black blood" in him. It's a very subtle use of blood, but it's still unsettling and effective for a number of reasons.