Quentin Tarantino wasn’t messing around when he shot “Kill Bill: Volume 1,” one of his deadliest movies to date.
The legendary filmmaker, 61, wanted the 2003 flick starring Uma Thurman to be gory, so he hired the best in the business to make his imagery come to life.
The Post spoke to Greg Nicotero, the special makeup effects creator for the film, who shared that the amount of fake blood he used on Quentin’s action film triumphs any of the others he’s worked on — which is saying a lot because he’s been hired for most of Hollywood’s horror classics.
Nicotero has been responsible for some of the bloodiest scenes in television and film, including “Scream” and “Scream 2,” “The Walking Dead,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Hills Have Eyes,” “Breaking Bad,” “Machete Kills” and more. He also founded KNB EFX Group, a makeup effects powerhouse specializing in prosthetics, animatronics, creature creation and replica animals.
When asked what the bloodiest movie of his career is, Nicotero answered without a doubt: Tarantino’s 21-year-old film, specifically the showdown between Thurman’s character (Beatrix “the Bride” Kiddo) and the army behind Lucy Liu’s character (O-Ren Ishii) known as the Crazy 88.
“‘Kill Bill: Volume 1’ the House of Blue Leaves sequence with the Crazy 88 is probably the most blood we’ve ever used on a movie,” he told The Post exclusively.
Nicotero explained that “hundreds of gallons of blood we used in that,” adding, “Tarantino is obviously no slouch when it comes to leaning into that kind of stuff” and emphasizing “there were 88 characters that were killed.”
The special effects guru said he knew what he was walking into when he agreed to work with Tarantino.
“You know, knowing that with Quentin, his intention was to pay tribute to a lot of those types of movies where the outrageous amount of blood is part of the allure and the charm,” Nicotero stated. “So, we knew for a fact that it was going to be a bloodbath, no pun intended.”
Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: Volume 1” reportedly featured 91 deaths in total.
The movie follows former assassin “The Bride” (Thurman), who wakes up from a four-year coma after her jealous ex-lover Bill (David Carradine) tries to murder her on her wedding day. She comes out of retirement to wreak havoc on everyone who betrayed her.
“Kill Bill: Volume 1” grossed $180.9 million worldwide at the box office and was intended only to be one film; however, due to the length, it was split into two.
“Kill Bill: Volume 2” was released in theaters in 2004. The sequel grossed $152.2 million worldwide on a production budget of $30 million.