The Frame That Drips Blood!

Last year I got the chance to meet someone I’ve wanted to meet since I was a kid, Tom Savini. He’s a pioneer in special effects makeup an a legend in the horror community. I’ve saved all my issues of Fangoria Magazine over the years and asked Tom to sign this one from 1984 where he talks about his work on Friday the 13th, The Final Chapter.

I’ve made a lot of themed picture frames over the years and this is one of my favorites, plus I finally found a use for one of my wooden Jason machetes I made a few years ago. Not only that, this frame inspired me to build a new personal blog, My Movie Morgue devoted to movies I love. Check it out!

Making the frame was super simple: just two basic frames with the same outer dimensions, but the rear frame has narrower pieces. When these are sandwiched together, they create a rabbet for the artwork to drop into.

I clamped one frame to my workbench and routed out a slot for my wooden machete to hack into and a slot along the bottom for the blood to drip.

Using a template, I used my jigsaw to cut out the dripping blood in 1/8″ plywood. And sanded it smooth.

After gluing the fram together and staining it, I hacked up the edge to make it look like Jason wasn’t a fan of this frame!

I cut out a matte for the artwork in a piece of foam core board, spray painted it black and taped the magazine into place.

Finally, I cut out a piece of acrylic (Plexiglass) and mounted everything in the frame.

People always ask me about this point driver. If you make a lot of frames, this thing is super handy!