Mmm, Braaaains! Undead Actors Chomp on Sorbitol

Photo: AMC/Neal Peters Collection

In a zombie apocalypse — as everyone knows — the undead eat brains (or other body parts, depending on which mythology you subscribe to). On a film set, however, zombies basically eat Jell-O. Recipes vary, of course, but in Resident Evil: Retribution, out Friday, the walking dead chew on a version fortified with glycerin and sorbitol, compounds often used to make soft-gel pills. Added to gelatin, the combo turns the faux flesh into something solid enough for actors to really sink their rotting bicuspids into. “The stuff is great, because if it accidentally gets ingested, it’s essentially food,” says Paul Jones, a prosthetic makeup designer who created more than 800 zombies for the new movie. “You can actually bite into it and see it tear.” More occipital lobe, anyone?

Recipe: DIY Faux Flesh*

Ingredients:

• 200 grams glycerin
  
• 200 grams sorbitol
  
• 100 grams gelatin powder (recommended: 300 bloom)
  
• 2.5 grams zinc oxide
  
• Colored face powder
  
• Red and green colored frocking
  
• Water as needed

1. Mix the glycerin and sorbitol together in a large bowl, then add the gelatin powder and zinc oxide. Microwave in 2-minute intervals, stirring until the powder melts into the liquid. (To make skin that can tear more easily, as in a bite wound, replace the sorbitol with water.)
2. Once melted, add desired colored frocking or small amounts of face powder or food coloring, until desired hue is achieved.
3. Pour into food grade silicone mold. (These can be made at home using a kit or purchased from a specialty catalog.)
4. Cool in refrigerator until the mixture sets. Small body parts, such as hands or arms, will cool within a couple of hours. Larger body parts will take longer.
Yield: 1 serving of brains, flesh, or viscera