I'm thinking in hindsight that using the blood was distracting from the emotional theme of man vs. nature, and would have been more effective if it had been more of a subtle/psychological effect rather than the in-your-face B-movie effect that I got.
Unfortunately, on the only day we could shoot, it was cold (35 degrees F) and very windy, so my model was getting very cold and towards the end my fingers were so numb I could hardly opperate the shutter. If I were to do it over, I would be more delicate with the application of the 'blood' on the tree instead of generously splashing it on.