It’s no Saw, but the virtual simulations of bloody leg injuries designed by a team of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are no doubt realistic enough to send actual chills running our spines.

Earlier this November, the UCLA team showcased their project during the 68th annual meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics. The grisly reenactments are intended to be an accurate portrayal of what happens to the body as it’s hemorrhaging blood via a computational method known as Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). As seen in the video above, their pilot demonstrations revolved around the scenario of shrapnel entering and puncturing the leg, in part because that’s a likely scenario to be encountered by medical personnel out in the battlefield.

“We’re genuinely hopeful that our simulations will enhance the educational experience for medical trainees,” lead researcher Jeff Eldredge told New Scientist. “But I’m really pleased just to get visceral reactions from my kids. That probably makes me a horrible father.”

The proof-of-concept simulations will need fine-tuning before they can serve as an useful learning tool for the medics of the future, though, largely because while they can intimate how a leg bleeds, they’re not yet capable of realistically depicting what happens to one that’s being medically treated for such a wound in real time.

Still, you can’t deny that they’re equal parts gross and cool.