In Cliffhanger (1993), there is a scene where Gabe is fighting with an opponent in a cave. His opponent seems to win, but finally Gabe grabs him and lifts him up against a stalactite which pierces his body completely and kills him.
I don't understand why that stalactite is red before Gabe lifts up the other guy. I have watched that scene multiple times frame by frame to understand it, but to no avail. To make things worse, we can view the red stalactite for a second or so, which is quite long. At least, it is probably too long to be caused by a mistake; therefore, I believe that there must be some sense in it.
I have tried to research whether there could be conditions in caves which make one stalactite have a completely different color than all others, but didn't find respective hints. Anyway, the stalactite in question doesn't just look red, but does look like its surface is completely covered by blood.
I then watched the whole fight multiple times from the beginning on to see whether one of the fighters had been injured by that stalactite before the end of the fight; this could explain the blood. However, I could not spot where this happened.
Why is that stalactite (apparently) covered with blood before Gabe uses it to kill the other guy.