A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Nerdy Walter Paisley, a maladroit busboy at a beatnik café who doesn't fit in with the cool scene around him, attempts to woo his beautiful co-worker, Carla, by making a bust of her. When his klutziness results in the death of his landlady's cat, he panics and hides its body under a layer of plaster. But when Carla and her friends enthuse over the resulting artwork, Walter decides to create some bigger and more elaborate pieces using the same artistic process.
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Awesome Movie
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a lowly bus boy at a beatnik coffee house. He aspires to be an artist. When he accidentally kills his cat Frankie, he covers it with clay and then displays it as art. It is a hit and before long he is doing humans.The covered up corpse being art has been duplicated in later horror films. Dick Miller plays and excellent Walter in this short feature. This is available on multi-packs, which is where I viewed this one. It was not restored and would recommend watching something restored.
Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a dim-witted busboy at the beatnik café The Yellow Door. He tries to make a clay sculpture at home. He hears Frankie the cat in his wall. He tries to get him out using a knife and accidentally kills him. He covers the cat with clay and he becomes the toast of the club with his amazing cat 'sculpture'. This sets him off on a serious of killings and cover-ups using his clay.It has some hilarious stuff with the slow innocent Walter. Director Roger Corman is making fun of the beatnik culture. Actually I don't find the beatnik stuff that funny and the music rather annoying. I guess you have to experience it at the time to truly feel the jokes. Walter turning evil isn't scary but it is good solid old-fashion horror. This is relatively well made despite its low budget.
Dick Miller, one of the greatest cult actors of all time, here had a career high with his engaging portrayal of Walter Paisley. Walter is a meek busboy at a café dubbed The Yellow Door, a place frequented by goofy "beatnik" types. More than anything, he yearns to impress them and be part of their crowd. Alas, he's lacking in the department of artistic talent. However, his accidental killing of his landlady's cat sets off something inside of him. Soon, he's using clay to create amazingly accurate looking "sculptures" that finally make him a hit at his place of employment.Considered by some to be one of producer / director Roger Cormans' best pictures, "A Bucket of Blood" is deliciously macabre fun. Written by Charles B. Griffith, it's a very funny satire of the entire "beatnik" era, and of pretentious artistic types in general, while it also sends up the entire subgenre of "House of Wax" type features. The characters populating the story are frequently hilarious, especially pompous "poet" Maxwell H. Brock (Julian Burton), and the laid back duo Will (John Brinkley) & Oscar (John Herman Shaner). The movie is also a very effective dark comedy which suggests some pretty nasty violence. It's beautifully shot in stark black & white by Jacques R. Marquette. The sculptures themselves are really kind of creepy looking. The jazzy score by Fred Katz adds to the enjoyment.Miller is wonderful in the lead. Also doing good work are Barboura Morris as his leading lady Carla, and Antony Carbone as café owner Leonard de Santis. Turning up in nice supporting roles are Ed Nelson and Bert Convy as undercover detectives, Judy Bamber as stuck up model Alice, Myrtle Vail as landlady Mrs. Swickert, and Bruno VeSota as an art collector.The typically low Corman budget prevents the ultimate resolution from being that satisfying, but up until then, this is fine entertainment.Eight out of 10.
This is Often called a Black Comedy. It is Alleged that Director Roger Corman takes the Credit for Inventing the Genre. This Certainly is a Scathing Indictment of the Bohemian Life, Beatniks, and the Art World. But it is so with a Cunning Script that Never Relies on the Cheap and is Humorous only in its Illumination of Pretense as Significance.It is Actually, more Creepy than Funny, and more Morbid than Satiric. The Movie has a Huge Cult Following and is Touted and Proclaimed as Perfect Corman. It Deserves all that and More. Only, Perhaps, Night of the Living Dead (1969), could Eclipse this as the Best Most Inexpensive Movie Ever Made.There is nothing Wasted here and Everything Meshes with Tight Environs, Minimalist Sets, Crackerjack Dialog, and an Unrelenting Tone. The Violence and Murders are anything but Amusing, and the Resulting Works of Art are Horrifying.To make a Near Perfect Picture in 5 Days with such Limitations is Nothing Less Than Remarkable and this Movie has been Remarked About since its Initial Drive-In, Grindhouse Release. It Forever Holds-Up and has Never Lost its Allure. Corman, the Artist, might call this...Movie, Man.