Customer Reviews

A Bucket of Blood [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Walter (Character actor and Veteran Roger Corman regular Dick Smith) ,a nerdish painter who waits tables at a beatnik cafe, is jealous of the popularity of its various artistic regulars. He kills his landlady's cat by accident . Then he glosses the body in plaster to hide the missing cat. Many acclaimed as a brilliant sculptor. Many so called friends/enemies want to see more of his work.. Walter has to resort to similar methods to produce new pieces with mixed results .

Directed on a low budget by Roger Corman, it works and has a sense of humor with its horror. Its satire sit bites 48 years later. It does a bloodless horror that still thrills

This film is similar to House of Wax and the future Corman film, the cult classic, The Little Shop of Horrors. The beatnik reference makes this movie a cult classic of the early 1960's (made in 1959-GAWD it is as old as I am) as well as "Horror", but it was not as well received

so get it and enjoy this campy horror film

Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

Dick Miller, one of the more popular character actors in Hollywood, whom I remember most from such movies as Gremlins (1984), Matinee (1993), and Demon Knight (1995) stars in this Roger Corman classic from 1959.

Miller is Walter Paisley, a simple-minded man with high aspirations who works in a beatnik coffee shop, The Yellow Door, as a busboy. He desperately wants to fit in, but finds himself usually the butt of jokes from some of the more pretentious bohemian crowd. The main reason for Walter's desire to be in the 'in crowd' is Carla, played by Barboura Morris, who I just saw in another Corman movie, The Wasp Woman (1960). Carla also works at The Yellow Door, and is really the only one that treats Walter with respect and kindness. One night while at home, Walter is struggling with some clay, trying to create a bust of Carla, but his efforts are in vain. After accidentally killing his landlord's cat with a knife, Walter tries to hide what he did by covering the cat, and the protruding knife, with clay and inadvertently creates his first work of art, aptly titled 'Dead Cat'. Walter soon gains acclaim for his sculpture, and his career as an artist is born. The pressure of coming up with new pieces leads him to use human models creating grisly, realistic, highly detailed sculptures of figures in death throes. Soon Walter becomes the talk of the community, with fame and fortune sure to follow...or does it?

I really enjoyed this movie, which is basically an update of one of my favorite movies, House of Wax (1953) starring Vincent Price. The beatnik angle played nicely off the more gruesome elements of the movie, providing levity in this dark psuedo comedy. What I really liked was the beatniks were shown in different fashion, some being played for comedic effect, while others being played a little more seriously. There wasn't a sense of trivializing the movement, but more of poking a little fun at it. Some other actors I recognized were Ed Nelson, whom I recently saw in Night of the Blood Beast (1958) and perennial 70's TV favorite and host of many a game show, Bert Convy, looking so very young I almost didn't recognize him. Along with Dick Miller's performance, I also really enjoyed the barrel-chested beat poet character Maxwell H. Brock, played by Julian Burton. He delivers some truly interesting poetry in eloquent fashion.

The film has a short run time, at 66 minutes, which tended to keep the pacing snappy. Corman really shows why, even though his movie may have been made cheaply, they didn't always have to look cheap, with his professional direction and ability to keep things interesting by drawing out great performances from his actors. The case does mention a trailer for A Bucket of Blood included, but I found none. What I did find was an excellent copy of the film on this DVD, well worth getting if you enjoy black humor.

Cookieman108

After watching "A Bucket Of Blood" (1959), I have come to the conclusion that it is an earlier, bloodier variation of the movie "The Little Shop Of Horrors" (1960). Both movies were written by Charles B. Griffith. Both movies were directed by Roger Corman. In addition, several of the actors appear in both films. For example, John Shaner appeared as a beatnik named Oscar in "A Bucket Of Blood," and played the dentist Dr. Phoebus Farb in "The Little Shop Of Horrors."
In "A Bucket Of Blood," Dick Miller plays Walter Paisley, a nerdish waiter at a Bohemian cafe.
In "The Little Shop Of Horrors," Jonathan Haze plays Seymour Krelboyne, a nerdish worker at a flower shop.
After accidentally killing his landlady's cat and covering the body in plaster, Walter is acclaimed as a brilliant sculptor.
After cross breeding flowers, and accidentally creating a hybrid plant, Seymour is acclaimed as a brilliant horticulturalist.
Lacking any artistic talent whatsoever, Walter has to kill people and cover them in clay to create new statues.
Because the plant is a carnivore, Seymour accidentally kills people and feeds them to his plant, making the plant grow to gargantuan size.
Walter's boss finds out about what's going on, but doesn't tell the police, because of the money and notoriety it generates for the coffee house.
Seymour's boss finds out about what's going on but doesn't tell the police, because of the money and notoriety it generates for the flower shop.
After everyone realizes what's really going on, the police chase Walter. The movie ends when Walter hangs himself before the police catch and arrest him.
After everyone realizes what's really going on, the police chase Seymour. The movie ends when Seymour is devoured by the giant plant before the police catch and arrest him.
Because the violence is deliberate and the ending shocking and depressing, "A Bucket Of Blood" is one of the more obscure Roger Corman movies.
Because the violence is accidental and the ending is played for laughs, "The Little Shop Of Horrors" is fondly remembered as one of Roger Corman's best movies.

Although its 'companion' film, Little Shop of Horrors, gets lots more attention, this terrific "sick humor" gem has always been my favorite of the two. For me, it's funnier, scarier, and more plausible, and benefits tremendously from the beatnik/doper/coffeehouse milieu in which it's set. Dick Miller, in his mightiest role, perfectly personifies everynebbish busboy Walter Paisley, who finds a disturbing way to gain some cred with his hipster peers. Julian Burton as a grandiose beatnik, Antony Carbone (handling some great deadpan comedy as he begins to suspect the truth behind Walter's creations), and John Brinkley and John Shaner, as a couple of 'comedy-relief' junkies, stand out in a generally fine cast. I remember seeing this for the first time when I was about 12 on some late night horror show, and the bleak, icky feeling generated by the 'cat in the wall' scene was my first inkling that there was something uniquely twisted about American International pictures (vs. the old Universal classics I had cut my teeth on). Check out the set decoration in Walter's apartment: Yecch! There's also something strangely pleasing about Walter splitting Bert Convy's head open with a cast iron griddle. One of Corman's least farcical, most 'straight' (and satisfying) films. Highly recommended to fans of "beat noir," "sick" humor, cheap horror, Lenny Bruce, etc., etc.
MGM Home Video's DVD presentation is bare bones (the trailer promised on the box is nowhere in sight) but the source print used is simply spectacular. The shadow/highlight detail, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and tonal values are uniformly excellent, and there is only some extremely light, sporadic speckling/spotting. Comparing it to the VHS copy I had made me want to cry. Too bad they didn't line up Dick Miller for a commentary, that would've been a five-star disc, rather than the really-excellent-but-not-quite-ultimate edition we get here. And, unfortunately, MGM's making us pay a premium price for this title because of its cult status rather than the blowout list of their Midnite Movies series; but don't let a few bucks stop you from adding this demented classic to your library.

"A Bucket of Blood" is not one of my favorite Roger Corman films and it has been passed around to various public domain companies for years. The MGM version is the one to get and an official release with the best picture quality. Don't be discouraged if it isn't widescreen as seen on TCM. This was filmed in 1.37 to be played in 1.66 ratio. What you get here is an open matte version meaning you see the entire scene shot by the camera before a mask is added to make it widescreen cutting the top and bottom for theater screen showings. This is NOT the same as Pan & Scan v. Widescreen. In fact, some releases done this way will find microphone booms at the top of the screen which would be hidden with the mask later on. You actually get more picture here rather than less :-)

The MGM DVD is still available so there is no reason to buy cheaper quality versions especially if you are a Corman fan.

The key thing to know about "A Bucket of Blood" is that director Roger Corman made it a year before he did his more notorious "Little Shop of Horror." Both movies starred Dick Miller, both were made in less than a week on shoestring budgets (five days for $30,000), and both films constitute horror-comedy, although "Little Shop" is decidedly more over the top and obviously better known. But do not be surprised if you like this 1959 Corman film better.

The horror element is actually in vogue again with the release of a new version of "House of Wax" this week, since Miller plays Walter Paisley, a bus boy at The Yellow Door, an art house care that is the place to go for the Beat Generation. Paisley is a would-be-sculptor wants to be accepted by all of the cool cats, but he does not really have any talent. Then he accidentally kills his cat and when he covers it with clay he is suddenly proclaimed as having a "talent" for lifelike artwork. Another accident, of a sort, gives him the opportunity to move on to human figures, at which point Walter starts looking for new subjects. The ending strikes you as being something out of "The Twilight Zone," but up to that point it works for the most part because of the performances by Miller, Barboura Morris as Carla, and most of the supporting roles.

The comedy part comes not from the killing and sculpting but from the movie's send up of the beatnik scene. The cafe is filled with Beat poets and folk singers. Part of the reason it works is that what is happening at the cafe is not really parody, but earnest attempts in the accepted Beat style. The babble coming out of the mouth of Maxwell (Julian Burton) has the appropriate sense of pseudo-profundity and the guy walking around playing the guitar and singing is Alex Hassilev, who was about to help form the Limeliters. This movie was remade in 1995 as one of the cable television movies presented under the umbrella title "Roger Corman Presents," but that was not half the movie the original black & white, quick & dirty film is as far as I am concerned.

Roger Corman made this gonzo piece of cinema in a few days, same as Little Shop of Horrors. But Bucket of Blood has Dick Miller, which Little Shop did not. (of course Little Shop has Jack Nicholson, so there ya go).

This still works--cause Corman makes trenchant fun of artsy types and health food and pretense (they all go together in this doozy of a movie). The free verse recital is a gas, especially by Vampira--remember her boys and girls?--who shows up to give this flick a touch of well-deserved anti-class.

Miller (as Walter Paisley) is jealous of all the arty types; he wants to be like them but his blustering boss won't let Walter talk to the in crowd, berating him for slacking off. So when Walter accidentally destroys his landlady's cat, he hides his grievous error by covering the poor critter in clay, then brings it into the beatnik hangout where he's employed, a coffee shop (the cafe type, not the diner type) and everyone oohs and ahs at his great masterpiece.

Naturally Walter has to outdo his first piece, so he manages to entice various people here and there to step closer to him at his modest place of residence--and the rest, as they say, is history. The title refers to Walter really getting into his work, if you catch my drift. And I'm sure you do.

Bucket of Blood was made on a budget so small, a shoestring would have been a luxury. What makes it so nifty is the sharp dialogue that is definitely not at all dated but still fresh today, almost 50 years later. This is a one of a kind movie equalled only by, that's right, Little Shop of Horrors. This is the kind of movie you really CAN'T do a remake of; it captures the late 50s perfectly, in its artsy beatnik phase/mode thingie.

Not a great film--I wanted to give it 3 1/2 stars, but couldn't--but good enough to have fun with. Since in my current later years I'm getting soft-hearted (and probably soft-headed as well), I gave it four stars.

Groovy.

This is not only a masterpiece of low-budget comedy and one of the most quotable movies ever, it's also one of the more accurate depictions of futile would-be artists and hypocritical "sophisicated people" I've seen in mass media. Dick Miller was never better than in his role as Walter Paisley, an endearingly horrible mass of thwarted ambition and cringing tics. So the DVD is worth buying on the merits of the movie, but don't expect any extras. The box claims that the original theatrical trailer is included,but if that's the case, I don't know how you'd actually see it--it's not accessible from the menu, and doesn't play automatically after the feature.

With a short shooting schedule and a tight budget, Roger Corman manages nothing short of a classic film here--if not quite in a league with the big-budget classics (but more fun), definitely worth preserving and viewing more than once or twice. Sure, some minor corners are cut, some elements strain believability (with a quirky satiric slant that still works)--but no more than a lot of movies, and they only add to the fun in the classic Corman manner.

The awesome Dick Miller plays Walter Paisley, a painfully shy and not-too-bright busboy at The Yellow Door, a beatnik coffee house (this is 1959), who stumbles on an "easy" way to create sculpture art without having real talent (it involves the models for these sculptures becoming more than models) and becomes a local hero to the beat crowd...while people keep disappearing! Miller's performance is almost painfully real, and just right.

There's plenty of local color, some of the exteriors appear to be shot on locations around Venice (California), and Corman appears to be satirically skewering the whole beatnik scene while at the same time showing obvious affection for it.

Another Corman regular, the unique and lovely Barboura Morris, plays Carla, artist and apparent part-owner of The Yellow Door, who champions Walter to the more cynical denizens of the beat scene, and lives to regret it. Her sincerity, intelligence, and ability to do deadly put-downs with a soft, gentle voice make one wish she'd done more roles like this. She is convincing and completely natural.

Plenty of "beatnik" poetry, cool jazz, in-jokes which somehow still work, well-observed background, a talented cast, and a sure directorial hand all combine to make a really COOL flick, man, dig? Check it out!

Poor Walter Paisley (Dick Mlller). No one notices him in his dead-end job as busboy at The Yellow Door coffeehouse. Day after day he watches and listens as beat poets and musicians get all the attention and accolades. Then, one day, Walter accidentally kills his landlady's cat, covers it in clay, and -presto!- a new artistic master is born! Soon, the beatniks are at Walter's feet, begging for further expressions of his genius. Walter knocks a cop (Bert Convy) in the noggin with a skillet, turns him into a statue, and has another masterwork to show off! Unfortunately, this begins taking a toll on Walter's mind, turning him into just another pseudo-intellectual, elitist snob like the ones he'd once envied. Of course, Walter is also a serial killer, using his victims as the guts of his "art". BUCKET OF BLOOD is a hysterical look at the beat generation. It lampoons just about every type of beatnik pomposity. Roger Corman's sense of humor shines through every scene! This would be a perfect double bill with LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS or THE BLOODY BROOD. Highly recommended...