'A Bucket of Blood' Review

When we found this movie sitting among other $5 DVDs like Eegah! and Teenagers from Outer Space, we expected the worst. We were surprised, however, to learn that there actually were some decent elements to A Bucket of Blood. Director Roger Corman later became well known for The Little Shop of Horrors, but this movie is certainly not without its charms.

A Bucket of Blood takes place in the 1950s world of beatniks, artists, and philosophers. I won't claim to be an expert on the Beat generation, but I'm familiar enough with it to enjoy the satirical portrayal of it in this movie. The story revolves around Walter Paisley (played by Dick Miller), a waiter at a trendy cafe who desperately wants into the world of those he waits on. The snoody beatniks don't think much of him until he accidentally creates a spectacular sculpture called "Dead Cat". The problem is, "Dead Cat" really is a dead cat covered in clay. While trying to get his landlady's cat out of a wall, Walter accidentally stabs it with a knife. We'll never know what inspires Walter to cover the cat's corpse in clay, but it immediately becomes Walter's key into the world he admired so much. The beatniks hail Walter as a visionary genius, and it's not long before the beatnik floozies notice Walter.

All is well and good until a cop tries to arrest Walter for possession of heroin, which Walter had unknowingly received from a fellow artist. When the cop pulls out his gun, Walter pulls out his frying pan and gives birth to his next great sculpture "Murdered Man". Again Walter is hailed as an artistic genius, but the series of murders doesn't end with a cat and a cop. Walter starts to kill more and more people, and eventually plans to kill the woman he loves in order to turn her into art forever. People soon discover the truth behind Mr. Paisley's sculptures, and an angry mob sets out to find Walter.

My first impression of this film was rather negative, simply because it wasn't what I was expecting. I took this for an amateurish piece of rubbish that could be laughed at as a colossal testament to the ineptness of the filmmakers. I was actually disappointed to discover that it wasn't all that bad. I had nothing I could use as the basis for libel in this review. I felt angry, betrayed, and victimized. Then I realized that this was the first movie I'd seen in a long time that didn't utterly reek of failure. After further pondering I came to the realization that this wasn't half bad. The script was funny, the acting acceptable, the directing and editing relatively good. The effects may have been a little juvenile, but for a low budget picture in 1959 I didn't mind so much.

A Bucket of Blood is certainly worth a mere rental fee, but whether or not its worth the $19.95 some stores are charging is another matter. There's several versions of this movie available, some much more expensive than others. Our version, distributed by Alpha Video, cost us less than five bucks at Fry's Electronics. MGM also distributes a more expensive version that includes the original theatrical trailer, but doesn't have much that warrants the higher price.

It's also worth noting that there was a made-for-TV update of this movie in the late 1990s. Finding a copy of this version is tough as it was only shown on premium cable networks like Showtime, but from what we hear even the excessive nudity doesn't make this version worth watching. This is in contrast to Corman's other black comedy, The Little Shop of Horrors, which was remade very successfully (at least financially) in the 1980s. Our opinion on the classic version of A Bucket of Blood:

Stats & Info
Rating: Not Rated
Rarity: Uncommon
Genre: Comedy/Horror
Released: 1959
Country of Origin: USA
Video: Black & White; Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Audio: English (Mono)
Plot: Waiter turned artist turned killer searches for acceptance
How Bad Is It? - Apart from some paper-mache corpses and a little bad acting, not very.