Review of A Bucket of Blood (1959) by Stuart K — 06 Feb 2015

Produced and directed by the great Roger Corman, this schlocky horror-comedy was made for American International Pictures for a meagre $50,000 and filmed in a marathon 5 days, and using left oversets from another American International production Diary of a High School Bride (1959), Corman was able to do a lot with very little, and the quick shoot was something he would repeat a few times.

At the beatnick Yellow Door Cafe, dimwitted busboy Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is inspired to make art after hearing poetry read by Maxwell H. Brock (Julian Burton). He wants to create a sculture of the cafe's hostess Carla (Barboura Morris), but he finds making a sculpture hard, and he's distracted by his meddling landlady Mrs.

Surchart (Myrtle Vail). After accidentally killing Mrs. Surchart's cat Frankie trying to rescue it from a being stuck, he takes the corpse of the cat, and turns it into a sculpture, which becomes critically acclaimed at the cafe.

Due to circumstances beyond Walter's control, he makes more sculptures from dead people, which makes him a star. It's an incredibly silly film, with a tone that Corman would use again for his later horror films.

But it does have a very likable charm, and Corman relishes with having low production values, he makes the most of having nothing to work with. Maybe that's a technique filmmakers should try revisiting today.