Review of A Bucket of Blood (1959) by James T — 29 Mar 2009

A Bucket of Blood has everything you want in a Corman classic: strong use of shadows as only a black and white film can deliver, good acting, intriguing morbid and yet funny plot and of course made under a week like most of Corman's stuff. (Five days to be exact.).

The film is a dark and humorous take on the pretentious world of the fine arts, with a message about injustice and greed. It's portrayal of arrogant beatnik artists who reside in a coffehouse all day is funny and exaggerated but not too far from the truth or unbelievable. The music is an off key saxophone music, like you get in those coffeehouses, which runs throughout and adds to the unnerving atmosphere.

The main character is one of the best portrayals of a psycho Ive seen and is what really makes the film. Not the chase or the gore but simply its protagonist is what brings it all to life. His name is Walter Paisley, he works at a coffeehouse as a waiter and all he ever wanted is to be an artist. But hes too dim witted to be one as his boss and the artists he serves frequently remind him. But after accidentally kills his landlady's cat things change and it all goes a bit House of Wax like. He hides the dead cat by covering it in clay and passing it off as a statue he made. The artists marvel at his talent for realism. They finally welcome him amongst their midst as a talented sculpture. But they want to see more and poor Walter is in too far now to tell the truth especially now that his dream of being an artist has finally come true...

Well played by Dick Miller Walter is nuts but you feel sympathy for him as the only reason he becomes a killer in the first place is from being degraded everyday and is simply desperate to be an artist. He's nervous, not very bright and simply in over his head.

The low budget of the film is impossible to miss. There's a constant rustling over the soundtrack due to poor quality and the film has many continuity errors. But this doesn't cause too much of a problem, the good use of lighting and camera covers up most of the poor effects.

As said, its what you expect from a Roger Corman film and it's a low budget classic.