A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Directed by Roger Corman
For the podcast this year we have been covering classic horror movies, so I figured I could throw some in my blog as well. If you haven’t listened our podcast is Rock Video Rental, I also have a youtube show now where I cover 80s slashers called Slasher Quest. Feel free to check that out.
This was a first time watch for me. I have seen a few Corman movies in the past but this one seems to hit differently. It was nice seeing Dick Miller in a leading role, instead of the arms dealer he usually plays haha. Miller was a legendary supporting actor with TONS of credits to his name, sadly he passed away recently. His performance in this as the dimwitted Walter was really good. The story is basic, like many Corman movies. Walter is a struggling artist/bus boy, one day he accidentally stabs his cat. He then covers the cat in clay and plays it off like a sculpture. The art world goes nuts and Walter’s “talent” is loved by all. Soon after Walter’s sculptures take the form of humans, diving deeper and deeper into depravity.
This movie was really before its time. The amount of violence was shocking to me for a movie made in the 50s. Oddly enough, there’s little bloodshed, and it is called A Bucket of Blood no less haha. There is mention of heroin in this movie which blew my mind. It is a movie from the 50s and they’re talking about H! The pacing is perfect, things roll together pretty nicely. The kills are kind of tame compared to the 80s. This is basically one of the first slashers, in a round about way. Walter kills a cat, a guy with a pan(I think), strangles a woman with a scarf and cuts a dude’s head off with a table saw.
If you haven’t watched this movie, check it out. It is really well done for such a low budget production. Dick Miller did a great job in one of his few lead roles. You can tell the effect it had on horror cinema. I would give A Bucket of Blood a B+, very good but not great in my opinion.
