Halloween Havoc!: A BUCKET OF BLOOD (AIP 1959)

We can’t have Halloween without a good Roger Corman movie, and A BUCKET OF BLOOD is one of my favorites. This 1959 black comedy is a precursor to Corman’s THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, and I actually prefer it over that little gem. A BUCKET OF BLOOD skewers the pretentiousness of the art world, the 50’s beatnik scene, and the horror genre itself with its story of nerdy Walter Paisley, a busboy at a hipster coffee house learns making it as a famous artist can be murder!

Walter’s a no-talent nebbish longing to be accepted by the pompous clientele at The Yellow Door, especially beautiful hostess Carla. When he accidentally kills the landlady’s cat, Walter covers it in clay (with the knife still protruding in poor little Frankie!), and brings it in to work. The grotesque sculpture causes a stir among the patrons, and Walter is congratulated for his brilliant work ‘Dead Cat’. Beatnik chick Naolia is so impressed, not to mention hot for Walter, she gives the innocent busboy some heroin to celebrate.

But undercover cop Lou, staking out the joint, sees the transaction and follows Walter home, arresting him for possession. Walter reacts by crowning the cop with a frying pan and stashing the body in his ceiling, blood dripping down as he thinks of a way out of this mess. Thus a new masterpiece, ‘Murdered Man’, is born! Meanwhile over at the Yellow Door, owner Leonard discovers Walter’s gruesome secret when he accidentally drops ‘Dead Cat’ and cracks the plaster. Leonard’s horrified, until an art collector offers him $500 bucks for the piece, and his greed takes over.

Walter invites Carla and Leonard over to view ‘Murdered Man’, complete with split skull, and while Carla hails him as a genius, Leonard’s a nervous wreck! Walter shows up at work all artsy, dressed in a tam and ascot, long-cigarette holder dangling from his lips. House poet Maxwell composes an ode in his honor, but stuck-up model Alice still treats him with distain. Guess who becomes Walter’s next objet d’art? After Walter cuts off a workman’s head with a buzzsaw for his newest work, Leonard’s had enough, and arranges a showing of Walter’s bizzare statues. All the local hipsters are on the scene giving the boy raves reviews, but Walter’s depressed when Carla tells him she just wants to be friends, so weirdo Walter decides he’ll use her as his latest creation…

Character actor Dick Miller will be forever identified as Walter Paisley, so much he’s used the character name on six different occasions, including HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, THE HOWLING, TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, and CHOPPING MALL. Miller was one of the key players of Roger Corman’s stock company, appearing in 17 of the director’s films, from THE OKLAHOMA WOMAN to THE TRIP, and a host of others with Corman as producer. Miller was introduced to a  new generation of filmgoers in the 80’s as neighbor Murray Futterman in GREMILINS and GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH. Happily, Dick Miller is still with us as of this writing at age 87, and occasionally acts in small roles.

Other Corman regulars in the cast include pretty Barboura Morris as Walter’s crush Carla, Anthony Carbone as Yellow Door owner Leonard, Ed Nelson as vice cop Art Lacroix, and Bruno VeSota as the art collector. Future game show host Bert Convy (billed here as Burt) plays the unfortunate undercover cop, while sexy Judy Bamber is the doomed Alice. Julian Burton is great as beatnik poet Maxwell, and John Shaner and John Brinkley are hilarious as a pair of hopheads who frequent the coffeehouse.

The legend goes that Corman and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith spent an evening prowling the beat scene in Los Angeles trying to come up with a story, when they met up with struggling actress Sally Kellerman, working as a waitress to supplement her income. The trio sat down as the coffee shop was closing and concocted the wild tale. A BUCKET OF BLOOD has since become a true cult classic over the years, an original black comedy that takes the MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM /HOUSE OF WAX premise and turns it on its ear, satirizing Corman’s more conventional movies in the process. Its warped worldview makes A BUCKET OF BLOOD a must for your Halloween watch list!