A Bucket of Blood

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A Bucket of Blood

Released Oct 21, 1959

1h 6m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Nerdy Walter Paisley (Dick Miller), a maladroit busboy at a beatnik café who doesn't fit in with the cool scene around him, attempts to woo his beautiful co-worker, Carla (Barboura Morris), by making a bust of her. When his klutziness results in the death of his landlady's cat, he panics and hides its body under a layer of plaster. But when Carla and her friends enthuse over the resulting artwork, Walter decides to create some bigger and more elaborate pieces using the same artistic process.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

[Director Roger] Corman’s madhouse of beatnik poseurs, drug dealing lowlifes, and poetry spewing beards has become a cult movie thanks to the gallows humor and crazy daddy-o dialogue ...

Aug 9, 2024

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a workable premise that is, for the most part, employed to one-note and repetitive effect...

Rated: 2/4

Aug 2, 2024

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

The eventual sculptures are innovatively grotesque, though the cheapness of the production rather limits the possibilities of Griffith's scenario, because there's little to deduce once Walter's reluctant admirers discover his devious secret.

Rated: 2.5/5

Oct 14, 2020

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James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

What better way to undercut the worst of artistic pretensions than to do it with a slapdash movie produced in five days called A Bucket of Blood?

Rated: 3/4

Nov 10, 2019

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Sean Mulvihill

FanboyNation.com

It's a low budget masterwork that skewers the fad of its era while lambasting the ever-fickle art world.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 29, 2018

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

It was perhaps Corman's first film to establish a really rich atmosphere, filled with nighttime shadows and a general edginess, which only grew richer on the subsequent Poe films.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 1, 2018

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Nick O

I’ve seen it a million times. First, these kids start hanging around beatnik coffee houses. Then they start killin’ cats. Next thing ya know, they’re full blown homicidal maniacs! Mondo Corman Weirdness!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/23/25

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Leaburn O

The sound and picture quality on this B side classic horror were horrible. Shot in five days, it is short, punchy, full of dark humour and surprisingly good acting. Loved the plot and the send up of beatnik prevention. It’s a little genuine cult classic that lived up to its reputation. Really enjoyed this one. Watched on DVD.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/15/24

Full Review

CodyZamboni Z

Campy horror comedy. Works mostly as a satire of beatnik culture and phony art snobs, Dick Miller is a nerd trying to fit in, and win the heart of beatnik lady, He goes to homicidal extremes to gain fame and artistic stature, There's a nice jazzy score, and oddball supporting performances, But movie can't sustain the wry comedy as bodies pile up, And the ending feels rushed and abrupt.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/27/25

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Ricky R

Short, original, and well acted.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/12/24

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Tim F

An ironic work of genius. Walter is a clueless everyman that stumbles into success as those in his orbit belittle, worship, exploit and fear him in turn because of his "art" Corman's most underrated work.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/25/23

Full Review

Computey D

wheres the bucket????

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/23/23

Full Review

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Roger Corman

Director

Dick Miller

Walter Paisley

Barboura Morris

Carla

Antony Carbone

Leonard de Santis

Judy Bamber

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John Brinkley

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Synopsis

Nerdy Walter Paisley (Dick Miller), a maladroit busboy at a beatnik café who doesn't fit in with the cool scene around him, attempts to woo his beautiful co-worker, Carla (Barboura Morris), by making a bust of her. When his klutziness results in the death of his landlady's cat, he panics and hides its body under a layer of plaster. But when Carla and her friends enthuse over the resulting artwork, Walter decides to create some bigger and more elaborate pieces using the same artistic process.

Director: Roger Corman
Producer: Roger Corman
Screenwriter: Charles B. Griffith
Distributor: Something Weird Video, Sinister Cinema, Reel Media International [us], Rhino Entertainment Company [us], American International Pictures
Production Co: Alta Vista Productions
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 1959, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 7, 2015
Runtime: 1h 6m
Sound Mix: Mono

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