A Bucket of Blood (1959)

A Bucket of Blood (1959)

Director-producer Roger Corman's satirical, comedic-horror film A Bucket of Blood (1959) became a cult classic, in its tale of a half-wiitted, dejected nerd-loser and busboy in a 'hip' and trendy beatnik cafe in the 50s in SoCal who haplessly became a serial killer by encasing a dead cat in clay. He proceeded to murder individuals and also cover them in clay, and pass them off as life-like works of statue art. Thus, he became an unexpected celebrity amongst the pretentious art-lovers of the local hangout. The film satirized and commented upon the warped social pressures to fit in and be accepted with the 50s beatnik generation, its elitist culture, and its artistic community. Its taglines were:

• A Comedy of ERRORS! A Comedy of TERRORS!
• He Lived for His Art, and His Art Was Murder!
• You'll be sick, sick, sick - from LAUGHING!

The screenplay for the low-budget film with coarse production values (with a budget of 50,000ドル) was written by Charles B. Griffith. The insanely-comedic slasher film's poster-art used comic-strip drawings to hint at its macabre nature (with a body count of 5, including the cat). The accidental (at first) and then deliberate killings included the stabbing of Frankie the cat, blunt force trauma to the head with a frying pan, choking with a scarf, head amputation with a table-buzz-saw, and a self-inflicted suicidal hanging.

The plot had similarities to director Michael Curtiz' Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and its more successful remake by director Andre de Toth House of Wax (1953) - another cult classic and 3-D hit. To save costs, the film reused the set from The Diary of a High School Bride (1959). The film's principal character actor, Dick Miller, who played the role of Walter Paisley (it was his only starring role in his entire career), became so identified with the character name that he reused it in many of his other later films, including Hollywood Boulevard (1976), The Howling (1981), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Chopping Mall (1986), Night of the Creeps (1986), and Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1994).

At the time, the cheap and schlocky film made in 5 short days remarkably made revenues of 180,000ドル. [Note: The success of the film inspired Corman to begin work on another similar low-budget cult film The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).] The 1959 film was later remade as a cable TV-movie also titled A Bucket of Blood (1995) starring Anthony Michael Hall (as Walter Paisley) and Justine Bateman. MGM released the film on VHS and DVD for the home video market in 2000, and it was revived. A short-lived musical version of the film played in Chicago for about a month in 2009.

Independent film-maker Roger Corman (and his distributor American International Pictures (AIP)) became known for his low-budget, cheesy B-movies and exploitation films that ranged from Westerns and gangster films to science-fiction, teen-age hot rod and rock 'n' roll movies. A Bucket of Blood was one of a wave of his "cheap teen movies" released for the newly-established drive-in/teen market. He churned out many other cult status hits, including:

• The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - the original version of the classic black comedy with little-known actor Jack Nicholson, and using the same sets left over from A Bucket of Blood
• Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), a parody of the earlier monster movie Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
• the eight Edgar Allan Poe horror film adaptations starring Vincent Price, beginning with House of Usher (1960)
• The Wild Angels (1966), the first 'biker' film (with Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra)
• The Trip (1967) - one of the earliest 'psychedelic' films of the late 60s (scripted by Jack Nicholson)

In 1970, Corman founded New World Pictures (1970-1983), his own production and distribution company, specializing in low-budget, exploitation films.

• the film's opening established the setting - The Yellow Door, a bohemian cafe and coffee-house frequented by hip beatniks and other aspiring followers who were being served and listening to the on-stage performance of one of the revered patrons, Maxwell H. Brock (Julian Burton); under the title credits, the bearded Brock was reciting one of his pretentious, word-salad poems, as he was accompanied by a solo saxophonist (Paul Horn) playing a mournful tune:
  • "I will talk to you of Art, for there is nothing else to talk about, for there is nothing else. Life is an obscure hobo bumming a ride on the omnibus of Art. Burn gas buggies, and whip your sour cream of circumstance and hope, and go ahead and sleep your bloody heads off. Creation is, all else is not. What is not creation, is graham crackers; let it all crumble to feed the creator.
    
    The Artist is, all others are not. A canvas is a canvas or a painting. A rock is a rock or a statue. A sound is a sound or is music. A preacher is a preacher, or an Artist. Where are John, Joe, Jake, Jim, Jerk? Dead, dead, dead. They were not born. Before they were born, they were not born. Where are Leonardo, Rembrandt, Ludwig? Alive! Alive! Alive! They were born!
    
    Bring on the multitude, the multitude of fishes. Feed them to the fishes for liver oil to nourish the Artist. Stretch their skin upon an easel to give him canvas. Crush their bones into a paste that he might mold them. Let them die, and by their miserable deaths become the clay within his hands that he might form an ashtray or an ark. For all that is comes through the eye of the Artist. The rest are blind fish, swimming in the cave of aloneness. Swim on you maudlin, muddling, maddened fools, and dream that one bright and sunny night, some Artist will bait a hook and let you bite upon it! Bite hard - and die! In his stomach you are very close to immortality"
• the meek, socially-awkward busboy Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) listened to the impressive poem delivered spontaneously by the artist-poet on stage as he feverishly worked to serve patrons and clear tables at The Yellow Door; at the end of the recitation, the beret-wearing owner Leonard De Santis (Antony Carbone) led the applause, but then reprimanded the inattentive Walter who had become distracted from his job while watching sketch artist and cafe hostess Carla (Barboura Morris) draw her view of the night's performance; he was secretly in love with Carla

• although unidentified yet as police officers, Lou Raby (Bert Convy) entered the bar and signaled to another seated patron - Art Lacroix (Ed Nelson); Art got up and exited the club, entered a nearby pay-phone, and called his superior, Valdez in the Police Department's Vice Division; Lou was surveilling the members of the pompous clientele, but had found no one suspicious or drug-dealing in the crowd, except possibly for the strange-acting saxophone player
• shortly later, the gullible and impressionable Walter listened intently as Maxwell pontificated to others at his table, including Naolia (Jhean Burton) and Carla: "I refuse to say anything twice. Repetition is death...When you repeat something, you are reliving a moment, wasting it, severing it from the other end of your life. I believe only in new impressions, new stimuli, new life!"; he added how he believed in creative living: "To be uncreative, you might as well be in your grave, or in the Army. They tried to draft me once. I couldn't pass the test"
• after work in the evening, Walter returned home, desperately hoping to fit in with the hipster crowd after listening to Maxwell; frustrated by the low regard given to him by the pompous clientele at The Yellow Door, he told his caring land-lady neighbor Mrs. Swickert (Myrtle Damerel) that he had a mission: ("I have something important to do"); obviously, Walter was a lonely bachelor living in a disheveled apartment, where he opened a can of beans with an old-fashioned can-opener and heated up his dinner on a gas stove; he opened a twine-wrapped square-shaped package containing a large glob of clay encased in plastic; he began to mold the clay with his hands to create a sculpted bust-model of his love-interest Carla in order to please her (he placed her framed photo on the table in front of him as a guide)
• the no-talent nebbish Walter worked feverishly with the mound of clay, and it seemed to be a futile effort; he became distracted by his boiling pot of beans on the stove and the incessant meowing of Mrs. Swickert's cat Frankie, who had apparently become trapped inside Walter's wall; after knocking his head on a lamp that began swinging and casting shifting shadows, he attempted to free Frankie by stabbing into the wall with a carving knife, he accidentally killed the cat; the unsure and frightened Walter broke open the wall and then panicked about what to do with the cat in rigor mortis; he spoke Maxwell's words to the deceased cat: "Repetition is death, Frankie"; he attempted to mold something with the clay, but gave up
• by morning at dawn, Walter awoke and became inspired after hearing Maxwell (in voice-over) entreating him to create something:
  • "Let them die, and by their miserable deaths become the clay within His hands, that He might form an ashtray or an ark - pray that you might be his diadem, gold, glory, paint, clay, that He might take you in His magic hands and wring from your marrow wonder"
• Walter asked himself: "Where are John, Joe, Jim, Jerk?"; he answered his own question: "Dead, Dead, Dead"
• later in the day, a gleeful Walter brought his newly-created cat-sculpture to work wrapped in brown paper; at the outdoor entrance to The Yellow Door, he claimed to Carla and Leonard that it was a "work of art" - it was revealed that he had covered Frankie with clay, with the knife still protruding from the cat's body; Walter labeled his brilliant work "Dead Cat"
• Leonard was slightly displeased and called the sculpture grotesque, odd and morbid: ("It'd scare people out of the place"), although Carla praised it as realistic: ("It's tremendous. Look at the detail. The anatomy's perfect. Look at the expression on its face"); Leonard reluctantly agreed to display it in a corner of the cafe to see if it would sell: ("If it sells, we'll split 50-50, okay?") and Walter agreed; he was encouraged by the unexpected praise: ("Does this mean I'm an artist?")
• surprisingly many of the patrons loved it, even Maxwell, who announced that everyone should look at the "small clay figure" at the entrance; he extolled it as a "transfixed effigy...the work of a master sculptor" who was none other than their genius busboy Walter: "Mark well this lad. His is the silent voice of creation. Within the dark, rich soil of humility, he blossoms as the hope of our nearly sterile century"; Leonard realized that the patrons were so distracted by Walter's creation that business was suffering, and ordered him to leave work early for the night: "You're creating an incident. When people are applauding, they don't order coffee. So, go on home and work on something. Make another cat...Look, just go to the movies"
• as Walter was leaving, beatnik chick Naolia was so very impressed with Walter's sculpture that she propositioned him: ("I dug it...It was the most wonderful, wildest, like, wiggiest thing I've ever seen. Walter, you've done something to me. Something deep down inside of my prana....Oh, Walter, I wanna be with you. You're creative. You've got a hot light bulb glowing inside of you, and I wanna be warmed by it....Walter, take me away from here. Take me away to some cool blue place and gas me"); when he declined her physical advances, she contributed by giving him a gift to remember her by: ("Something that will make you remember me. Put it in your pocket"); the innocently-dense and naive Walter didn't realize that he had been given a vial of heroin
• undercover cop Lou noticed the drug-transaction, and followed Walter to his home; once Walter walked in, he fantasized about his newfound fame in a conversation with himself about someone offering him 10,000ドル dollars to buy his cat-sculpture; he then had hopes of having Carla as a girlfriend: "Gee, I'll be famous. And then I can ask Carla, and she'll say yes. I know she will"

• Lou entered and confronted Walter about the vial of heroin on his table after realizing what it was; Lou revealed his identity as an undercover police officer when he asked about the vial, and demanded to know Walter's dealer: ("Who's your connection?...Who do you score from? Where do you buy your horse...junk, white stuff, heroin?"); he threatened to arrest Walter for possession of narcotics: ("I got you cold. Now you just come along quietly"); frightened when Lou pulled out his gun, Walter began begging: "Don't shoot me!"; Walter also reacted by self-defensively lashing out and striking Lou in the head with his flat pancake griddle pan (off-screen); the bloody edge of the pan was revealed after a brutal blow to Lou's head
• due to the commotion, Mrs. Swickert knocked and entered and asked about the noise; Walter had hurriedly concealed Lou's body in the ceiling above the kitchen cabinets; he claimed he must have been talking to himself; the landlady suggested that Walter needed a girl to care for him, and to help him straighten and clean up his dumpy and dirty apartment; as they talked, Lou's arm with dripping blood dangled down, but was unseen by his landlady as he ushered her out the door
• as he cleaned up his blood-stained rug in the living room, Walter apologized to Lou for killing him: ("I didn't mean to hurt you, Lou....I can't help it if I got scared and hit you"); blood noisily dripped down from Lou's body stashed in the ceiling and collected in a pan - the possible origin of the film's title "A BUCKET OF BLOOD"
• Walter thought of his next strategy to get rid of the body; his revelation was to create another sculptural masterpiece (to later be nicknamed "Murdered Man")
• meanwhile at The Yellow Door after closing time, Leonard accidentally knocked Walter's "Dead Cat" sculpture onto the floor where it partly shattered, revealing cat fur under the clay plaster; Leonard exclaimed: "The little fraud!"; an all-points bulletin alerted the police to search for the missing 29 year-old cop Louis Raby
• at The Yellow Door the next afternoon, singer-guitar player (Alex Hassilev) performed the song "The Ballad of Tim Evans" (aka "Go Down, You Murderer") - appropriate for Walter's crime; during Walter's work shift, he nervously dropped his tray when jokingly told by two customers that "the fuzz" were looking for him
• knowing that Walter was a fraud, Leonard sarcastically complimented Walter on his underestimated ability and talent - but as a major put-down: ("You're a big artist now. A true creator above mere mortals...His work has enormous realism. You can hardly tell it from the real thing...Walter, what are you gonna make next? A dog, maybe. Or a bird? How about a few dozen cockroaches from your room?"); Walter boldly responded to Leonard and Carla that he had already created his second masterpiece: "I got a new one....It's a full-length, life-size figure....Murdered Man"; Leonard was stunned by Walter's admission and became nauseated at the thought
• as Leonard was about to call the authorities and report Walter for suspected murder, he was approached by a portly art collector (Bruno Ve Soto), who described how his wife had changed her mind about the cat-statue and was willing to offer 500ドル to purchase it (after upping the offer three times from 100ドル), in addition to a "first look at his next stuff"; persuaded by greed, Leonard warily agreed to the offer
• Leonard joined Carla on a visit to Walter's apartment, to unveil his latest sculpture, "Murdered Man" (Lou's body covered in clay); when Walter removed the sheet covering the tall, life-sized figure, Carla was astonished at the unveiled sculpture with its head split vertically down the center, and after a moment's pause declared: "Walter, it's a masterpiece. I've never seen anything like it before. And I hope I never see anything like it again...It's hideous, and it's eloquent. It expresses modern man in all his self-pity. How did you ever find that in yourself, Walter?"; the squeamish Leonard was appalled and dropped down into a chair
• when Walter suggested taking the sculpture to The Yellow Door to display it as they had done with the "Dead Cat," Leonard refused, but then reconsidered after Carla questioned him: "I didn't realize how much talent Walter actually had. It would be wrong to show his pieces one at a time, dead wrong"; Carla agreed: "You're right. He should build a collection first"; Leonard continued with his pecuniary interest in a money angle: "Maybe when it's big enough, we can have a show... It would take you years to make that many statues, but your work would be featured"; Carla and Leonard convinced Walter to create a 'collection' and show it off during a major event for art critics and dealers; of course, increased recognition for Walter's art would bring higher sale prices: ("Then we could unload and sell this stuff for a lot more"); however, Leonard also urged that Walter not rush it, and begged him: "You've got to stop making these horrible statues" - he proposed that Walter be guided into free-form sculptures, but Carla thought that Walter's realistic works were his true talent
• before leaving, Leonard paid Walter 50ドル "in advance" as pre-payment for his cat-sculpture sale; Walter was thrilled to receive his first earnings for his art-work, especially after Carla called him "a professional"; Leonard concurred that Walter should quit working at The Yellow Door, and instead concentrate on his art-work - but then he reinterated: "Don't rush things. You got all the time in the world"; a few moments later, Walter boasted to Mrs. Swickert: "I'm an artist!", but she was horrified and fled from the room after glancing at his latest hideous sculpture
• afterwards, Walter's successful art became the rage at the coffee-house and his personal popularity soared as he worked his way up to become an eccepted member of the beatnik artists and poets at the coffee-house; he had costumed himself as one of the eccentric bohemians, wearing a beret, a tam and an over-sized ascot; he was carrying a "zen-stick" and smoking with a long cigarette holder; he waved to the young waitress Sylvia (Lynne Storey) and extravagantly ordered: "Bring me a cappuccino and a piece of papaya cheesecake, and a bottle of Yugoslavian white wine"
• Maxwell joined him at his table, and complimented Walter on his achievements, as Walter was now acknowledged as a "successful sculptor"; an unpopular, stuck-up blonde named Alice (Judy Bamber) arrived, claiming to have just returned from Big Sur looking for Henry Miller; she was a self-described model who charged only 25ドル/hour; she bluntly asked Walter: "Would you like to do me?"; Carla also competitively offered herself as Walter's model: "I was going to suggest to Walter that he try a female figure as a change from the violent death theme....If you like, I'll be your model for free"; the obnoxious Alice condescendingly insulted Walter with disdain: "You're just a simple little farmboy, and the rest of us are all sophisticated beatniks," and then she added further criticism - knowing him only as a lowly busboy: "I think this whole bit about him being a sculptor is just a big put-on for my benefit," although Walter insisted that he was a sculptor; she attempted to have him sculpt a piece of his cheesecake, but he smashed it in her hand and refused to be intimidated

• after Alice's many insults, the dejected Walter departed from everyone's company, but then hid in the shadows within the outdoor phone booth and awaited her exit, and then he followed her home; he confronted her at her apartment's front door where he first apologized for being "nasty" to her; then he explained that he would pay her to model for him: ("I decided to make that female figure after all...I'd like you to pose for it") - he wished to begin immediately and agreed to pay her rate of 25ドル/hour
• they both walked over to Walter's apartment, where Alice undressed as she complained about the lack of heat in his place; totally nude, she sat in the middle of his apartment in a chair facing him, as he kneaded a large bag of plaster on a table; she commented on the small amount of clay for a full-scale figure: "It doesn't look like very much clay," but he answered: "Oh, it's enough"; he asked for her to put a scarf around her neck before moving around behind her and strangling her with it
• the next morning, Maxwell and other beatniks were in Carla's living room enjoying a healthy breakfast of organic ingredients: ("Soy and wheat germ pancakes, organic guava nectar, calcium lactate and tomato juice, and garbanzo omelettes sprinkled with smoked yeast"); Walter arrived to unveil his newest statue of Alice, who was displayed seated naked in a chair clutching at a scarf around her neck; Carla reacted positively: "She's beautiful"; Maxwell was so "deeply moved" that he proposed hosting a party at The Yellow Door that evening in Walter's honor; Walter was very moved when Carla gave him a quick peck on the lips
• at the celebration, Walter was seated on a raised stage in a large wooden chair, and costumed as a carnival fool wearing a paper crown and a paper star on his coat's lapel; he was being plied with alcohol by Carla, while holding a goblet in his left hand and a rubber toilet plunger (resembling a scepter) with his right hand; Carla denied Walter another kiss when he asked for one: ("Walter, you're a letch!")
• Maxwell delivered an eloquent poem to the gathered audience that he had composed to praise Walter and to offer his homage - it was a lengthy cliche-ridden combination of words that could be titled: "Walter Paisley is born":
  • "Walter, the bird that flies now, pays later through the nose of ambidextrous apathy. Necrophiles may dance upon the place mats in an orgy of togetherness. The highway of life cuts sharply through the shady ghettos and the ivy-covered tombs. And laughter rings from every time capsule in the star-spangled firmament. And in the deep freeze, it is the children's hour. And no one knows that Duncan is murdered. And no one knows that Walter Paisley is born. Duncan knows. Tuesday's sunrise knows. Alley cats and garbage cans and steaming pavements. And you and I and the nude descending the staircase. and all such things with souls, we know that Walter Paisley is born. Ring rubber bells. Beat cotton gongs. Strike silken cymbals. Play leathern flutes. The cats and cans and you and I and all such things with souls, we shall hear Walter Paisley is born. And the souls become flesh. Walter Paisley is born!"
• at the end of a drunken night of celebration and praise, Leonard cautioned Walter about drinking in excess - he was worried that he might "talk too much"; Naolia asked about Walter's next project, and he answered:
  • "I'm gonna make the most wonderful, wildest, wiggiest things you've ever seen. I'm gonna make big statues and little statues, tall statues and short statues. I'm gonna make statues of nobodies and statues of famous people. Statues of actors and poets. And people who sell things on television. And a statue of the mayor. And some opera singers and their intimate friends. And everybody will say, 'Walter, let me shake your hand. It's been a real pleasure to have known you.'"
• as Walter staggered home in the glow of so much acclaim, he began to become frightened and worried that his new-found celebrity fame would soon dissipate, and he would revert back to being an ignored busboy: ("What am I gonna do next? I gotta do something before they forget. I know what it's like to be ignored"); he wandered into a lumber yard and a workshop where a carpenter was using a large table buzz-saw to cut a plank of wood; the worker thought Walter was crazed and "nuts" when he mumbled: "Life is an obscure hobo, bumming a ride on the omnibus of art...What is not creation is graham crackers. Let them all crumble to feed the creator"; Walter suddenly grabbed and assaulted the man with a choke-hold, and forced the man's neck toward the saw-blade; the man's head was cleanly decapitated (off-screen)
• the next day, Walter carried a large cardboard box to proudly bring his newest (4th) art sculpture (a bust of the beheaded worker) to The Yellow Door; Leonard was shocked and retreated backwards when he saw Walter's new creation - after he had simultaneously heard a newspaper vendor hawking papers and calling out:
  • "Extra! Extra! Horrible murder in furniture factory. Read about the man who got cut in half. Extra! Extra! Police can only find part of him."
• to prevent Walter from any further murderous rampages to obtain subjects for his sculpted art-work, Leonard suggested that Walter had made enough statues: ("No more statues!") and was now ready to exhibit his bizarre collection in an art-show; the date of August 16th was selected on Carla's hand-written invitations to showcase Walter's artwork at The Yellow Door
• as Walter privately escorted Carla to the show, he nervously brought up the fact that she had kissed him, but she deflected his inquiry by explaining that she only admired his work: "That was for your sculpture of the girl. Your Nude in the Chair"; Walter expressed how they were both single, and that he was romantically interested in her - and then he proposed marriage: "Carla, l don't want to make statues anymore. I wanna get married to you"; Carla admitted that she liked Walter, but only as a friend: "Walter, l do like you and I did kiss you, but that was because of your work. There's more to being in love with someone than just that"; Walter was disheartened, depressed and hurt by her answer: "You mean you don't love me?...But you gotta love me. Why do you think I made that statue of Alice?"; he dejectedly added: "I get it. I see the whole thing now. Nobody knows that Walter Paisley is born"; he suggested one final favor of her - that she pose for him later in the evening as his latest statue-creation, and she agreed

• during the show exhibiting four of Walter's sculptures (Dead Cat, Murdered Man, Strangled Girl, and the Bust of the Workman's Head), an elite crowd mingled inside The Yellow Door; Maxwell attempted to encourage the depressed and dejected Walter who was sitting by himself; he had overheard art critics seriously extolling his well-crafted and realistic statues that would bring exorbitant sale prices of 25,000ドル dollars
• while closely examining the Strangled Girl's art-piece, Carla inadvertently peeled back the fractured plaster on one finger and saw the corpse's real human finger (and nail) underneath; as she rushed to the front door, Walter confronted her and she haltingly told him: "There's a body inside that statue!"; he smiled and calmly replied that Maxwell had given him permission to mold them into clay: "Oh, that's Alice. It's all right, Carla. Maxwell says it's all right"; when she ordered him to stay away from her, he told her: "Don't you see, Carla? I made them immortal. Don't you see? I can do the same for you"; she ran from his presence and he followed, pursuing her down the dark street
• two others (Sylvia and undercover cop Art Lacroix) who examined the exhibits also discovered that the statues were plaster-covered corpses; after learning Walter's art-secret, Art and Maxwell chased after Carla and Walter, as Maxwell declared: "Walter Paisley's a murderer!"; after running down alleyways, Carla and Walter ended up in the same lumber-yard workshop where the carpenter had been beheaded; haunted and tormented by his crazed mind, Walter became frightened when he heard voices in his head of two of his victims accusing him of murder - Detective Lou Raby and Alice: "He can't hide just because we're in clay and he isn't"
• Walter abandoned his pursuit of Carla and followed the ghostly orders to return home; with a gun in his hand, Art chased after Walter who had by this time entered his apartment, but the voices continued to worry him: "We'll find him. We'll have him soon, Lou. We'll teach him he can't murder us and get away with it, won't we?...What you gonna do now, Walter?"
• knowing that his fate was sealed and that he had been found out, Walter vowed to himself: "I'll hide where they'll never find me" - and picked up a large glob of clay
• upon the arrival of Art, Carla, Maxwell, Mrs. Swickert and others inside Walter's apartment, they looked up and gasped in shocked unison at the sight of the despairing Walter, who was hanging from a noose and had clay dripping from his face - it was his final art creation; Maxwell provided his epitaph: "I suppose he would have called it Hanging Man. His greatest work"