Freaktana
A Major Disappointment
Frances Chung
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Mark Wong
Odd. Strange. Scary. Terrifying? No. But it's a great cult classic that anyone who really loves thinking movies should watch.
Michael Ledo
Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a lowly bus boy at a beatnik coffee house. He aspires to be an artist. When he accidentally kills his cat Frankie, he covers it with clay and then displays it as art. It is a hit and before long he is doing humans.The covered up corpse being art has been duplicated in later horror films. Dick Miller plays and excellent Walter in this short feature. This is available on multi-packs, which is where I viewed this one. It was not restored and would recommend watching something restored.
SimonJack
Dick Miller isn't exactly threatening as Walter Paisley in "A Bucket of Blood." And that is the only aspect of this film that makes it somewhat tolerable. Miller was a good actor for the types of characters he played over a long Hollywood career. Here, he underplays his role to perfection. The rest of the roles are so-so at best. The plot is OK but the screenplay isn't very good. And the direction is weak. The set and technical values of the film give it the appearance and feel of what the film was at the time. It was a "B" film then, and remains a poor one today. It takes superb talent to make a good movie that combines comedy, crime and horror. "A Bucket of Blood" missed the talent on all levels, except for Dick Miller in his role as Walter.
SnoopyStyle
Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a dim-witted busboy at the beatnik café The Yellow Door. He tries to make a clay sculpture at home. He hears Frankie the cat in his wall. He tries to get him out using a knife and accidentally kills him. He covers the cat with clay and he becomes the toast of the club with his amazing cat 'sculpture'. This sets him off on a serious of killings and cover-ups using his clay.It has some hilarious stuff with the slow innocent Walter. Director Roger Corman is making fun of the beatnik culture. Actually I don't find the beatnik stuff that funny and the music rather annoying. I guess you have to experience it at the time to truly feel the jokes. Walter turning evil isn't scary but it is good solid old-fashion horror. This is relatively well made despite its low budget.
