{"id":19144,"date":"2019-09-22T19:00:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T02:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=19144"},"modified":"2019-09-22T19:00:36","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T02:00:36","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-a-bucket-of-blood-1959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=19144","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cOlive Signature\u201d Blu-ray release from Olive Films (www.olivefilms.com\n\u2013 www.facebook.com\/olivefilms) will be available for purchase on September 24th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To many, producer\/director\/writer\/actor Roger Corman is\nconsidered King of the B-movies. In the early 1950s, he took notice of the growing\nmarket for films aimed at the teen market and began shooting low-budget,\nprofitable genre flicks. Over this time, he specialized in titles like the car\nchase crime picture The Fast and the Furious<\/em> (1955) as well as a series\nof creature features that included Monster from the Ocean Floor<\/em> (1955), The\nBeast with a Million Eyes<\/em> (1955), It Conquered the World<\/em> (1956\u00ad), Not\nof This Earth<\/em> (1957) and Attack of the Crab Monsters<\/em> (1957). While\nhe has never stopped making these kinds of titles and continues to do so to\nthis very day, the end of the 50s did see Corman yearning to experiment with\nhis familiar drive-in fare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shot in 5 days on a tiny $50,000 budget, A Bucket of\nBlood<\/em> was one such example of the filmmaker heading further off the beaten\npath. In this case, a production that combined comedy, current social fashions\nas well as horror in equal measure. The results were not only a box office success,\nbut one of Corman\u2019s best reviewed and most beloved pictures. Olive Films have released\na new Blu-ray under their Olive Signature line. It\u2019s an exceptional disc that\nincludes a crisp and clean image courtesy of a new 4K master as well as plenty\nof fascinating (and in some cases never-before-seen) extra features. Corman fans\nand genre movie enthusiasts would be well advised to pick this release up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a slow-witted bus boy at a beatnik caf\u00e9 called The Yellow Door. The poets, painters and other customers are all either artisans or followers of the movement. While they are genial and almost pity Walter, the servant dreams of being famous and successful\u2026 or at the very least reaching the social standing of his customers. Walter also desires the affection of caf\u00e9 hostess Carla (Barboura Morris) who is friendly to him. The protagonist heads home to his small, run-down flat to try and create a sculpture, but finds creating art a slow and difficult task. Things change when he accidentally kills a cat stuck in the walls while trying to free it. Walter molds clay over the carcass and passes it off as his own creation\u2026 and immediately becomes a sensation. The lead finds the praise and interest intoxicating and he eventually takes on more grandiose works. Of course, this results in several disappearances and new statues, all with his victims hidden under the clay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is a zippy and fun movie that expertly combines dark humor with a pinch horror. Part of the reason it works so well is star Miller. His character should not be sympathetic, but his meek personality and mannerisms make him endearing. The supporting beatnik characters are just as distinctive and each have their own entertaining quirks and personality traits. And the movie effectively pokes fun at the beatnik world and the various artist\u2019s quests for recognition and success in their careers, despite their claims of being bohemians and not caring about superficiality and commercialism. These are great characters and the screenplay really enjoys commenting on the price of fame and fortune in the fickle art world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These elements are nicely balanced with creepier bits as Walter\nfinds himself forced into violent murders to maintain his prestigious station as\nan artistic genius. The works themselves are memorably eerie and one can see\nhow they might gain a following. Most of this film was shot at two locations, the\nlittle caf\u00e9 and Walter\u2019s cramped, shadowy apartment. For many flicks it would be\nan uncomfortable budgetary restraint, but here it helps give the film a claustrophobic\nfeel. The black and white photography is quite striking as well, featuring plenty\nof inky black shadows in the frame that add to the sense of unease. Director\/producer\nRoger Corman appeared to be at total ease with the comic\/creepy tone, absolutely\nnailing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This all makes it easy see why A Bucket of Blood<\/em> was and\ncontinues to be so popular. The movie is well-acted, the dialogue is memorable\n(including some amusing observations and funny beat poetry), its characters stand\nout, the story is simple but intriguing and there\u2019s plenty of subtext behind\nthe subject matter. It\u2019s a great little low-budget cult movie that is deserving\nof its cult status. In fact, the picture was successful enough to inspire\nCorman to immediately start work on an equally successful picture in exactly\nthe same tone with an almost identical story, Little Shop of Horrors<\/em>\n(1960).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie certainly looks better on Blu-ray than it ever has\nbefore and comes with plenty of fantastic extras. First is an interview with Roger\nCorman himself, who explains the history of the production, confirming that he was<\/em>\ngetting tired of making the same picture over and over again and wanted to\nexpand his repertoire (while still maintaining a financially successful track\nrecord). There is also a nice interview with recently deceased star Dick Miller,\nwho appears alongside his wife. He\u2019s not a big talker, but his spouse manages\nto pry some tidbits from him about his career and work with Corman. And it\ncomes with an informative feature commentary track from the man who directed a documentary\nfilm on the star called That Guy Dick Miller<\/em>. It\u2019s very detailed,\nproviding plenty of info on the actors, screenwriter and various crew members along\nwith their various credits in film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, the release includes an archival audio interview with the film\u2019s screenwriter, Charles B. Griffith, who also penned the later B-movie classics Death Race 2000<\/em> (1975) and Eat My Dust<\/em> (1976). It\u2019s clear that he was a sharp guy and his talk about what inspired the script, working with Corman as well as his other experiences in Hollywood, is detailed and interesting. There are some other great plusses like a visual essay that comparing the original script to the finished film. These extra scenes add more detail and background to the characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another fun inclusion is an entertainingly misleading German trailer for the film along with a rare prologue from the German release, where it was sold as a sequel to the Vincent Price picture, House of Wax<\/em> (1953). The 8-minute intro is an incredibly awkward attempt to tie the two disparate films together \u2013 it\u2019s both bizarre a lot of fun to watch. Other extras include a subtitled, Super 8 \u201cdigest\u201d version of the film, the US trailer, some newly discovered on-set photography, and an essay on the picture by biographer Caelum Vatnsdal, author of the book, You Don’t Know Me, But You Love Me: The Lives of Dick Miller<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Curiously enough, those who check out all of these extras will\nalso learn that this picture was recently adapted for the theater and more\nfrequently as a stage musical. The subject matter is every bit as relevant\ntoday as it was back then and these updated productions have been gaining more\nand more traction and success. As a result, it may not be long before this\ntitle gets the same kind of screen updating that Little Shop of Horrors<\/em>\nreceived in the late 80s. A Bucket of Blood<\/em> is assuredly one of Roger\nCorman\u2019s greatest films – any self-respecting horror\/cult movie fan will enjoy this\nexcellent Blu-ray that gives this artful B-movie the treatment it truly deserves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cOlive Signature\u201d Blu-ray release from Olive Films (www.olivefilms.com \u2013 www.facebook.com\/olivefilms) will be available for purchase on September 24th. To many, producer\/director\/writer\/actor Roger Corman is considered King of the B-movies. In the early 1950s, he took notice of the growing market for films aimed at the teen market and began shooting low-budget, profitable genre flicks. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[88,386,387,388,2299,2413,2841,2923,3073,3637,3746,4660,4983,4989,5851,9319,12513,17271],"class_list":["post-19144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-88","tag-a-bucket-of-blood","tag-a-bucket-of-blood-blu-ray-review","tag-a-bucket-of-blood-review","tag-barboura-morris","tag-beatnik","tag-black-comedy","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-bucket-of-blood","tag-cafe","tag-comedy","tag-cult","tag-cult-movie","tag-dick-miller","tag-horror","tag-little-shop-of-horrors","tag-roger-corman"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}