A Bucket of Blood 1959

A Bucket of Blood is a 1959 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. The film, starring Dick Miller, is set in the beatnik culture of the West Coast in the late 1950s. Produced on a budget of 50,000 dollars, the film was shot in five days and features many of the low-budget aesthetics commonly associated with Corman's work. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a darkly comic satire about a dim-witted, impressionable young waiter in a bohemian café who is hailed as a brilliant sculptor when he accidentally kills his landlady's cat and covers her body with clay to cover the tracks. When he is pressured to create similar works, he becomes a serial killer

A Bucket of Blood was the first of three films Corman and Griffith made together in the comedy genre, which also included The Little Shop of Horrors (which was shot on the same sets as A Bucket of Blood) and Creature from the Haunted Sea. Corman had not previously dabbled in this genre, although previous and future Corman productions in other genres contained comedic elements. The film is a satire not only of Corman's own films, but also of the world of abstract art and low-budget teen movies of the 1950s. The film was also praised in many circles as an honest, undifferentiated portrayal of the many facets of beatnik culture, including poetry, dance and a minimalist lifestyle.[citation needed] The plot has similarities to Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). By setting the story in the Beat milieu of 1950s Southern California, however, Corman creates a completely different atmosphere than in the earlier film

Under the direction of

Roger Corman

Written by

Charles B. Griffith

Produced by

Roger Corman

In the leading roles

Dick Mueller

Barboura Morris

Antony Carbone

Julian Burton

Ed Nelson

John Brinkley

Cinematography Jacques R. Marquette

Adapted by Anthony Carras

Music by Fred Katz

Production company Alta Vista Productions

Distributed by American International Pictures

Release Date October 1959

Running time 65 minutes

Country United States

Language English

Budget $50,000

Box office takings $180,000