A Bucket of Blood (1959)'s comments

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Siskoid

The late, great Dick Miller actually gets to be the main character in A Bucket of Blood, an entertaining thriller from Roger Corman playing with ideas similar to House of Wax. Miller is a busboy surrounded by beatniks, dreaming of becoming an artist himself. His dream comes true, but in a macabre way, but he's not too well in the head. Part incel horror show, part satire on artists, the movie is one of Corman's most relevant. I've known many "Bohemians" like those pictured, and have been involved in many conversations that bent towards the pretentious and ridiculous, with people justifying their lifestyle or taste-du-jour with outlandish comments, all trying to be Oscar Wilde while producing little of value. That's the world Miller's character is trying to gain access to (there's even a Vegan joke, in 1959, if you can believe it), for all the wrong reasons (and that too feels quite modern). Sure, the production values aren't quite there - the art on show isn't nearly as good as anyone says it is, but that becomes part of the satire - and the acting is fairly arch (again, it fits the culture), but for a B-movie? Pretty reasonable. A surprisingly good script washes away all sins.

4 years 12 months ago