Bucket of Blood (Digitally Remastered)

Director: Roger Corman
Studio: Digiview Productions
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

A Beautiful Movie.......2005-10-27

Ruby Delacroix (Angela Bassett) is a hard working mom and wife. She works too much to feed her teenage daughter Emerald (Jurnee Smollett) and her disrespectful husband Earl (Brian Stokes Mitchell). She runs a popular juke point on the Louisiana bayou called the Bucket of Blood. When Earl decides he can't live in the small town, he leaves Ruby and Emerald. Besides dealing with that issue, Ruby has to find another singer when her regular one quits the band. Things start to look up when band leader Johnny Beaugh (Glenn Plummer) brings in white singer Billy Dupree ( Kevin Anderson) to fill in. Resistant at first, Ruby hires him. With his talent and musical voice, Ruby changes her tune about Billy. Billy offers his friendship and comfort, which Ruby so desperately needs. What becomes an issue is Billy's wife Betty (Angelica Torn). Ruby's got too many issues to deal with and wonders if any of it is worth the price of happiness

I loved this movie!.......2004-06-07

Unfortunately, the title of Ruby's Bucket of Blood probably has prevented a lot of people from watching it. It took me a year of seeing it in the video store before renting it. It is a great ensemble piece that takes place in the bayous of Louisiana. All of the actors gave highly nuanced performances that truly depicted their characters. The screenplay provided the viewers with a finely tuned Cajun and Creole experience, and was instrumental in creating a realistic portrayal of interracial love, family dynamics and the power of music in Louisiana before the Civil Rights Movement.

Angela Bassett was phenomenal and every scene was on target. The sexual tension between her and Kevin Anderson was palpable and continued to build until the climactic scene. I did not think the other side stories were at all distracting, rather they gave the surrounding characters more humanity and added to the complexity of the movie.

And the music - it was great! Angela Bassett really can belt out a blues tune and Kevin Anderson's voice and stage persona were simply amazing. Ruby's Bucket of Blood makes the viewer feel the excitement of a juke joint on a good night when the music is stompin and the booze is flowin. Terrific film.

Romance was Drastically Overlooked.......2004-04-16

Angela Bassett is my favorite actress. Ruby's Bucket of Blood is entertaining and interesting but too many elements side swap the romance. The romance between Ruby ( Bassett ) and Kevin Anderson ( I can't believe I forgot the character's name ) has great potential but takes the entire movie to get started. Then when it finally gets going the movie is over. The romance didn't build properly. The characters didn't learn enough about one another. There were missing scenes that allowed them to grow. You really need to show that growth when you're doing a romance especially an interracial one. So I was disappointed that we didn't see more Angela and Kevin scenes. I thought the film was supposed to be about Ruby, her husband and being in love with a white man but it turned into jamborees at her club. It's a nice movie to watch for a fun time but the romance element of the film is dead. That's unfortunate because Bassett and Anderson have a lot of chemistry.

Plesantly Entertaining.......2003-07-30

I love this movie, it caught me by surprise, I started watching it one afternoon and had to leave, but caught it on again, and this time I stayed to finish the movie, it was pure cajun style. It had spice to it and some french taste that was exotic, a good story line that you could follow without being totally lost, terrific setting in the true sense of what the cajun country setting could be like if you have never been. Angela Bassett and the other characters that sang that down home blues was pretty good, I got my husband to even look at it, and he liked it just as well, I give this movies 5 amazing stars to give it a try.

2 stars b/c it kept me interested enough to finish watching.......2003-06-22

I thought this movie reeked! Angela, you can do so much better!! Probably the best AA actress today.

Anyway, this movie was terrible to me. I couldn't figure out she hooked up w/the white man. What was the point? A lot of loose ends. And why do most movies about interracial relationships have to end w/somebody dying?

Amazon.com

The great Roger Corman produced and directed this cheerfully gory skewering of beatniks and the arts community. Dick Miller plays Walter Paisley, a no-talent busboy who idolizes the artsy types who frequent the coffeehouse where he works. When Walter accidentally kills his landlady's cat, he tries to hide the crime by covering the kitty in clay, and is soon hailed as a sculpting genius. Sure enough, the fickle arts community begins clamoring for some larger work. As a horror movie, A Bucket of Blood is merely okay, but it's great as a little black comedy. Corman works in some nice gruesome touches, such as backing up Walter's Big Emotional Moment with a steady drizzle of blood from a victim's arm. Most of the jokes aimed at the artists' pretensions still seem fresh: When offering Walter some breakfast, Maxwell announces that they're having "soy and wheat-germ pancakes, organic guava nectar, calcium lactate and tomato juice and garbanzo omelettes sprinkled with smoked yeast." The free-verse parodies are also very funny. Don't expect Bucket of Blood to keep you up with nightmares, but do sit back and prepare to enjoy a refreshingly sick sense of humor. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews:

GET THE MGM VERSION - ALL OTHERS NOT WORTH IT.......2007-04-14

"A Bucket of Blood" is not one of my favorite Roger Corman films and it has been passed around to various public domain companies for years. The MGM version is the one to get and an official release with the best picture quality. Don't be discouraged if it isn't widescreen as seen on TCM. This was filmed in 1.37 to be played in 1.66 ratio. What you get here is an open matte version meaning you see the entire scene shot by the camera before a mask is added to make it widescreen cutting the top and bottom for theater screen showings. This is NOT the same as Pan & Scan v. Widescreen. In fact, some releases done this way will find microphone booms at the top of the screen which would be hidden with the mask later on. You actually get more picture here rather than less :-)

The MGM DVD is still available so there is no reason to buy cheaper quality versions especially if you are a Corman fan.

A Humorous Bucket.......2007-02-12

Walter (Character actor and Veteran Roger Corman regular Dick Smith) ,a nerdish painter who waits tables at a beatnik cafe, is jealous of the popularity of its various artistic regulars. He kills his landlady's cat by accident . Then he glosses the body in plaster to hide the missing cat. Many acclaimed as a brilliant sculptor. Many so called friends/enemies want to see more of his work.. Walter has to resort to similar methods to produce new pieces with mixed results .

Directed on a low budget by Roger Corman, it works and has a sense of humor with its horror. Its satire sit bites 48 years later. It does a bloodless horror that still thrills

This film is similar to House of Wax and the future Corman film, the cult classic, The Little Shop of Horrors. The beatnik reference makes this movie a cult classic of the early 1960's (made in 1959-GAWD it is as old as I am) as well as "Horror", but it was not as well received

so get it and enjoy this campy horror film

Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

A Pristine Print of a Corman Cult Classic........2006-11-15

"A Bucket of Blood" has always been one of Roger Corman's most entertaining exploitation films, with excellent performances all around (especially those of Dick Miller and Barboura Morris). The script is literate, and the direction is much better than in many other Corman "cheapies". My only caveat is that the "statues" that were used in the film are so amateurish-looking that it's hard to believe all of the praise heaped upon them by the characters in the script--particularly the comment that they are so "lifelike" (the statues are also obviously much too slim and lightweight to be what they actually are supposed to be). Despite this minor nit-pick, this is still a great print of a great Corman classic, and highly recommended!

Little Bucket Shop Of Blood Horrors.......2006-10-03

After watching "A Bucket Of Blood" (1959), I have come to the conclusion that it is an earlier, bloodier variation of the movie "The Little Shop Of Horrors" (1960). Both movies were written by Charles B. Griffith. Both movies were directed by Roger Corman. In addition, several of the actors appear in both films. For example, John Shaner appeared as a beatnik named Oscar in "A Bucket Of Blood," and played the dentist Dr. Phoebus Farb in "The Little Shop Of Horrors."
In "A Bucket Of Blood," Dick Miller plays Walter Paisley, a nerdish waiter at a Bohemian cafe.
In "The Little Shop Of Horrors," Jonathan Haze plays Seymour Krelboyne, a nerdish worker at a flower shop.
After accidentally killing his landlady's cat and covering the body in plaster, Walter is acclaimed as a brilliant sculptor.
After cross breeding flowers, and accidentally creating a hybrid plant, Seymour is acclaimed as a brilliant horticulturalist.
Lacking any artistic talent whatsoever, Walter has to kill people and cover them in clay to create new statues.
Because the plant is a carnivore, Seymour accidentally kills people and feeds them to his plant, making the plant grow to gargantuan size.
Walter's boss finds out about what's going on, but doesn't tell the police, because of the money and notoriety it generates for the coffee house.
Seymour's boss finds out about what's going on but doesn't tell the police, because of the money and notoriety it generates for the flower shop.
After everyone realizes what's really going on, the police chase Walter. The movie ends when Walter hangs himself before the police catch and arrest him.
After everyone realizes what's really going on, the police chase Seymour. The movie ends when Seymour is devoured by the giant plant before the police catch and arrest him.
Because the violence is deliberate and the ending shocking and depressing, "A Bucket Of Blood" is one of the more obscure Roger Corman movies.
Because the violence is accidental and the ending is played for laughs, "The Little Shop Of Horrors" is fondly remembered as one of Roger Corman's best movies.

Excellent Horror Comedy Flick.......2006-09-01

A Bucket of Blood is a wonderful horror comedy. It stars veteran
character actor Dick Miller as Walter Paisley who works as a
waiter/busboy at a trendy coffeehouse. He has to put up with the
restaurant's clientele who are mostly pretentious artsy types who think that they are all better than the rest of us. The leader of these pretentious poets is one Maxwell H. Brock (Julian Burton) whose free verse poetry is a hilarious send up of the drivel that was being widely
published in poetry journals at the time.

Walter Paisley is a naive character who desperately wants to be accepted as an artist by the coffeehouse crowd. Adding to his feelings of being excluded from the group is the fact that he is hopelessly attracted to the lovely Carla (Barboura Morris). Another problem facing Walter is
that his boss constantly hassles him and his landlady is a control freak who lords over her boarders. Clearly, Walter Paisley's life is at a dead end.

Then, all of a sudden, a freak accident combined with artistic
inspiration occurs to turn Paisley's life around. What happened was that in one of the funniest sequences ever captured in a horror comedy, Walter Paisley accidentally kills his landlady's cat. While pondering over just what he should do about this turn in affairs, Paisley gets the inspiration to put clay over both the cat and the protruding knife and
by doing so, he turns the dead feline into a statue that he calls, appropriately enough, "Dead Cat."

"Dead Cat" turns into a hit amongst the artistically pretentious crowd. All of the coffeehouse regulars including both the stuffy Maxwell and the lovely Carla are turned on by it and they come to really dig Walter. Even Walter's boss starts to show respect for him. Clearly,
Walter Paisley's star is going up. However, to maintain this forward momentum and prevent him from drifting back into the loneliness and obscurity that he had spent his previous existence in, Walter finds that
he must create more such masterpieces. To do so, he needs to go from accidentally causing death to doing so on purpose.

A Bucket of Blood is more than just a horror comedy. It is a satire on the whole artistically pretentious crowd that one finds in every college town. This movie also has a nice jazz styling reminiscent of the whole cool jazz scene that one often associates with the late 1950's and the early 1960's. A Bucket of Blood is a good flick that deserves your attention.

Average customer rating:

GET THE MGM VERSION - ALL OTHERS NOT WORTH IT
A Humorous Bucket
A Pristine Print of a Corman Cult Classic.
Little Bucket Shop Of Blood Horrors
Excellent Horror Comedy Flick

A Bucket of Blood
Starring: Dick Miller , Barboura Morris , Antony Carbone , Julian Burton , and Ed Nelson
Director: Roger Corman
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 079284680X
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Amazon.com

Description

In a jumpin' java joint, filled to the brim with kooky beatniks, poets and hipsters, an artist wannabe discovers he has a talent for modern art...and murder. Dripping with blood, social satire and "sick, sick comedy" (The Film Daily) this film, according to critic Leonard Maltin, "nicely captures the spirit of the beatnik era" and zips along with vibes of counterculture creepiness.Walter (Dick Miller) is a busboy overly impressed with the cool cats who hang out at The Yellow Doorcoffee house, and he wonders how to become "hip." When he accidentally kills his landlady's pet cat, Walter panics and covers it with clay. His prayers are answered, and before he knows it he's the "cat's meow" of the art world. His talent develops and - surprise! - he can sculpt humans the same way too. Like so many artists, his real talent won't be discovered - until he's dead.

Customer Reviews:

GET THE MGM VERSION - ALL OTHERS NOT WORTH IT.......2007-04-14

A Humorous Bucket.......2007-02-12

A Pristine Print of a Corman Cult Classic........2006-11-15

Little Bucket Shop Of Blood Horrors.......2006-10-03

Excellent Horror Comedy Flick.......2006-09-01

A Bucket of Blood/The Giant Gila Monster

Average customer rating:

Drive-In horror films with beatnicks and hot rodders
Killer Creature Double Features From MADACY!
a horror fan

A Bucket of Blood/The Giant Gila Monster
Starring: Don Sullivan , Fred Graham , Lisa Simone , Shug Fisher , and Bob Thompson
Director: Ray Kellogg , and Roger Corman
Manufacturer: Madacy Records
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Drive-In horror films with beatnicks and hot rodders.......2005-05-09

The key thing to know about "A Bucket of Blood," the first of this Saturday night's Killer Creature Double Feature is that Roger Corman made it a year before he did "Little Shop of Horror." Both movies starred Dick Miller, both were made in less than a week on shoestring budgets (five days for $30,000), and both films constitute horror-comedy, although "Little Shop" is decidedly more over the top. But do not be surprised if you like this 1959 Corman film better.

The horror element is actually in vogue again with the release of a new version of "House of Wax" this week, since Miller plays Walter Paisley, a bus boy at The Yellow Door, an art house care that is the place to go for the Beat Generation. Paisley is a would-be-sculptor wants to be accepted by all of the cool cats, but he does not really have any talent. Then he accidentally kills his cat and when he covers it with clay he is suddenly proclaimed as having a "talent" for lifelike artwork. Another accident, of a sort, gives him the opportunity to move on to human figures, at which point Walter starts looking for new subjects. The ending strikes you as being something out of "The Twilight Zone," but up to that point it works for the most part because of the performances by Miller, Barboura Morris as Carla, and most of the supporting roles.

The comedy part comes not from the killing and sculpting but from the movie's send up of the beatnik scene. The cafe is filled with Beat poets and folk singers. Part of the reason it works is that what is happening at the cafe is not really parody, but earnest attempts in the accepted Beat style. The babble coming out of the mouth of Maxwell (Julian Burton) has the appropriate sense of pseudo-profundity and the guy walking around playing the guitar and singing is Alex Hassilev, who was about to help form the Limeliters. This movie was remade in 1995 as one of the cable television movies presented under the umbrella title "Roger Corman Presents," but that was not half the movie the original black & white, quick & dirty film is as far as I am concerned.

"The Giant Gila Monster" is one of those films where you take a real animal and having it crawl through miniature sets. The tagline for this film was: "Only Hell could breed such an enormous beast. Only God could destroy it!" But this 1959 film from director Ray Kellogg ("The Killer Shrews," "The Green Berets"--how is that for a credit combo?), filmed in north Texas for $138,000, is a lot more low-keyed than those lines would suggest. In fact, what is interesting given when this film is made is the key relationship between Sheriff Jeff (Fred Graham) and young Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan). The kid is working on his hot rod and instead of busting his chops the sheriff really functions as a mentor: he says he is concerned about the kids in town, and you actually believe it. The idea of having a movie in which a teenage hot rodder, who also sings like Pat Boone who is not a juvenile delinquent, or at least treated like one by the cops, is rather refreshing, although admittedly the character is a bit heavy on the saccharine. But Sullivan has a natural charm and the guy wrote his own songs, so give him some credit.

But since we are talking letting a Gila monster wander through miniatures in a film with teenage hot rodders, of course this movie received "MST3K" treatment (Season 4, when Joel turned Crow and Servo into "The Thing With Two Heads" as inspired by the movie of the same name"). My major complaint about this film is that the day for night shooting is so dark I have a hard time figuring out what is happening. Obviously the special effects budget is such that most of the "horror" is suggested by quick cuts rather than actually showing everything. Still, I like the way that everybody is pretty level headed in this film and deal with the giant Gila monster in a relatively intelligent manner without wasting a lot of time and effort. Yes, finding the monster, which is the size of several houses, should not take so long, but then the movie would be shorter and it is only 74 minutes anyway.

Along with trailers for both of the feature films there is one for "The Devil's Partner" and a Popeye cartoon, "Taxi-Turvy," in which the sailor and Bluto are taxicab drivers competing for the same paying customer. "A Bucket of Blood" deserves a rating of four stars, Daddy-O, and "The Giant Gila Monster" comes in for a pit stop at three stars. Because these are one of the better pairs of films I have seen to date in the Killer Creature Double Feature, I am going to round up in splitting the difference. Up next will be a double bill of dementia and depravity from a slightly different exploitation genre with "Common Law Wife" and "Jennie, Wife/Child." Know now that my expectations are not high.

Killer Creature Double Features From MADACY!.......2004-01-31

I own the majority of Madacy's Killer Creature Double Features and Bucket Of Blood/ Giant Gila Monster is right up there with the best of the schlocky cheesiness of these DVDs!

Bucket Of Blood is a Corman classic and Giant Gila Monster is just a stitch to watch. BAD acting, BAD sets, VERY UNSPECIAL EFFECTS... Excellent horror films that are SOOO BAD they are GOOD!

Also... the cartoons that are in between the features (JUST LIKE AT THE DRIVE-IN!) are quite fun to watch also! The sound and transfer on these DVD's reek of poor quality but THAT is the VERY REASON that I love them SO! It's like listening to an old, scratchy LP on a turntable. It just doesn't get much better than this for nostalgia's sake.

Keep the KILLER CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURES coming MADACY!

a horror fan.......2001-08-12

These movies are quite dated and I did not like them as much as I thought I would. A bucket of blood is much overated Roger Corman film I dont see myself watching again buy myself. maybe with friends it would be good for a laugh.

The Giant Gila Monster was too slow not for modern Horror fans for sure.

Product Description

BUCKET OF BLOOD-ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (DVD MOVIE)

Customer Reviews:

Attack of the Giant Leeches - Marengo has best print!.......2006-06-28

Though Marengo does not have thousands of titles available, that is what makes them unique. Each title can have more attention devoted to it and time to find the best elements. Though this was an early (pre equipment upgrade at Marengo) offering, it is well noted that this copy of "Attack of the Giant Leeches" is the best print available on DVD! It was the first time I was able to see what was happening in dark scenes and the rest is crisp. Marengo has several horror titles available and many other genera with more on the way - most all double feature at bargain prices without the bargain quality.

As for "A Bucket of Blood", it does have some early splices but again, overall the element was clean and crisp. A great addition for those who do not have either title.

A Bucket of Blood.......2002-01-05

This "Killer B " DVD Double Feature released by Marengo Fims brings back the classic Creature Double Features I remember so well as a kid. The films are so bad they are fantastic! Do yourself a favor and buy this DVD!

Fun movies poorly mastered.......2001-12-11

These two films are from the Corman production mill. Roger directed A Bucket of Blood, which is a very entertaining (and brief) satire on coffeehouse/beatnik art pretensions. The Giant Leech movie has a couple of funny scenes with Bruno veSota and Yvette Vickers but otherwise falls flat. The print of A Bucket of Blood used for this DVD starts off very badly; it's choppy and distracting from the wonderful opening monologue ("I will talk to you of art, for there is nothing else to talk about..."). Worse, the sound quality is muffled, and it sounds like noise reduction was applied to a master tape that wasn't recorded with Dolby - instead of removing hiss, all the high and low tones are reduced to a flat middle-range. Sometimes it's difficult to understand the dialogue for this reason. The MGM VHS release looks and sounds better than this DVD, but of course, that tape comes without Attack of the Giant Leeches...

Drive-in Madness.......2001-09-22

Get the popcorn, a couple of cold beers, some friends and watch these two old drive-in horror flicks in the dark... it's a kick making fun of the actors, the monsters, the directing, the lighting... everything... a bargain by Marengo Films. I had some friends over... we laughed ourselves silly... one of the characters even looked like my boss... and best of all, he was eaten by one of the monsters...!..

Roger Corman Classics - Collection 1 (A Bucket of Blood, Little Shop of Horrors, The Terror, The Wasp Woman)

Average customer rating:

after the botched jobs a.m.c. did to the bela lugosi collection i was worried about this one but they got it right this time
Correction
Scary Cult Classics!!!

Roger Corman Classics - Collection 1 (A Bucket of Blood, Little Shop of Horrors, The Terror, The Wasp Woman)
Starring: Roger Corman
Manufacturer: Genius Entertainment
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ASIN: B0000JBUIC
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Description

4 Movies on 2 DVD's
Digitally Re-Mastered

A Bucket of Blood (1959) From the director of Little Shop of Horrors, this earlier feature has a similar mix of ironic humor and icky gore.

Little Shop of Horros (1960) In two days, Roger Corman directed this funny cult horror classic that chronicles a flower-shop assistant's dilemma with a demanding, vociferous carnivorous plant.

The Terror (1963) Napoleonic officer (Jack Nicholson) pursues a mysterious woman to the castle of a baron. He encounters a witch bent on driving the baron to suicide.

The Wasp Woman (1960) A vain, youth obsessed owner of a cosmetics firm turns into a man-killing wasp woman after ingesting wasp-derived serum created by a zany scientist.

Customer Reviews:

after the botched jobs a.m.c. did to the bela lugosi collection i was worried about this one but they got it right this time.......2006-04-27

a.m.c. is still on my list of bewere of buys because of some of there other collections(the bela lugosi collections), but my love for roger corman over came me and i'm glad.
this is as good a transfers of these movies as i have seen,no extras ,but they do look great. for the price you can't go wrong.

Correction.......2003-11-23

Little Shop of Horrors does not star Jack Nicholson as Semour, rather Mr. Nicholson appears as a creepy dentist patient with a flair for all things unpleasent. His short performance alone would be worth the price of this DVD. But thankfully, the joys to be found in this strange film do not end there. Adding to the fun is Dick Miller (from Bucket of Blood) as a flower lover who takes his taste for botanicals to a new level. Speaking of Bucket of Blood, that is one creepy film. Stupid, but creepy. It also offers a first hand account of the 60s in a more bohemian way than many might be accustomed to. Dick Miller is nearly unrecognizable in a terriffic performance. If nothing else, seeing him and his massive transformation between Bucket of Blood (notice that the initials of this film spell BOB?) and Little Shop of Horrors is worth it. I have yet to see The Terror, but it looks great thanks to Mr. Nicholson again and Boris Karloff.

Scary Cult Classics!!!.......2003-10-22

A great collection of scary classics:

A BUCKET OF BLOOD stars Dick Miller who plays a nobody who gains fame among the beatniks. His realistic sculptures are made by covering dead bodies with clay. Watch out---you may just jump out of your own skin!!!

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS stars Jack Nicholson as a skid row flower shop owner facing a dilemma with a demanding carnivorous plant. Don't get too close to the screen---it might gobble you up!!!

THE TERROR stars Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson. Nicholson plays an officer in Napoleon's army who pursues a mysterious woman. The woman becomes the pawn of a old witch bent of driving a baron to suicide. Creepy atmosphere in a castle with a crypt.

Customer Reviews:

Roger Corman Double Feature.......2003-12-04

How much you like this Roger Corman double feature will depend, of course, on how much you like Roger Corman in general--the "King of the B's," a producer/director/writer with a knack for turning out inexpensive horror films on a tight schedule. Most often Corman's film were dive-in dreck, lame-brainers like ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, WASP WOMAN, and CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA. But as his career progressed, Corman did indeed begin to strike gold, keeping to his inexpensive budgets but luring big name stars like Vincent Price and Ray Milland for such films as THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM and X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES--movies that are classics of their kind and remain tremendous fun to watch to this day.

The films on this double feature disk fall somewhere between Corman dreck and Corman gold. According to film lore, Corman created THE TERROR in 1963 for the simple reason that when THE RAVEN wrapped he still had star Boris Karloff under contract for three days more--and not being one to waste a dime he quickly came up with a script that could play out on the earlier film's sets and be shot in less than thirty-eight hours.

THE TERROR concerns a young French solider (Jack Nicholson, who made several films with Corman early in his career) who is separated from Napoleon's army and finds himself drawn to an isolated castle by the charms of a lovely young woman (Sandra Knight)--but instead of finding her in residence encounters the Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe (Boris Karloff), an elderly and possibly demented man still mourning the death of his wife some twenty years ago. The plot is loose, to say the least, and Nicholson is hardly any one's idea of a Napoleonic officer, but while THE TERROR isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination it isn't a bad one either--for all its cliches and cheap manipulations, it manages to create an atmosphere that is surprisingly effective.

The second feature, however, is really the more interesting of the two. Starring Dick Miller (who also appears in THE TERROR), the 1959 BUCKET OF BLOOD reads very much like an extended episode from the classic t.v. series THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Walter Paisley (Miller) is a geeky wannabe who scrabbles a living as a waiter in a beatnik coffee shop--but when he accidentally kills his landlady's cat he covers it in clay to create an instant sculpture that makes a hit with the club's ever-so-artsy clientele. Needless to say, one thing leads to another, and before too long Paisley is making a hit with life-size sculptures as well.

What makes BUCKET OF BLOOD particularly interesting are Corman's florishes of black comedy, grotesque humor, and his constant jabs at the pseudo-artistic crowd that admire Paisley's work. In a year or so more, Corman would ravel much the same thread with the comic story of a mousy florist clerk who grows a sinister plant in the better known LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.

The print of THE TERROR (which had Francis Ford Coppola as an assistant producer, no less) is in pretty bad condition: the film is presented in pan-and-scan, the colors are washed out and often fuzzy, and the film is riddled with blips, scratches, and various artifacts. But it is watchable, and I have to say I've never seen a really good print of this film in any release. BUCKET OF BLOOD fares better: while hardly pristine it is fairly crisp in its original black and white. The disk comes with a few lightweight but entertaining extras, including basic information on each movie, trivia, etc.; scene access, however, is extremely limited.

Neither of these films should be classed along side the best of Corman's work, but then again neither are they anywhere near the worst of his worst. If you're a Corman fan, they're must-have, and this two-for-one deal is a handy and fairly inexpensive way of picking up both.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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