Happy Halloween! My husband is watching ‘A Bucket of Blood’ on Turner Classic Movies right now. Released in 1959 and directed and produced by Roger Corman, the movie stars Dick Miller as a nerdy busboy at a Bohemian cafe who accidentally kills his landlady’s cat. He covers the body in plaster to hide the evidence, and suddenly discovers newfound fame as a brilliant sculptor.
All his new beatnik friends want to see more of his work, but lacking any talent, he’s forced to resort to similar methods to produce new work. Soon people start mysteriously disappearing…
‘A Bucket of Blood’ plays like a ‘Twilight Zone’ episode, but is just the sort of quirky, low-budget movie for which Corman became famous. He made hundreds of these movies, dating back to the 1950s, including the original ‘Piranha,’ which was remade in 3D this year. Take a look at Corman’s IMDB page, and you’ll see what I mean.
He also helped launch the careers of many big-time directors and stars, including Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Robert De Niro and Sandra Bullock. No small stuff!
Now 84, Roger Corman is experiencing a resurgence of sorts, thanks in large part to Shout Factory! releasing many of his cult classics on DVD and blu-ray. Films like ‘The Slumber Party Massacre Collection,’ ‘Up From the Depths,’ ‘Demon of Paradise,’ ‘The Evil,’ ‘Twice Dead,’ ‘Humanoids From the Deep,’ ‘Rock ‘n Roll High School,’ and my personal favorite, ‘Death Race 2000.’ Some of these films have never been released on DVD or blu-ray, and all contain very cool bonus features.
If you’re a newbie to the B-movie genius of Roger Corman, now is a perfect time to get caught up. You can also catch some of his new movies like ‘Sharktopus’ and ‘Dinoshark’ on the SyFy network. He’s still going strong, and has ‘Space 3001’ and ‘Road Raiders’ coming out soon.
Check out the official Roger Corman Cult Classics site, as well as their Facebook page. Here’s a little trailer to get you started.
Images: Amazon.com
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