One of the mysteries of the Roger Corman legacy – why did Little Shop of Horrors become such a cult sensation whereas this effort, from the same team with the same plot (indeed, the same structure) get ignored? Of course Little Shop had Jack Nicholson in it, which doesn’t hurt; it was shot in two days whereas Bucket took five; maybe also the fact that Bucket is a satire about beatniks hurts it with audiences unfamiliar with beatniks. Nonetheless Bucket’s reputation has shot up in recent years.Dick Miller is ideal as a whimpy assistant at a beatnik-infested cafe who inadvertently becomes a trendy artist by killing people then turning them into sculptures. The humour is a thick black hue – while Miller’s first “killings” are accidental by the time he kills a model (in the nude – with a bare back, too – pretty race for 1959) it’s totally cold blooded. Then he kills another one – the old sympathy factor for him isn’t that high.
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