Bucket of Blood

The film A Bucket of Blood was depicting the California Beat scene in the 1950s. It was a dark comedy about a busboy when struggles to become an artist. The busboy eventually gets his fame as an artist and respect from peers in the night club. He achieves his fame first by comically murdering his pet cat and covering in clay. His process then spirals out of control as he starts murdering people and,also, covering them in clay. He is later discovered and caught for his murderous ways. There is also an underlying love story between the busboy and the lead female in the film.

The film overall was a dark satire of the art world and comments on the desperateness some have to become part of the art world. At points I felt sorry for the busboy because all he wanted was to be accepted. Also, I wonder slightly if he was mentally handicapped. I found the portrayal of the artistic characters in the film were relevant to the era and universally accurate to some of the personalities encountered when traveling through the art world.