Mike Raven

CRUCIBLE OF TERROR-1971-John (James Bolam), an in debt art dealer, his girlfriend Millie (Mary Maude) and mutual friend Jane (Beth Morris) accompany her husband Mike (Ronald Lacey) to visit his eccentric sculptor father Victor (Michael Raven) who before the credits appears to put a woman in plaster and molten metal to make a sculpture. Also at the remote former mine are manservant Bill (John Arnatt),who has a roomful of medieval weapons and Victor's feeble-minded wife Dorothy (Betty Alberge) who carries around a stuffed dog. Besides being a mad killer Victor is a pompous conceited pervert who insults his defenseless wife. Though Vic has a model (Judy Matheson) for a mistress, he seems to take a shine to Millie (who has Deja’ Vu about the place).  At night Millie has a dream a masked figure throws blood on her. While Mike drunkenly rants Jane agrees to pose for Victor but she spurns his advances and is later stabbed to death. The next day while Millie and the model frolic on the beach it’s revealed that Mike stole some of his father's paintings and they have an argument about Dorothy. Mike is then bludgeoned to death after a very stupid scene where the model throws rocks at him. John goes back to London to get cash to buy Victor’s paintings. Out for a walk, Millie sees Victor watching her and runs into a cave where she finds Dorothy hanging out with some dolls. After someone throws acid in the model's face, Millie agrees to model for Vic. She spurns his advances and runs into another cave where she finds Mike's decomposing body and Dorothy who’s committed suicide. When she encounters Vic again she faints. He plans to make her his next statue. 

Though it's talky in stretches and Raven comes across as a poor man’s Christopher Lee, the story does have a bizarre if improbable twist ending involving a Japanese woman and a cult that worship the dead. Me Me.Lay (JUNGLE HOLCAUST) has a small role.

 CRUCIBLE OF TERROR is the only movie directed by Ted Hooker and some stories say lead actor Michael Raven, a former DJ put up half the budget. The same year as this Raven was also in Hammer's LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and Amicus' I, MONSTER. He later wrote and starred in DISCIPLE OF DEATH.

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Miller and Corman

A BUCKET OF BLOOD-1959-Nebbish busboy Walter Paisley (Dick Miler) works in a beatnik club and  wants to be a sculptor but everyone just puts him down. Only Carla (Barboura Morris) is nice to him. One night frustrated by his lack of inspiration, he accidentally kills his landlady's cat. A voice tells him what to do. He encases the dead feline in clay and passes it off as his newest creation called "dead cat".  All the Beats go wild over it especially Maxwell Brock (Julian Burton) a pompous poet who says lines like "I will talk to you about art because there's nothing else to talk about" while Paul Horn plays the sax behind him. Later Walter accidentally kills an undercover cop (future game show host Burt Convy) who tries to arrest him for heroin possession (a waitress gave it to him). He then covers the corpse with clay and presents "murdered man" as his latest work of art. Meanwhile Walter's boss Mr. de Santis (Anthony Carbone) discovers his secret and is aghast but when an art collector (Bruno VeSota) offers him 600 dollars for the cat he relents turning Walter in (he also tries to dissuade Walter from sculpting).

Later Walter dons a beret, ascot and cigarette holder but while being praised by Brock, a stuck up model (Judy Bamber) pisses him off and later he strangles her and makes her his latest sculpture. Brock throws a party for Walter where he becomes very drunk and despondent ("I've gotta do something before they forget") so he decapitates a guy working with a buzz saw. The next day he shows de Santis his newest creation: a severed head. Eventually his guilt ridden boss has an exhibition for Walter who proposes to Carla but she rejects him. When she discovers a real finger under under some of the clay Walter decides to make her "immortal" like the rest of his victims. After a dark chase scene Walter (who hears the voices of his victims) goes back to his apartment and hangs himself. This causes Brock to remark "I suppose he would have called it "hanging man". His greatest work.". Ed Nelson (who died on August 9th at age 85) plays an undercover cop.

A BUCKET OF BLOOD  was Roger Corman's first (intentional) comedy. It's a dark satire on the beatnik hip but  nihilistic  viewpoint, very in vogue at the time. It's obviously done on the usual money saving Corman schedule (sources say 5 days on $50,000 budget) but he holds it together fairly well. The one glaring point for me is that it seems at the end Walter wants to encase himself in clay before committing suicide but that doesn't really happen. There's lots of funny dialogue and Dick Miller is great in the lead. He'd have a co-starring role in 1960 in Corman's next horror comedy THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (which BUCKET screenplay writer Charles Griffith would write).

Barboura Morris had already been in several Corman productions (SORORITY GIRL, TEENAGE CAVEMAN) and would appear in a few more (THE WASP WOMAN, X:THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES). Unfortunately she died in 1975 at the age of 43. Anthony Carbone would be in a few more for Corman (including THE BEAST FROM THE HAUNTED SEA) and then go into TV.

A BUCKET OF BLOOD  is cheap quick entertaining and a good companion piece for THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORROS (although not nearly as well known...).

English folk singer Ewan MacColl (father of singer Kristy MacColl) appears un-credited and sings two songs.

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