Das Vermächtnis des Professor Bondi (1959)

Das Vermächtnis des Professor Bondi: Directed by Roger Corman. With Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone, Julian Burton. A dim-witted busboy finds acclaim as an artist for a plaster-covered dead cat that is mistaken as a skillful statuette. The desire for more praise soon leads to an increasingly deadly series of works.

“This delicious black comedy is one of the films that Roger Corman used to make before he got a bigger budget and went on to do fantastic adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stores, starting with u0026#39;The Fall of the House of Usheru0026#39;, the year after this was made. A Bucket of Blood stars Dick Miller, whom you may know as u0026#39;that guy from Gremlinsu0026#39;, which Dante almost certainly cast him in due to his affiliation with Corman, as he plays a character named Walter Paisley in both The Howling and A Bucket of Blood. Anyway, in this film he has been cast a busboy for a public house, who is also an aspiring artist. However, Walter lacks creativity and is looking for an idea when he inadvertently kills his landladyu0026#39;s cat, which he then proceeds to cover in plaster and present as a piece of art. The art world is filled with weirdou0026#39;s, and because of that, this sculpture becomes an instant hit and Walter is now very much u0026#39;inu0026#39;. One masterpiece isnu0026#39;t enough, however, and Walter must add more to his collection to gain the fame he wants…but where is that next masterpiece going to come from? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAside from being a cheap black comedic exploitation thriller, A Bucket of Blood is also a commentary on the art world. Anything can pass for a masterpiece when it comes to being u0026#39;creativeu0026#39; (shown by that strange woman with a bed in real life), and a dead cat certainly fits that bill. The film also comments on the fact that one masterpiece isnu0026#39;t enough for an u0026#39;artistu0026#39; to cement themselves in the annals of history and thus they need several. Dick Milleru0026#39;s portrayal of the aspiring artist at the centre of the tale isnu0026#39;t award worthy, but he does a very good job. The character is naive, with an air of pathos, spanning from a need to be accepted, and Dick Miller captures this essence so well that you cant imagine anyone else in the role. I really enjoy seeing Miller on screen and itu0026#39;s a shame he didnu0026#39;t get more roles as he has a lot of potential for playing characters of this sort.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is an obvious predecessor to many other indie themed exploitation thrillers, such as The Driller Killer and is important for that reason. The jazz styling makes a nice atmosphere for the movie and it helps to capture the pseudo-cool jazz trend that is often associated with art in the late 50u0026#39;s and early 60u0026#39;s. And, aside from everything Iu0026#39;ve said so far; this film is just really good. Itu0026#39;s a lot of fun and many of things shown on screen are really funny. Thereu0026#39;s also some lovely death sequences including, most notably, someone being cut in half with a buzz saw. Naturally (considering this was made in 1959), we donu0026#39;t get to see the death, but it still happens and itu0026#39;s not Cormanu0026#39;s fault he couldnu0026#39;t show it. This film is a damn good time and itu0026#39;s a shame that it hasnu0026#39;t gained itself a more established following the forty-five years since itu0026#39;s release. Recommended viewing.”