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A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Director-producer Roger Corman's satirical, comedic-horror
film A Bucket of Blood (1959) became a cult classic, in its
tale of a half-wiitted, dejected nerd-loser and busboy in a 'hip'
and trendy beatnik cafe in the 50s in SoCal who became a serial killer
by encasing an animal and then murdered individuals in clay, and
passing them off as life-like works of statue art. Thus, he became
an unexpected celebrity amongst the pretentious art-lovers of the
local hangout. The film satirized and commented upon the warped social
pressures to fit in and be accepted with the 50s beatnik generation,
its elitist culture, and its artistic community. Its taglines were:
- A Comedy of ERRORS! A Comedy of TERRORS!
- He Lived for His Art, and His Art Was Murder!
- You'll be sick, sick, sick - from LAUGHING!
The screenplay for the low-budget film with coarse production values (with a budget
of $50,000) was written by Charles B. Griffith. The insanely-comedic
slasher film's poster-art used comic-strip drawings to hint at its
macabre nature (with a body count of 5, including the cat). The accidental
(at first) and then deliberate killings included the stabbing of
Frankie the cat, blunt force trauma to the head with a frying pan,
choking with a scarf, head amputation with a table-buzz-saw, and
a self-inflicted suicidal hanging.
The plot had similarities to director Michael Curtiz' Mystery
of the Wax Museum (1933) and its more successful remake by
director Andre de Toth House of
Wax (1953) - another cult classic and 3-D hit. To save costs,
the film reused the set from The Diary of a High School Bride
(1959). The film's
principal character actor, Dick Miller, who played the role of Walter
Paisley (it was his only starring role in his entire career), became
so identified with the character name that he reused it in many of
his other later films, including Hollywood
Boulevard (1976), The
Howling (1981), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Chopping
Mall (1986), Night of the Creeps (1986), and Shake, Rattle
& Rock! (1994).
At the time, the cheap and schlocky film made in 5
short days remarkably made revenues of $180,000. [Note: The success
of the film inspired Corman to begin work on another similar low-budget
cult film The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).] The 1959 film
was later remade as a cable TV-movie also titled A
Bucket of Blood (1995) starring
Anthony Michael Hall (as Walter Paisley) and Justine Bateman. MGM
released the film on VHS and DVD for the home video market in 2000,
and it was revived. A short-lived musical version of the film played
in Chicago for about a month in 2009.
Independent film-maker Roger Corman (and his distributor
American International Pictures (AIP)) became known for his low-budget,
cheesy B-movies and exploitation films that ranged from Westerns
and gangster films to science-fiction, teen-age hot rod and rock
'n' roll movies. A Bucket of Blood was one of a wave of his "cheap teen
movies" released for the newly-established for the drive-in/teen
market. He churned out many other cult status hits, including:
- The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - the
original version of the classic black comedy with little-known
actor Jack Nicholson, and using the same sets left over from A
Bucket of Blood
- Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), a parody
of the earlier monster movie Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
- the eight Edgar Allan Poe horror film adaptations starring Vincent Price, beginning
with House of Usher (1960)
- The Wild Angels (1966), the first 'biker'
film (with Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra)
- The Trip (1967) - one of the earliest 'psychedelic'
films of the late 60s (scripted by Jack Nicholson)
In 1970, Corman founded New World
Pictures (1970-1983), his own production and distribution company,
specializing in low-budget, exploitation films.
- the film's opening established the setting - The
Yellow Door, a bohemian cafe and coffee-house frequented by hip
beatniks and other aspiring followers who were being served and
listening to the on-stage performance of one of the revered patrons,
Maxwell H. Brock (Julian Burton); under the title credits, the
bearded Brock was reciting one of his pretentious, word-salad poems,
as he was accompanied by a solo saxophonist (Paul Horn) playing
a mournful tune:
- "I will talk to you of Art, for there is nothing
else to talk about, for there is nothing else. Life is an obscure
hobo bumming a ride on the omnibus of Art. Burn gas buggies,
and whip your sour cream of circumstance and hope, and go ahead
and sleep your bloody heads off. Creation is, all else is not.
What is not creation, is graham crackers; let it all crumble
to feed the creator.
The Artist is, all others are not. A canvas
is a canvas or a painting. A rock is a rock or a statue. A
sound is a sound or is music. A preacher is a preacher, or
an Artist. Where are John, Joe, Jake, Jim, Jerk? Dead, dead,
dead. They were not born. Before they were born, they were not
born. Where are Leonardo, Rembrandt, Ludwig? Alive! Alive!
Alive! They were born!
Bring on the multitude, the multitude
of fishes. Feed them to the fishes for liver oil to nourish
the Artist. Stretch their skin upon an easel to give him canvas.
Crush their bones into a paste that he might mold them. Let
them die, and by their miserable deaths become the clay within
his hands that he might form an ashtray or an ark. For all
that is comes through the eye of the Artist. The rest are blind
fish, swimming in the cave of aloneness. Swim on you maudlin,
muddling, maddened fools, and dream that one bright and sunny
night, some Artist will bait a hook and let you bite upon it!
Bite hard - and die! In his stomach you are very close to immortality"
- the meek, socially-awkward busboy Walter Paisley
(Dick Miller) listened to the impressive poem delivered spontaneously
by the artist-poet on stage as he feverishly worked to serve patrons
and clear tables at The Yellow Door; at the end of the recitation,
the beret-wearing owner Leonard De Santis (Antony Carbone) led
the applause, but then reprimanded the inattentive Walter who had
become distracted from his job while watching sketch artist and
cafe hostess Carla (Barboura Morris) draw her view of the night's
performance; he was secretly in love with Carla

Walter's Boss, Cafe Owner Leonard De Santis (Antony Carbone)
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Busboy Walter (Dick Miller) Distracted by Carla - And
Reprimanded by His Boss For Inattentiveness
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Pretty Cafe Hostess and Sketch-Artist Carla (Barboura Morris)
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- although unidentified yet as police officers, Lou
Raby (Bert Convy) entered the bar and signaled to another seated
patron - Art Lacroix (Ed Nelson); Art got up and exited the
club, entered a nearby pay-phone, and called his superior, Valdez
in the Police Department's Vice Division; Lou was surveilling the
members of the pompous clientele, but had found no one suspicious
or drug-dealing in the crowd, except possibly for the strange-acting
saxophone player
- shortly later, the gullible and impressionable Walter
listened intently as Maxwell pontificated to others at his table,
including Naolia (Jhean Burton) and Carla: "I refuse to say
anything twice. Repetition is death...When you repeat something,
you are reliving a moment, wasting it, severing it from the other
end of your life. I believe only in new impressions, new stimuli,
new life!"; he added how he believed in creative living: "To
be uncreative, you might as well be in your grave, or in the Army.
They tried to draft me once. I couldn't pass the test"
- after work in the evening, Walter returned home,
desperately hoping to fit in with the hipster crowd after listening
to Maxwell; frustrated by the low regard given to him by the pompous
clientele at The Yellow Door, he told his caring land-lady neighbor
Mrs. Swickert (Myrtle Damerel) that he had a mission: ("I
have something important to do"); obviously, Walter was a
lonely bachelor living in a disheveled apartment, where he opened
a can of beans with an old-fashioned can-opener and heated up his
dinner on a gas stove; he opened a twine-wrapped square-shaped
package containing a large glob of clay encased in plastic; he
began to mold the clay with his hands to create a sculpted bust-model
of his love-interest Carla in order to please her (he placed her
framed photo on the table in front of him as a guide)
- the no-talent nebbish Walter worked feverishly with
the mound of clay, and it seemed to be a futile effort; he
became distracted by his boiling pot of beans on the stove and
the incessant meowing of Mrs. Swickert's cat Frankie, who had apparently
become trapped inside Walter's wall; after knocking his head on
a lamp that began swinging and casting shifting shadows,
he attempted to free Frankie by stabbing into the wall with a carving
knife, he accidentally killed the cat; the unsure and frightened
Walter broke open the wall and then panicked about what to do with
the cat in rigor
mortis; he spoke Maxwell's words to the deceased cat: "Repetition
is death, Frankie"; he attempted to mold something with the
clay, but gave up
- by morning at dawn, Walter awoke and became inspired
after hearing Maxwell (in voice-over) entreating him to create something:
- "Let them die, and by their miserable deaths become the clay within His hands,
that He might form an ashtray or an ark - pray that you might
be his diadem, gold, glory, paint, clay, that He might take
you in His magic hands and wring from your marrow wonder"
- Walter asked himself: "Where are John, Joe, Jim,
Jerk?"; he answered his own question: "Dead, Dead, Dead"
- later in the day, a gleeful Walter brought his
newly-created cat-sculpture to work wrapped in brown paper;
at the outdoor entrance to The Yellow Door, he claimed to Carla and Leonard that it was a
"work of art" - it was revealed that he had covered Frankie
with clay, with the knife still protruding from the cat's body; Walter
labeled his brilliant work "Dead Cat"
- Leonard was slightly displeased and called the sculpture
grotesque, odd and morbid: ("It'd scare people out of the place"),
although Carla praised it as realistic: ("It's tremendous. Look
at the detail. The anatomy's perfect. Look at the expression on
its face"); Leonard reluctantly agreed to display it in a corner
of the cafe to see if it would sell: ("If it sells, we'll split
50-50, okay?") and Walter agreed; he was encouraged by the unexpected
praise: ("Does this mean I'm an artist?")
- surprisingly many of the patrons loved it, even
Maxwell, who announced that everyone should look at the "small
clay figure" at the entrance; he extolled it as a "transfixed effigy...the
work of a master sculptor" who was none other than their genius
busboy Walter: "Mark well this lad. His is the silent voice of
creation. Within the dark, rich soil of humility, he blossoms as
the hope of our nearly sterile century"; Leonard realized that
the patrons were so distracted by Walter's creation that business
was suffering, and ordered him to leave work early for the night:
"You're creating an incident. When people are applauding, they
don't order coffee. So, go on home and work on something. Make
another cat...Look, just go to the movies"
- as Walter was leaving, beatnik chick Naolia was
so very impressed with Walter's sculpture that she propositioned
him: ("I dug it...It was the most wonderful, wildest, like, wiggiest
thing I've ever seen. Walter, you've done something to me. Something
deep down inside of my prana....Oh, Walter, I wanna be with you.
You're creative. You've got a hot light bulb glowing inside of
you, and I wanna be warmed by it....Walter, take me away from here.
Take me away to some cool blue place and gas me"); when he declined
her physical advances, she contributed by giving him a gift to
remember her by: ("Something that will make you remember me. Put
it in your pocket"); the innocently-dense and naive Walter didn't
realize that he had been given a vial of heroin
- undercover cop Lou noticed the drug-transaction,
and followed Walter to his home; once Walter walked in, he fantasized
about his newfound fame in a conversation with himself about someone
offering him $10,000 dollars to buy his cat-sculpture; he then
had hopes of having Carla as a girlfriend: "Gee, I'll be famous.
And then I can ask Carla, and she'll say yes. I know she will"

Undercover Cop Lou to Walter: "Who's your connection?"
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Walter With the Bloody Edge of the Flat Griddle
Pan After Striking Lou Dead
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Lou's Bloody Hand Dangling Down From Ceiling -- Unseen by
Mrs. Swickert in His Apartment
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- Lou entered and confronted Walter about the vial
of heroin on his table after realizing what it was; Lou revealed
his identity as an undercover police officer when he asked about
the vial, and demanded to know Walter's dealer: ("Who's
your connection?...Who do you score from? Where do you buy your
horse...junk, white stuff, heroin?"); he threatened to arrest
Walter for possession of narcotics: ("I got you cold. Now
you just come along quietly"); frightened when Lou pulled
out his gun, Walter began begging: "Don't
shoot me!"; Walter also reacted by self-defensively lashing out and striking
Lou in the head with his flat pancake griddle pan (off-screen);
the bloody edge of the pan was revealed after a brutal blow to Lou's head
- due to the commotion, Mrs. Swickert knocked and
entered and asked about the noise; Walter had hurriedly concealed
Lou's body in the ceiling above the kitchen cabinets; he claimed
he must have been talking to himself; the landlady suggested that
Walter needed a girl to care for him, and to help him straighten
and clean up his dumpy and dirty apartment; as they talked, Lou's
arm with dripping blood dangled down, but was unseen by his landlady
as he ushered her out the door
- as he cleaned up his blood-stained rug in the living
room, Walter apologized to Lou for killing him: ("I didn't
mean to hurt you, Lou....I can't help it if I got scared and hit
you"); blood noisily dripped down from Lou's body stashed in the ceiling
and collected in a pan - the possible origin of the film's title
"A BUCKET OF BLOOD"
- Walter thought of his next strategy to get rid
of the body; his revelation was to create another sculptural
masterpiece (to later be nicknamed "Murdered Man")
- meanwhile at The Yellow Door after closing time,
Leonard accidentally knocked Walter's "Dead Cat" sculpture
onto the floor where it partly shattered, revealing cat fur under
the clay plaster; Leonard exclaimed: "The little fraud!";
an all-points bulletin alerted the police to search for the missing
29 year-old cop Louis Raby
- at The Yellow Door the next afternoon, singer-guitar
player (Alex Hassilev) performed the song "The Ballad of Tim Evans"
(aka "Go Down, You Murderer") - appropriate for Walter's
crime; during Walter's work shift, he nervously dropped his tray when jokingly told by
two customers that "the fuzz" were looking for him
- knowing that Walter was a fraud, Leonard sarcastically
complimented Walter on his underestimated ability and talent -
but as a major put-down: ("You're a big artist now. A true
creator above mere mortals...His work has enormous realism. You
can hardly tell it from the real thing...Walter, what are you gonna
make next? A dog, maybe. Or a bird? How about a few dozen cockroaches
from your room?"); Walter boldly responded to Leonard and
Carla that he had already created his second masterpiece: "I
got a new one....It's a full-length, life-size figure....Murdered
Man"; Leonard was stunned by Walter's admission and became nauseated
at the thought
- as Leonard was about to call the authorities and
report Walter for suspected murder, he was approached by a portly
art collector (Bruno Ve Soto), who described how his wife had changed
her mind about the cat-statue and was willing to offer $500 to
purchase it (after upping the offer three times from $100), in
addition to a "first look at his next stuff"; persuaded
by greed, Leonard warily agreed to the offer
- Leonard joined Carla on a visit to Walter's apartment,
to unveil his latest sculpture, "Murdered Man" (Lou's
body covered in clay); when Walter removed the sheet covering the
tall, life-sized figure, Carla was astonished at the unveiled sculpture
with its head split vertically down the center, and after a moment's
pause declared: "Walter, it's a masterpiece. I've never seen
anything like it before. And I hope I never see anything like it
again...It's hideous, and it's eloquent. It expresses modern man
in all his self-pity. How did you ever find that in yourself, Walter?";
the squeamish Leonard was appalled and dropped down into a chair
- when Walter suggested taking the sculpture to The
Yellow Door to display it as they had done with the "Dead
Cat," Leonard refused, but then reconsidered after Carla questioned him:
"I didn't realize how much talent Walter actually had. It
would be wrong to show his pieces one at a time, dead wrong";
Carla agreed: "You're right. He should build a collection first"; Leonard
continued with his pecuniary interest in a money angle: "Maybe
when it's big enough, we can have a show... It would take you years
to make that many statues, but your work would be featured";
Carla and Leonard convinced Walter to create a 'collection' and
show it off during a major event for art critics and dealers; of
course, increased recognition for Walter's art would bring higher
sale prices: ("Then we could unload and sell this stuff for a lot more"); however,
Leonard also urged that Walter not rush it, and begged him: "You've
got to stop making these horrible statues" - he proposed that
Walter be guided into free-form sculptures, but Carla thought that
Walter's realistic works were his true talent
- before leaving, Leonard paid Walter $50 "in advance"
as pre-payment for his cat-sculpture sale; Walter was thrilled
to receive his first earnings for his art-work, especially after
Carla called him "a professional"; Leonard concurred that Walter
should quit working at The Yellow Door, and instead concentrate
on his art-work - but then he reinterated: "Don't rush things.
You got all the time in the world"; a few moments later, Walter
boasted to Mrs. Swickert: "I'm an artist!", but she was horrified
and fled from the room after glancing at his latest hideous sculpture
- afterwards, Walter's successful art became the rage
at the coffee-house and his personal popularity soared as he worked
his way up to become an eccepted member of the beatnik artists
and poets at the coffee-house; he had costumed himself as one of
the eccentric bohemians, wearing a beret, a tam and an over-sized
ascot; he was carrying a "zen-stick" and smoking with
a long cigarette holder; he waved to the young waitress Sylvia
(Lynne Storey) and extravagantly ordered: "Bring me a cappuccino
and a piece of papaya cheesecake, and a bottle of Yugoslavian white wine"
- Maxwell joined him at his table, and complimented
Walter on his achievements, as Walter was now acknowledged as a "successful
sculptor"; an unpopular, stuck-up blonde named Alice (Judy Bamber) arrived, claiming to
have just returned from Big Sur looking for Henry Miller; she was
a self-described model who charged only $25/hour; she bluntly asked
Walter: "Would you like to do me?"; Carla also competitively offered herself
as Walter's model: "I was going to suggest to Walter that
he try a female figure as a change from the violent death theme....If
you like, I'll be your model for free"; the obnoxious Alice
condescendingly insulted Walter with disdain: "You're
just a simple little farmboy, and the rest of us are all
sophisticated beatniks," and then she added further criticism - knowing
him only as a lowly busboy: "I think this whole bit about him being
a sculptor is just a big put-on for my benefit," although Walter insisted
that he was a sculptor; she attempted to have him sculpt a piece
of his cheesecake, but he smashed it in her hand and refused to
be intimidated

The Converted Bohemian Beatnik: Walter
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Part-Time Blonde Model Alice (Judy Bamber)
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- after Alice's many insults, the dejected Walter
departed from everyone's company, but then hid in the shadows within
the outdoor phone booth and awaited her exit, and then he followed
her home; he confronted her at her apartment's front door where
he first apologized for being "nasty" to her; then he
explained that he would pay her to model for him: ("I decided
to make that female figure after all...I'd like you to pose for
it") - he wished to begin immediately and agreed to pay her rate of $25/hour
- they both walked over to Walter's apartment, where
Alice undressed as she complained about the lack of heat
in his place; totally nude, she sat in the middle of his apartment
in a chair facing him, as he kneaded a large bag of plaster on
a table; she commented on the small amount of clay for a full-scale
figure: "It doesn't look like very much clay," but he answered:
"Oh, it's enough"; he asked for her to put a scarf around her neck
before moving around behind her and strangling her with it
- the next morning, Maxwell and other beatniks were
in Carla's living room enjoying a healthy breakfast of organic
ingredients: ("Soy and wheat germ pancakes, organic guava nectar,
calcium lactate and tomato juice, and garbanzo omelettes sprinkled
with smoked yeast"); Walter arrived to unveil his newest
statue of Alice, who was displayed seated naked in a chair clutching
at a scarf around her neck; Carla reacted positively: "She's
beautiful";
Maxwell was so "deeply moved" that
he proposed hosting a party at The Yellow Door that evening in
Walter's honor; Walter was very moved when Carla gave him a
quick peck on the lips
- at the celebration, Walter was seated on a raised
stage in a large wooden chair, and costumed as a carnival fool
wearing a paper crown and a paper star on his coat's lapel; he
was being plied with alcohol by Carla, while holding a goblet in
his left hand and a rubber toilet plunger (resembling a scepter)
with his right hand; Carla denied Walter another kiss when he asked
for one: ("Walter, you're a letch!")
- Maxwell delivered an eloquent poem to the gathered
audience that he had composed to praise Walter and to offer his
homage - it was a lengthy cliche-ridden combination of words that
could be titled: "Walter Paisley is born":
- "Walter, the bird that flies now, pays later
through the nose of ambidextrous apathy. Necrophiles may dance
upon the place mats in an orgy of togetherness. The highway
of life cuts sharply through the shady ghettos and the ivy-covered
tombs. And laughter rings from every time capsule in
the star-spangled firmament. And in the deep freeze, it
is the children's hour. And no one knows that Duncan is
murdered. And no one knows that Walter Paisley is born.
Duncan knows. Tuesday's sunrise knows. Alley cats
and garbage cans and steaming pavements. And you and I and the
nude descending the staircase. and all such things with souls,
we know that Walter Paisley is born. Ring rubber bells.
Beat cotton gongs. Strike silken cymbals. Play
leathern flutes. The cats and cans and you and I and
all such things with souls, we shall hear Walter Paisley
is born. And the souls become flesh. Walter Paisley is born!"
- at the end of a drunken night of celebration and
praise, Leonard cautioned Walter about drinking in excess - he
was worried that he might "talk too much"; Naolia asked
about Walter's next project, and he answered:
- "I'm gonna make the most wonderful, wildest,
wiggiest things you've ever seen. I'm gonna make big statues
and little statues, tall statues and short statues. I'm gonna
make statues of nobodies and statues of famous people. Statues
of actors and poets. And people who sell things on television.
And a statue of the mayor. And some opera singers and
their intimate friends. And everybody will say, 'Walter,
let me shake your hand. It's been a real pleasure to have known you.'"
- as Walter staggered home in the glow of so much
acclaim, he began to become frightened and worried that his new-found
celebrity fame would soon dissipate, and he would revert back to
being an ignored busboy: ("What am I gonna do next? I gotta
do something before they forget. I know what it's like to be ignored");
he wandered into a lumber yard and a workshop where a carpenter
was using a large table buzz-saw to cut a plank of wood; the worker
thought Walter was crazed and "nuts" when he mumbled: "Life
is an obscure hobo, bumming a ride on the omnibus of art...What
is not creation is graham crackers. Let them all crumble to feed
the creator"; Walter suddenly grabbed and assaulted the man
with a choke-hold, and forced the man's neck toward the saw-blade;
the man's head was cleanly decapitated (off-screen)
- the next day, Walter carried a large cardboard box
to proudly bring his newest (4th) art sculpture (a bust of the
beheaded worker) to The Yellow Door; Leonard was shocked and retreated
backwards when he saw Walter's new creation - after he had simultaneously
heard a newspaper vendor hawking papers and calling out:
- "Extra! Extra! Horrible murder in furniture factory. Read about the man
who got cut in half. Extra! Extra! Police can only find part of him."
- to prevent Walter from any further murderous rampages
to obtain subjects for his sculpted art-work, Leonard suggested
that Walter had made enough statues: ("No more statues!")
and was now ready to exhibit his bizarre collection in an art-show;
the date of August 16th was selected on Carla's hand-written invitations
to showcase Walter's artwork at The Yellow Door
- as Walter privately escorted Carla to the show,
he nervously brought up the fact that she had kissed him, but she
deflected his inquiry by explaining that she only admired his work: "That
was for your sculpture of the girl. Your Nude in the Chair";
Walter expressed how they were both single, and that he was romantically
interested in her - and then he proposed marriage: "Carla,
l don't want to make statues anymore. I wanna get married to you";
Carla admitted that she liked Walter, but only as a friend: "Walter,
l do like you and I did kiss you, but that was because of your
work. There's more to being in love with someone than just that";
Walter was disheartened, depressed and hurt by her answer: "You
mean you don't love me?...But you gotta love me. Why do you
think I made that statue of Alice?"; he dejectedly added:
"I get it. I see the whole thing now.
Nobody knows that Walter Paisley is born"; he suggested one
final favor of her - that she pose for him later in the evening
as his latest statue-creation, and she agreed

Tickets to Walter's Artworks Exhibit of His Sculptures at The Yellow Door
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Walter's Awkward Proposal of Marriage to Carla
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- during the show exhibiting four of Walter's sculptures
(Dead Cat, Murdered Man, Strangled Girl, and the Bust of the Workman's
Head), an elite crowd mingled inside The Yellow Door; Maxwell
attempted to encourage the depressed and dejected Walter who was
sitting by himself; he had overheard art critics seriously
extolling his well-crafted and realistic statues that would bring
exorbitant sale prices of $25,000 dollars
- while closely examining the Strangled Girl's art-piece,
Carla inadvertently peeled back the fractured plaster on one finger
and saw the corpse's real human finger (and nail) underneath; as
she rushed to the front door, Walter confronted her and she haltingly
told him: "There's a body inside that statue!"; he smiled and calmly
replied that Maxwell had given him permission to mold them into
clay: "Oh, that's Alice. It's all right, Carla. Maxwell says it's
all right"; when she ordered him to stay away from her, he told
her: "Don't you see, Carla? I made them immortal. Don't you see?
I can do the same for you"; she ran from his presence and he followed,
pursuing her down the dark street
- two others (Sylvia and undercover cop Art Lacroix)
who examined the exhibits also discovered that the statues were
plaster-covered corpses; after learning Walter's art-secret, Art
and Maxwell chased after Carla and Walter, as Maxwell declared:
"Walter Paisley's a murderer!"; after running down alleyways, Carla
and Walter ended up in the same lumber-yard workshop where the
carpenter had been beheaded; haunted and tormented by his crazed
mind, Walter became frightened when he heard voices in his head
of two of his victims accusing him of murder - Detective Lou Raby
and Alice: "He can't hide just because we're in clay and he isn't"
- Walter abandoned his pursuit of Carla and followed
the ghostly orders to return home; with a gun in his hand, Art
chased after Walter who had by this time entered his apartment,
but the voices continued to worry him: "We'll
find him. We'll have him soon, Lou. We'll teach him he can't
murder us and get away with it, won't we?...What you gonna do now, Walter?"
- knowing that his fate was sealed and that he had
been found out, Walter vowed to himself: "I'll hide where
they'll never find me" - and picked up a large glob of clay
- upon the arrival of Art, Carla, Maxwell, Mrs. Swickert
and others inside Walter's apartment, they looked
up and gasped in shocked unison at the sight of the despairing Walter,
who was hanging from a noose and had clay dripping from his face
- it was his final art creation; Maxwell provided his epitaph:
"I suppose he would have called it Hanging Man. His greatest
work"

Walter Vowing to Himself: "I'll hide where they'll never find me"
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The Reaction of The Group Inside Walter's Apartment to His Suicidal Hanging
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Walter's Final Suicidal Sculpture
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Beatnik Poet on Stage: Maxwell H. Brock (Julian Burton)

Busboy Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) Serving and Waiting Tables in The Yellow
Door Coffeehouse During Maxwell Brock's Poetry Recitation
Two Vice-Squad Undercover Police Officers Amongst the Patrons in The Yellow
Door
Lou Raby (Burt Convy)
Art Lacroix (Ed Nelson)


Walter's Futile Attempt to Mold a Clay Bust of His Love-Interest
Carla


Walter Realizing He Had Stabbed Frankie to Death Inside His Wall

Walter Showing Off His Work of Art ('Dead Cat') to Carla

Leonard and Carla Praising Walter's 'Work of Art'

Walter Surrounded by Adoring Patrons Regarding His Cat Sculpture


Walter Praised by Naolia: "Oh Walter, you've done something to me!" -
She Handed Him a Vial of Heroin

Walter Catching Blood Dripping Down From Lou's Body Stashed in the Ceiling

Walter's Revelation to Create a 2nd Art Sculpture: Named "Murdered
Man"


Cat Fur Revealed to Leonard Under The Cracked Plaster of the "Dead
Cat"

Walter Describing to Leonard and Carla His Newest Art-Creation: "It's
a full-length, life-sized figure"

The Art Collector's Purchase of Walter's Cat-Sculpture from Leonard for
$500 Dollars


Walter Showing Off His New "Murdered Man" (2nd) Sculpture
to Carla and Leonard

Carla and Leonard Convincing Walter to Create a "Collection" For
a Large Art Show Event

Model Alice Posing Nude For Walter's 3rd Sculpture

Alice's Death by Strangulation With a Scarf

The Unveiling of Alice's Plaster Statue (3rd)

At The Yellow Door Party, the Drunken Walter Was Honored as a Carnival
Fool

Maxwell's Poem In Homage to Walter Paisley

Walter's Drunken Description of His Next Project

Walter's Lethal Attack Upon a Carpenter in a Workshop


Walter Showing Leonard His Newest (4th) Art Creation

Walter's Four Exhibited Statues at the Show


Carla's Stunned Discovery of a Real Finger Under the Plaster

Walter Telling Carla He Could Also Make Her "Immortal"
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