Julian Burton is reported to have actually written the entire 'Life is a bum' poem himself, taking care to make the poem imitate- and yet parody- 'beatnik' art at the same time.
At the time of its original release there was a promotion in the newspaper's movie section advertisements that made the offer, "If You Bring In A Bucket Of Blood To Your Local Theater's Management (Or Ticket Booth), You Will Be Given One Free Admission."
Director Roger Corman and writer Charles B. Griffith went to coffeehouses on the Sunset Strip to do 'research' for the beatnik characters they would create for this film.
Finnish censorship visa # 104366 delivered on 21-5-2002 (DVD).
In 2009 a musical production of 'Bucket of Blood' was produced by Chicago's Annoyance Theatre.
Maxwell's line, "And no one knows that Duncan is murdered and no one knows that Walter Paisley is born ...", is most likely a reference to the death of King Duncan in "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare.
Reportedly star Dick Miller was unhappy with the impact of the low budget on the film. Miller felt the film had terrific potential to be a classic and liked the script and performances, but felt the lack of funding weakened some of the films best moments. In particular Miller cited the conclusion of the film saying that it suffered due to little time or money for makeup effects.
The entire film was shot in five days.
The films origin came about when American International Pictures approached Roger Corman to direct a horror film for them but only alloted a small budget and an extremely limited schedule. Corman took the challenge, but wasn't interested in directing a traditional horror film, so he and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith came up with the concept of creating a black comedy instead.
The films original poster art was a series of comic strips that hinted at the macabre story of the film.
The guitar player (and singer) at the night club is Alex Hassilev, who was soon to form the popular folk trio The Limeliters with Louis Gottlieb and Glenn Yarbrough.
The line about how "artist" Walter Paisley "knows his anatomy" is apparently a nod to the similar themed House of Wax which used the same line about Vincent Price's character. Of course, a year later, Vincent Price became Roger Corman's favorite star.
The sets for this film would be re-used for Roger Corman's next production The Little Shop of Horrors.
The working title of the film was 'The Living Dead'.
Though Dick Miller is a recognizable veteran actor whose appeared in well over one hundred films, 'A Bucket of Blood' remains Miller's only starring role.
When preview audiences saw Maxwell arrive in a tuxedo and sandals, it caused them to chuckle because it seemed so appropriate to the character...however, it was actually because Julian Burton had swollen feet due to wearing the sandals constantly and had no choice.