The Census Taker

The Census Taker
theatrical poster
Directed by	Bruce R. Cook
Produced by	Robert Bealmer
Written by	Bruce R. Cook William Kerwin W. Gordon Smith
Starring	Greg Mullavey Meredith MacRae Garrett Morris Timothy Bottoms
Music by	Jay Seagrave The Residents
Cinematography	Tom Jewett
Edited by	Bruce R. Cook
Production company	Argentum Productions
Distributed by	Seymour Borde & Associates (1984) (USA) (theatrical) Trans World Entertainment (1989) (USA) (VHS)
Release date	July 1984
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Census Taker is a 1984 black comedy directed by Bruce R. Cook. It stars Greg Mullavey, Meredith MacRae, Timothy Bottoms, and Garrett Morris. The film was The Residents' first film soundtrack commission when their participation was suggested by Penn Jillette to Cook. It was released by Trans World Entertainment on VHS in 1988 under the title Husbands, Wives, Money & Murder.

When George (Greg Mullavey) and Martha (Meredith MacRae) let Harvey (Garrett Morris), an annoying census taker, into their home, they find themselves under a barrage of increasingly abusive questions. Furious at his intrusiveness, and at their wit's end, they kill the census taker and with the help of their friends Pete (Timothy Bottoms) and Eva (Austen Tayler), must hide the body from a determined investigator.