About
Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Levi Stubbs, Steve Martin, Vincent Gardenia
Director: Frank Oz
“A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.”(IMDb)
»Currently streaming on HBO MAX«
What to Expect
Mean Green Mother from Outer Space
Dentist!
Suddenly, Seymour
Why You Should Watch It
I’m not gonna lie, musicals are some of my favorite movies out there, so I may be a little biased when I recommend this. But I recommend it because it’s a classic. Originally spawned as a black comedy in 1960, it (eventually) found its way onto Broadway with music by Alan Menken—whom you may know as the composer of some of the most beloved Disney songs of all time. The 1986 film is an adaptation of that play with Menken’s music. Add in everyone’s favorite awkward 80s actor Rick Moranis, a healthy dose of Lovecraftian lore, and a splash of camp and you have a hit. A reboot of Little Shop of Horrors is also currently in pre-production, so if nothing else, watch this movie so you can compare it to the latest remake.
Must See! (A)
The Spoilers
The plot is pretty explicitly laid out for the audience by the film’s end, so here’s some fun tidbits instead.
From the start, it’s clear the film set was intentionally designed to look like a stage set, with the most obvious tell during the song “Suddenly, Seymour,” where Seymour (Moranis) and Audrey (Greene) sing to each other in front of a painting of a sun. While this may have partly been paying homage to the off-Broadway musical, Oz claimed that shooting on location would not have given the film the same fantastical mood. The atmosphere of the movie is carried over in Audrey II (voiced by Stubbs), who was operated as a puppet with no blue screen enhancements. The only special effect the creators had to employ to make the puppet talk convincingly was to film its lines in slow motion, and have any actors interacting with the puppet lip sync their lines and act in slow motion as well. The voices had to be added in during post-production.
The film’s (and musical’s) 1960s setting and doo-wop inspired score could be seen as another homage to the original movie, and it’s fun to see Menken’s appreciation for the Greek chorus in the trio of girls who are both observers (when they’re choral singers) and participants (when they interact with the other characters as residents of Skid Row). It feels like Menken is paying tribute to these girls when the Greek chorus shows up as five Muses in Disney’s Hercules 11 years later.
A 23-year-old Jack Nicholson played the masochistic dental patient in the 1960 film, while Moranis’ Ghostbusters costar Bill Murray cameoed the same role in the 1986 version.
The 1986 movie had another ending that more closely aligned with the off-Broadway musical. The 23-minute cut had Audrey and Seymour die, with the extraterrestrial plants taking over the world shortly before Audrey II bursts through the screen and into your nightmares. Multiple test screenings gave the finale such a low rating the film was in danger of never being released, so the ending was scrapped for a much happier one. A director’s cut was screened at the New York Film Festival in 2012 with the original ending restored. According to Oz, the apocalyptic finale was accepted with applause and roars.