Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

My Take: Definitely one of my favorite musicals of all time.

The last few months of the year 2008 have not been good to me, but it has its ups and downs. The limelights? A reunion with an old favorite: None other than the 80's hit musical LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. I remember watching LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS as a kid, and I remembered loving it. I've been hunting to see this movie for quite sometime. Thankfully, it caught me in surprise on TV one time, then I went out seeing it again... and again on DVD, still being fresh each time. It's the best movie of its kind, even if I don't know exactly what kind of movie it is.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS combines two delightful concepts: A joyous, old-fashioned musical and a send-off of the campy, low-budget B-movies of the B&W era. In fact, which you all might know by now, this brilliant concept all started from one big joke, from Roger Corman no less. Corman produced the original LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS as a mere joke that he can make a film with a reused set from another movie and a limited shooting schedule of two days. The result was a film that was ignored in its initial release, but earned its cult following subsequent years later. One of this avid admirers is David Geffen, who has just come up with a brilliant idea: turn the film into a silly, bent Broadway musical. Strange, maybe if it wasn't so good. The musical was a surprise success, even loved by Mr. Corman himself. So it was inevitable for Geffen to take his brilliant idea one step further: turn it into a big-budget Hollywood production.

Originally attached to the project is Martin Scorcese and Steven Spielberg, doing the movie in a very modest budget. But the reigns eventually went to puppeteer Frank Oz (most remembered as the voice of Yoda), with the budget exceeding $30 million. Plus the film was also legendary for flushing out $2 million worth of special effects after the menacing original ending tested poorly (deemed too dark) on test audiences, with an improved Hollywood happy ending made to replace it. Still, despite the expenses and some of the criticism toward the film, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is still one of the best times I had in watching movies. The movie is a funhouse of endless entertainment packed with silly laughs, memorable musical numbers, tuneful songs, fine acting and outrageous special effects (even in this CG era, the Audrey II puppet created by Lyle Conway is still very convincing).

Rick Moranis stars as a down-on-his-luck slob Seymour Krelborn, who works in a bankrupt florist shop in the outcast district of Skid Row, where all the outcasts reside, including his bankrupt boss Mushnick (Vincent Gardenia) and battered beauty Audrey (Ellen Greene, reprising her off-off Broadway role). But when he finds a small, potted plant which he calls Audrey II, his life's about change. He becomes a great success, with the florist shop and boss right along with him. But there's a catch: Little Audrey II's hungry for blood, and he's growing... and growing... and growing. So how does Seymour feed a giant, singing man-eating vegetable? Nothing big, just chopping-up and killing people! LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is quite like the "Springtime for Hitler" scene from Mel Brook's THE PRODUCERS. It's a little sick and dark on one hand, with a concept that's totally beyond its league, but in the end, it's fun, funny and peppered with inspired moments that never fails to make you smile in every frame. What are you waiting for? Feed yourself with

Fmovies: I am usually not a big fan of musicals turned into film (except in the case of films like "Fame" or Busby Berkeley films), but "Little Shop of Horrors" surprised me. I rushed right out and bought the soundtrack! The music is excellent, very tongue-in-cheek, great lyrics, music reminiscent of the 50s (the female chorus members are named after girl groups: Crystal, Ronette, Chiffon), and just fun to listen to.

The ensemble cast is one of the best in recent history. Everybody in the film acts in a role tailor-made for them! Rick Moranis as a geek, Ellen Greene as a bubbly blonde, Steve Martin as a cool biker dentist, Bill Murray as a giggling masochist, Vincent Gardenia as a slob flower shop owner, etc.

Fans of the original Corman film will be deeply disappointed. Gone is all and any dark humor from that film. I deeply miss the scene where Seymour considers getting a hooker to feed to Audrey II (Seymour: "You're too bony?" Hooker: "Bony? [exposes torso] What do you think this is? Chopped liver?")! But all that is missing is replaced by fun musical numbers, sleazy sets, and a much better Audrey II plant. The musical version ended with Audrey being eaten and Seymour sacrificing himself to the plant, but the movie's ending is made to be happier...sort of...

Recommended for everyone, even those who aren't fans of musicals!

Delightful film version of the Off Broadway triumph based on the Roger Corman black comedy, carried off beautifully here by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's memorable tunes.

Little Shop of Horrors fmovies. I have known this film since I could crawl. And it was very cool when I was in it at my high school. Ah, memories. *sniff*, oh sorry! The musical is a lot of fun to watch. It is a little cheesy on some levels. But you'll enjoy it somewhat.

Rick Moranis is a wonderful actor. I really enjoyed him as Seymor. The rest of the cast delivers a great musical. Steve Martin is one of the best characters in "Litle Shop". And as well as the extremely talented John Candy.*hint* :D

I would recommend this for a fun time. But I am still curious about the original ending.

7/10

It IS a musical! This film has great music and dance tunes throughout! Rick Moranis is spot-on as the nerd who falls for the beautiful woman (who, of course, basically dismisses him). Along the way, he acquires a flesh-eating plant that loves people - the wrong way. The plant (Audrey 2 after Audrey, the love interest) also sings wonderfully and it makes for a great time! This one's a classic for sure!

"Little Shop of Horrors" is so amazingly special and unique, that viewing it almost transports you to another world. It's quite possibly the best film representation of a stage musical ever made--the sets are perfect, the casting is perfect, the music is perfect, and everything else about the film is perfect. Rick Moranis, Vincent Gardenia, and Steve Martin are all wonderful as Seymour Krelborn, Mushnik, and Orin Scrivello, DDS. However, my favorite performance in this film is that of Ellen Greene (who reprises her part from Broadway). The role of Audrey, Seymour's bubbly, sexy yet innocent co-worker with low self-esteem was made for her. I heard that the role was first offered to Barbara Striesand (who declined), and I am SO glad Ellen ended up getting it! Maybe the reason why some people, though very few, don't care for this movie is that there has never really been another film (that I'm aware of) even remotely like it. I just hope one day this film gets re-released into theaters!