Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

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Directed by Frank Oz.

Starring Vincent Gardenia, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Levi Stubbs.

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It started as a 1960 Roger Corman horror comedy, filmed in two days; it then inspired a lavish 1982 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Finally in 1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1960) graduated into a multimillion-dollar, all-star film musical. Rick Moranis plays nebbishy Seymour Krelborn, who works in a rundown flower shop on Skid Row. While his boss (Vincent Gardenia) bemoans the lack of business, Seymour seeks a way of bringing the shop -- and himself -- fame and fortune. He purchases a strange plant from an even stranger oriental street vendor (Vincent Wong), naming the plant after his girlfriend Audrey (Ellen Greene, one of the few carry-overs from the Broadway version). Gradually, Seymour learns to his horror that "Audrey II" (given the voice of R&B performer Levi Stubbs) craves blood and flesh. With each of Audrey II's "FEEED MEEE"s, Seymour must scare up human food to satisfy the plant's appetite. One such victim is dentist Steve Martin, a leather-jacketed Elvis type (the dentist's ultra-masochistic patient played by Jack Nicholson in the 1960 original is here impersonated by Bill Murray). The lighthearted tone of the film darkens as Audrey II grows in monstrosity, but the unhappy ending of the Broadway version is avoided herein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Never Listen to Friends...
by minjoe in minjoe Blog

liked it.

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"...my friends tried to convince me that seeing The Ruins would be a good idea. Obviously, I disagreed with a passion and pointed out to my my friends that they may very well be considered "stupid" for wanting to see this film. As it turns out, I was correct.The Ruins follows the tale of 4 American tourists (and a random German) on their quest to find a Mayan temple to explore. However, that would be far too easy and not mysterious at all. Thus, a random German man stumbles upon the young Americans lounging around the pool, casually explains that his brother (and his lady friend) went to excavate a ruin not on the map (A two-person excavation? Really?), and he thinks they should all go check it out because he's a day late coming back so he "must be having a really wild time.". . . . . .Once stumbling upon the temple things begin unravelling rather quickly--mainly because this movie has to scratch and claw its way to that honorable 90 minute mark. The dea ... " [More]

This is between me...and the ve ...
by Go-Ape in Go-Ape Blog

loved it.

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"I have been thinking on this for about 2 or 3 days now I have come to the conclusion that this will be the one and only time that I will ever say that a remake is better than the original. Remakes are awful, don't get me wrong. I hate remakes, which is why I don't like having to admit that this is actually better. I love this film, I watch it as often as I can and I have even shoved it on at work to show people what a good film looks like (they keep renting Epic Movie and Number 23). This film has me in stitches every time and I love the soudtrack. The songs are amazing. The cast is so well picked as well, Steve Martin is at one of his funniest roles as Orin Scrivello. He seems to thrive almost too well as a masochistic dentist with a song that will have you gasping for breath through your laughter, although not of course, if you are a dentist. In which case, you may well find it a little offensive. For me however, Bill Murray steals the show with the scene in whic ... " [More]

"Feed ME!"
by AlienLazer in AlienLazer Blog

loved it.

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"Oh! Oh, I want one! Me likey... I'd totally feed him my mother... and father... and like half the people I know. >^_^< " [More]

reminds me of little shop of ho ...
by lukasblu in lukasblu Blog

liked it.

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"this reminds me of a foreign,non-musical and more grim version of little shop of horrors; Quite unique, and very creative (visually) foreign fairy tale; Interesting tale that provides the solution on a fairy tale bookAlso reminds of Pan's Labyrinth scene where the young girl gets that piece of bark/wood thing and soaks in a bowl of milk and puts in under the bed;Eventually the bark begins to live and gets better(like her mom);the bark starts moving and becomes animated until it unfortunate demise,later on ,as the bark gets discoverd under the bed;This movie stars out as a narration of a fairy tale(fairy tale from a book)with a much more tragic and emotional human story compared to little otik grimly funny twisted tale of an ending " [More]

A Plant with a Plan...!
by bishopx3g in bishopx3g Blog

loved it.

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"One of my personal favorites! I love this movie! Funny to the teeth (pun intended) and packed with a lot of up and coming talent that was fairly new at that time. The comedic timing in this musical was on the mark. Steve Martin as a loony, crazed dentist was one of the many high points. And though most musicals become redundant and just plain start to get on my nerves, the songs in this movie just keep the laughs flowing. " [More]

Re: How About your Favorite FUN ...
by LateNighter in HORROR MOVIES 101

liked it.

"What about the category of funny scary musicals? (It's a small category, I admit! LOL!) I loved the musical version of Little Shop of Horrors...Steve Martin as the sadistic dentist was perfection. " [More]

An All-Star Let Down
by pippin06 in Reel Thoughts

is neutral about it.

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"I know it's 20 years old, but I rented Little Shop because I'm going to be co-directing it at an area high school, and I wanted to get some ideas. I had never seen this movie version all the way through, so I thought, what the hell? I'll give it a look. I'm not going to talk much about it in my usual critical terms other than to say what I liked and disliked. If you don't know the musical or the movie, essentially nerdy flower shop employee Seymour (Rick Moranis) buys a strange plant from a Chinese dealer after an eclipse. He then uses this plant to attract business to the failing store: except there's one small problem. The plant, named Audrey II after the sweet but vacant Audrey, Seymour's co-worker and pine-for love interest, is only interested in eating human flesh and blood. The plant promises Seymour big things if he can deliver supper, so Seymour gives into this temptation. The Broadway play is quirky all by itself really, but this film version takes the quirkyness to ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

This very entertaining film may be the only movie musical to contain an Elvis-inspired number that celebrates a dentist's sadism. This song, shocking, funny, and very catchy, neatly summarizes the charms of this simultaneously light and dark movie musical. The major share of the film's success belongs to lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken. Their songs straddle the line between joy and satire. Musically they invoke recognizable styles ('50s doo-wop, saccharine Broadway love song), but the pointed, comical lyrics constantly collide with the music's sensibilities and the contrast produces continuously entertaining results. Director Frank Oz, arguably the finest puppeteer of his generation, does a spectacular job bringing the gigantic Audrey II to life. Former Four Tops singer Levi Stubbs gives a superb vocal performance as the cannibalistic plant. The rest of the case finds the absolute right level of outrageousness to match the cartoonish art direction. Steve Martin, playing the sadistic dentist, and Bill Murray, a masochistic patient, have a comedic scene that matches the songs for perversity and hilariousness. Ashman and Menken would go on to even greater success, penning the songs in Disney's The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

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