The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Director:

Roger Corman
(more)

Writer:

Charles B. Griffith (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

5 August 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

The flowers that kill in the Spring TRA-LA

Plot:

A clumsy young man nurtures a plant and discovers that it's a bloodthirsty plant, forcing him to kill to feed it.

Plot Keywords:

Plant | Carnivorous Plant | Black Comedy | Flower | Stabbed In The Chest

Cast

Jonathan Haze	...	Seymour Krelboyne
Jackie Joseph	...	Audrey Fulquard
Mel Welles	...	Gravis Mushnick
Dick Miller	...	Burson Fouch
Myrtle Vail	...	Winifred Krelboyne
Karyn Kupcinet	...	Shirley (as Tammy Windsor)
Toby Michaels	...	Shirley's Friend
Leola Wendorff	...	Mrs. Siddie Shiva
Lynn Storey	...	Mrs. Hortense Fishtwanger - Society of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California
Wally Campo	...	Det. Sgt .Joe Fink / Narrator
Jack Warford	...	Det. Frank Stoolie
Meri Welles	...	Leonora Clyde (as Merri Welles)
John Herman Shaner	...	Dr. Phoebus Farb (as John Shaner)
Jack Nicholson	...	Wilbur Force
Dodie Drake	...	Waitress
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Coogan	...	Tramp (uncredited)
Jack Griffin	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Charles B. Griffith	...	Kloy Haddock - hold-up man / Screaming Patient / Audrey Junior (uncredited) (voice)

Directed by
Roger Corman
Charles B. Griffith		(uncredited)
Mel Welles		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Charles B. Griffith		(screenplay)
Roger Corman		(co-writer) uncredited

Produced by
Roger Corman	....	producer

Original Music by
Fred Katz
Ronald Stein		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Archie R. Dalzell		(photographer) (as Archie Dalzell)
Vilis Lapenieks		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Marshall Neilan Jr.

Art Direction by
Daniel Haller

Makeup Department
Harry Thomas	....	makeup

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Dixon	....	assistant director
Charles B. Griffith	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Karl Brainard	....	property master (as Carl Brainard)

Sound Department
Philip Mitchell	....	sound recordist (as Phillip Mitchell)

Production Companies

• Filmgroup, The (presents)
• Santa Clara Productions (as Santa Clara Productions, Inc.)

Distributors

• Filmgroup, The (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1960) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Home Theatre (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Hollywood Classics (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1993) (1998) (Finland) (TV)
• Alpha Video Distributors (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Westlake Entertainment Group (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Master Movies (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Take 2 Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1998) (Finland) (TV) (TV2)
• Platinum Disc (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Master Movies (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• United American Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Galam Americas (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• SlingShot Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• SubTV (2002) (Finland) (TV)
• Brentwood Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• SlingShot Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Ventura Distribution (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Weton Wesgram (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Genius Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Legend Films (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Future Film (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Pan Vision Oy (2007) (Finland) (DVD) (colorized)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Legend Films (2008) (USA) (DVD) (restored edition)
• Warner Bros. (1991) (USA) (theatrical) (A Warner Communications Company)
• Allied Artists Television (????) (USA) (TV)
• Another World Entertainment (2007) (Denmark) (DVD)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LaserDisc (????) (Japan) (video)
• Legend Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• MediaOutlet.com (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Mistar (????) (Finland) (video)
• Mystic Studios Productions (2013) (USA) (all media)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Synergy Entertainment (2007) (worldwide) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• TriPictures (????) (Spain) (VHS) (colorized)
• VTI Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Vestron Video International (????) (Finland) (video)
• Vestron Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Ryder Sound Services  acknowledgement
• Legend Films  colorization: 2006
• Legend Films  restoration: 2006

Also Known As:

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) (1999) (2003) (2004) (2005) (2008) (2009) | USA:Unrated | Finland:S (1998) | UK:A (original rating: theatrical rating) (1973) | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) (2007) | Ireland:PG | Canada:PG (TV rating) | UK:PG (video rating: re-edited) (2009) | UK:PG (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Bunker Hill, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Filmgroup, The

Trivia:

The manager of Producer's Studio informed Roger Corman that a large office set had been constructed for a production that was about to wrap. Corman arranged to use the standing set, redressed, as the main set of this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Frank walks into Detective Fink's office, sits down and lights a cigarette. The cigarette remains in his mouth until a close-up shot, where it is missing. When the wide shot is resumed, the cigarette is back again.

Quotes:

Seymour Krelboin:Did you call me, Mr. Mushnick?
Gravis Mushnik:No, I was calling John D. Rockefeller for to make a loan on my Rolls Royce!
Seymour Krelboin:Sorry I said it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Thriller Night (2011)

Soundtrack:

I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls

Charming little movie!

This charming little B-movie tells the story of Seymour (Jonathon Haze), a good hearted yet rather slow boy, who works at a flower shop owned by Gravis Mushnick (Mel Welles). During his spare time Seymour develops a new type of plant, which he names Audrey Junior after a woman he likes (Jackie Joseph). Unfortunately this particular plant feeds off human blood and when Seymour can no longer feed it on his blood, the plant itself forces him to look elsewhere for food.

This delightful horror-comedy was remarkably shot in just two days and was originally intended as a sequel to director Roger Corman's ‘Bucket of Blood' (1959). However, ‘The Little Shop of Horrors' stands out in its own right as a charming and inventive low-budget horror movie. Throughout the movie we meet a whole variety of weird and wonderful characters including a man who eats plants (played by Dick Miller who would also work with Jackie Joseph in ‘Gremlins' (1984)), a sadistic dentist, a masochistic dental patient (an early performance from Jack Nicholson) and a woman who can't go a day without a family member passing on. Despite (or maybe because) of the overall absurdity of the movie, ‘The Little Shop of Horrors' manages to be strangely captivating yet portray an air of darkness in the right places.

Roger Corman directed this movie very well considering his resources and complimented the fairly tight screenplay written by Charles Griffith. The special effects were not of that high a standard but, considering the budget and shooting time one, can hardly have anything negative to say about that. The appearance of the plant as it grows throughout the movie may not be that great but overall it takes nothing away from the viewers enjoyment. Perhaps a little bit more could have been done to represent the plants movement more realistically but, even so, this is just a minor flaw of an otherwise great film. The performance from the three main stars was delightful. Though the acting was hammed up in places the movie never lost its comical charm and some slightly dramatic performances towards the end helped create an unsuspected eeriness in the dying moments.

Surprisingly ‘The Little Shop of Horrors' was virtually ignored on its initial release but eventually attained a cult status due to continuous TV play. For those of you who doubt its classic status ‘The Little Shop of Horrors' has now spawned a Broadway musical, a high-budget musical remake and even a Saturday morning children's TV programme. Short (around 68mins) but very entertaining, I recommend this to fans of quirky horror comedies and general horror fans alike! The movie features good direction, a well written story, interesting and likeable characters and some excellent one-liners. My rating for ‘The Little Shop of Horrors' 8/10.