Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

A nerdish florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.

Director:

Frank Oz

Writers:

Howard Ashman (screenplay), Howard Ashman (musical play "Little Shop of Horrors"),

Stars:

Levi Stubbs, Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Levi Stubbs	...	Audrey II (voice)
Rick Moranis	...	Seymour Krelborn
Ellen Greene	...	Audrey
Vincent Gardenia	...	Mushnik
Steve Martin	...	Orin Scrivello - D.D.S.
Tichina Arnold	...	Crystal
Michelle Weeks	...	Ronette
Tisha Campbell-Martin	...	Chiffon (as Tisha Campbell)
James Belushi	...	Patrick Martin
John Candy	...	Wink Wilkinson
Christopher Guest	...	The First Customer
Bill Murray	...	Arthur Denton
Stan Jones	...	Narrator (voice) (as Stanley Jones)
Bertice Reading	...	'Downtown' Old Woman
Ed Wiley	...	'Downtown' Bum #1

Storyline

Seymour Krelborn is a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's, a flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a crush on fellow co-worker Audrey Fulquard, and is berated by Mr. Mushnik daily. One day as Seymour is seeking a new mysterious plant, he finds a very mysterious unidentified plant which he calls Audrey II. The plant seems to have a craving for blood and soon begins to sing for his supper. Soon enough, Seymour feeds Audrey's sadistic dentist boyfriend to the plant and later, Mushnik for witnessing the death of Audrey's ex. Will Audrey II take over the world or will Seymour and Audrey defeat it?

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Plot Keywords:

plant | shop | florist | orphan | eclipse | 

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Taglines:

A Singing Plant. A Daring Hero. A Sweet Girl. A Demented Dentist.

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including comic horror violence, substance abuse, language and sex references

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 December 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

La petite boutique des horreurs

Filming Locations:

Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$38,747,385 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Geffen Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 102 min (original)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original production of "Little Shop of Horrors" premiered off-off-Broadway at the WPA Theater on May 6, 1982, before transferring off-Broadway to the the Orpheum Theatre, where it ran between July 27, 1982 and November 1, 1987 for a total of 2,209 performances. The musical made it's Broadway debut 11 years later at the Virginia Theater, where it ran between October 2, 2003 and August 22, 2004, totaling 372 performances.

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Goofs

In one shot during the "Downtown" sequence, Audrey is obviously stepping off from a standing position on cue, although she's supposed to be continuing a walk down the sidewalk.

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Quotes

Audrey: [of Orin's disappearance] It wouldn't be terrible at all. It would be a miracle, not to mention the money I'd save on epsom salts and ace bandages.

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Crazy Credits

"Special Thanks" are given to Paul Dooley, because his scenes as Patrick Martin were cut and re-cast with James Belushi. Dooley's scenes are restored for the Director's cut, and consequently Belushi gets the "Special Thanks" instead.

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Connections

Referenced in My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Somewhere That's Green"
Written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken
Arranged and Adapted by Bob Gaudio and Robby Merkin
Produced by Bob Gaudio
Performed by Ellen Greene

User Reviews

A Wacky and "Out There" Musical that's a lot of Fun...

The 1986 film version of the Broadway musical LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is an entertaining movie based on the black comedy from the 1960's about a nerdy milquetoast who raises a man-eating plant that gets totally out of control. Rick Moranis is perfection as Seymour, the nebbish who is at a loss at what to do when his own Frankenstein grows too big for him to control and Ellen Greene (reprising her role in the original musical) is delightful as Audrey, the object of Seymour's affections. Moranis and Greene make one of the most engaging screen teams I've seen in a while. Vincent Gardenia plays the greedy flower shop owner, Mr. Mushnik and Bill Murray is hysterically funny in one scene as Arthur Denton, a man who seems to enjoy going to the dentist a little too much. Tischina Arnold, Tisha Campbell, and Michelle Weeks are awesome as the Greek Chorus known as "The Urchins" and Steve Martin practically steals the movie as "Orin Scrivello, DDS". His song "Be a Dentist" is hysterically funny. The voice of the plant, Audrey II, is provided by Levar Stubbs of The Four Tops and he is superb. A fun musical comedy that the whole family can enjoy.