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:

Don't feed the plants.

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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 filmmakers originally offered the role of Audrey to Cyndi Lauper, before casting original stage star Ellen Greene. Madonna was also reportedly considered for the role.

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Goofs

During "Skid Row" when Seymour walks down the alley to the gate and homeless people crawl it up and sing, there is a black man in a black beret, who, a few seconds later, when Seymour turns and runs out of the alley, is standing on the sidewalk with a bottle in a paper bag.

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Quotes

Mr. Mushnik: [to Seymour] You love her madly, don't you, schmuck?

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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 Muppets Tonight: Episode #2.2 (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Skid Row (Downtown)"
Written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken
Arranged and Adapted by Bob Gaudio and Robby Merkin
Produced by Bob Gaudio
Performed by Michelle Weeks, Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell-Martin,
Ellen Greene and Rick Moranis with Donny Gerrard

User Reviews

Not as great as the original Corman version, but original in its own way

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!