Little Shop of Horrors (film)

This article is about the 1986 film. For the 1960 film, see The Little Shop of Horrors.

Little Shop of Horrors
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Frank Oz
Produced by	David Geffen
Written by	Howard Ashman
Based on	Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman Alan Menken
Narrated by	Stanley Jones
Starring	Rick Moranis Ellen Greene Vincent Gardenia Steve Martin Levi Stubbs
Music by	Miles Goodman Songs: Alan Menken
Cinematography	Robert Paynter
Editing by	John Jympson
Studio	The Geffen Company
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	December 19, 1986 (1986-12-19)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$38,748,395

Little Shop of Horrors is a 1986 American comedy musical film adaptation of the off-Broadway musical comedy of the same name by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a nerdy florist shop worker who raises a vicious plant that feeds on human blood. Menken and Ashman's off-Broadway musical was based on the low-budget 1960 film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman.

The film was directed by Frank Oz, and stars Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, and the voice of Levi Stubbs as the plant. Ashman wrote the film's screenplay, his first and only one before his death in 1991.

Little Shop of Horrors was filmed on the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage at the Pinewood Studios in England, where a "downtown" set, complete with overhead train track, was constructed. The film was produced on a budget of $30 million, in contrast to the original 1960 film, which, according to Corman, only cost $30,000.^[1] The film's original 23-minute ending, based on the musical's ending, was rewritten and reshot after receiving negative reviews from test audiences and has never been seen since besides black-and-white workprint footage.

Plot

In September 1960, Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), a nerdy young assistant in a New York City florist shop, is trying to store pots but breaks them by accident. Seymour and Audrey Fulquard (Ellen Greene), his co-worker, with all the other tenants of their skid row area complain of their surroundings ("Skid Row (Downtown)"). The day of an unexpected total eclipse, Seymour discovers a mysterious new plant ("Da-Doo"), which resembles a Venus Flytrap. He names the plant "Audrey II" in honor of Audrey, on whom he has a secret crush. However, when the shop closes for the day, Seymour discovers that Audrey II is wilting from lack of food. It refuses to eat anything normal plants would feed on, such as soil, water and sunlight. Seymour accidentally pricks his finger on a rose thorn, and discovers that Audrey II has an appetite for human blood ("Grow for Me").

As the plant thrives, business booms at Mr. Mushnik's (Vincent Gardenia) previously failing flower shop ("Some Fun Now"). Seymour becomes a local celebrity, but he is very weak because Audrey II needs increasingly more of his blood every day. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Audrey has feelings for Seymour. She dreams of one day marrying him and fantasizes about moving to a tract house complete with plastic-coated furniture, a "big, enormous" twelve inch television screen, and raising two children with Seymour ("Somewhere That's Green"). Seymour tries to ask Audrey out, but she has a date with her dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello (Steve Martin), who is revealed to be a sadist and abusive ("Dentist!").

Eventually, the now-huge Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops) begins to talk to Seymour, demanding more blood than Seymour can give, while offering more fame and fortune in return ("Feed Me (Git It)"). Audrey II convinces Seymour to kill Orin after Seymour becomes enraged watching him abuse Audrey. Seymour books an appointment with Orin and arms himself with a revolver, although he cannot bring himself to use it. However, Orin, disappointed with his previous masochistic patient Arthur Denton (Bill Murray), decides to amuse himself by huffing nitrous oxide. His gas mask malfunctions. While begging Seymour to help him, Seymour stands idly by. After asking Seymour "What did I ever do to You?" Seymour replys "Nothing, its what you did to her." Orin asks "Her who?...Oh, her." and dies from asphyxiation.

Seymour drags Orin's body back to the flower shop where he uses an axe to chop it up for Audrey II (per its demands). Mushnik passes by the flower shop and witnesses Seymour's actions, fleeing in fear without being noticed. Seymour feeds the body parts to the plant and it continues to grow larger as the film progresses. After a sleepless night, Seymour discovers two policemen questioning Audrey about Orin's disappearance. She says that she feels guilty about Orin's death, even though she did not cause it, because she always secretly wished that he would disappear. Seymour tells Audrey that she is beautiful and should not have such low self-esteem. They admit their feelings for each other and kiss passionately ("Suddenly, Seymour").

That night, Mushnik confronts Seymour and accuses him of being an axe-murderer. Seymour confesses, "It's true, I chopped him up, but I didn't kill him!". As Mushnik prepares to hand him over to the police, Audrey II yearns for Seymour to lead Mushnik close to him in order to get him out of the way ("Suppertime"). Before leaving the store, Mushnik suddenly decides to bargain with Seymour, offering Seymour "a one way bus ticket out of town" If he allows Mushnik to take care of the plant. Seymour gives Mushnik fake instructions to feed it minerals and water on Thursday while Audrey II sneaks up behind him and he is swallowed whole by the carnivorous plant.

Seymour's fortune continues to grow and he becomes a media star ("The Meek Shall Inherit"), but he is very worried about Audrey II's growth and insatiable appetite. He is also afraid that Audrey will only love him if he continues to be famous. He decides to get out of town and marry Audrey, leaving the plant to starve. Audrey II catches him leaving and demands another meal; Seymour agrees, but insists on ground chuck from the local butcher.

When Seymour briefly leaves the shop to get the meat, Audrey II decides to put an end to the distraction Audrey has become to his plans. He telephones Audrey and coaxes her to come over, then tries to eat her ("Suppertime (reprise)"). Seymour returns and saves her just in time, and tries to explain to her what happened. When he mentions that he thought she liked him because of the plant and his fame, Audrey reveals that she liked him the day she started working at the flower shop ("Suddenly, Seymour (reprise)").

As they share this moment together, they are interrupted by a salesman named Patrick Martin (James Belushi) from World Botanical Enterprises who offers to breed Audrey II and make a fortune by selling the plant to families around the world. Seymour, shocked, realizes that Audrey II planned for this all along, and that it is planning for world domination.

Seymour confronts and fights the gigantic plant, which by now has little offspring buds in tow with the faces of Audrey II's victims. Audrey II bursts out of its pot and reveals to Seymour that it is an alien from outer space ("Mean Green Mother from Outer Space"). After a brawl with Seymour that wrecks the entire shop, Audrey II manages to latch onto the store's support beams and completely yank the shop to pieces, seemingly killing Seymour in the process. However, Seymour's arm bursts through the rubble and he grabs a broken exposed electrical wire, using it to electrocute the massive plant and its buds, blowing them all up.

Seymour, having miraculously survived the collapse and the explosion, is safely together again with Audrey at last. They wed and move to the suburbs that Audrey dreamed of; however, just before the end credits start to roll, there appears a new, smiling Audrey II bud in their front yard.

Cast

• Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborn, the initially good-hearted protagonist; a nerdy florist who loves "strange and interesting" plants.
• Ellen Greene as Audrey Fulquard, a sweet, quiet, ditsy and insecure coworker; the object of Seymour's affections, but dating the sadistic Orin Scrivello.
• Vincent Gardenia as Mr. Mushnik, the grouchy, penny-pinching owner of Mushnik's Flower Shop.
• Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello, DDS, an abusive and sadistic dentist, and Audrey's boyfriend.
• Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II, an evil and profane flytrap-like extraterrestrial plant with plans to take over the world. Audrey II serves as the primary antagonist of the film.
• Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Campbell as Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon, the three dropout school-girls who act as the chorus throughout the film.
• James Belushi as Patrick Martin, a Licensing and Marketing executive from World Botanical Enterprises who offers Seymour a proposal to sell Audrey IIs worldwide. (The role was played by Paul Dooley in the unused original ending; Dooley still receives screen credit in the Special Thanks section).
• John Candy as Wink Wilkinson, the WSKID DJ who enjoys putting on a radio show about "weird stuff" called, "Wink Wilkinson's Weird World".
• Christopher Guest as The First Customer, the first customer to enter the flower shop and notice Audrey II.
• Bill Murray as Arthur Denton, a masochistic man who goes to Orin for pain.
• Stanley Jones as the Narrator, whose voice is heard reading the opening words.
• Miriam Margolyes as Dental Nurse, Orin's sarcastic nurse/secretary that Orin appears to enjoy harming frequently.

Musical numbers

1. "Prologue: Little Shop of Horrors" – Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
2. "Skid Row (Downtown)" – Seymour, Audrey, Mushnik, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal, Company
3. "Da-Doo" – Seymour, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
4. "Grow for Me" – Seymour, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal (off-screen)
5. "Somewhere That's Green" – Audrey
6. "Some Fun Now" – Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
7. "Dentist!" – Orin, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
8. "Feed Me (Git It)" – Audrey II, Seymour
9. "Suddenly, Seymour" – Seymour, Audrey, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
10. "Suppertime" – Audrey II, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal
11. "The Meek Shall Inherit" – Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal, Company
12. "Suppertime (Reprise)" – Audrey II, Audrey

Filmed ending

1. "Suddenly, Seymour (Reprise)" – Audrey, Seymour
2. "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" – Audrey II, the Pods
3. "Little Shop of Horrors medley" – Company

Planned ending^{[citation needed]}

1. "Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)" – Audrey, Seymour
2. "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" – Audrey II, the Pods
3. "Finale: Don't Feed the Plants" – Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal, Company

The film differs only slightly from the stage play. The title song is expanded to include an additional verse to allow for more opening credits.^{[citation needed]} The song "Ya Never Know" was re-written into a calypso-style song called "Some Fun Now", although some of the lyrics were retained.^{[citation needed]} Four other songs ("Closed for Renovation", "Mushnik and Son", "Now (It's Just the Gas)", and "Call Back in the Morning") were cut from the original production score. "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" was written for the film. The full version of "The Meek Shall Inherit" and "Finale Ultimo (Don't Feed the Plants)" were cut from the film due to the alternate ending, but are included on the soundtrack album. The dramatic reprise of "Somewhere That's Green" was also in the film, but it was cut as well, and only can be found as part of the original ending.

Critical reaction

Little Shop of Horrors has received very positive critical reception. It currently holds a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes by critics.^[2]

The film was also nominated for two Academy Awards:

• Best Visual Effects (lost to Aliens)
• Best Original Song ("Mean Green Mother From Outer Space") (lost to "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun)

It was also nominated for two Golden Globes:

• Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
• Best Original Score – Motion Picture (Miles Goodman)

Development and production

Little Shop of Horrors was the only film ever written by Howard Ashman, who died in 1991 while he was working on Aladdin. Originally Steven Spielberg was going to produce the film, while Martin Scorsese was going to direct, who wanted to shoot the film in 3-D.^{[citation needed]}

The character of the masochistic dental patient, Arthur Denton, played in the original film by Jack Nicholson and cut from the stage version,^{[citation needed]} was added back to the story and played by Bill Murray.

Greene was not the first choice for the role of Audrey. The studio wanted Cyndi Lauper, who turned it down. Barbra Streisand was also rumoured to have been offered the part. Since Greene was the original off-Broadway Audrey, the role was given to her.

The film's version of Audrey II was an extremely elaborate creation, using puppets designed by Lyle Conway. For the musical numbers (which involved a great deal of movement on behalf of the puppet), the frame rate of the filming was slowed to 16 frames per second, frequent screen cuts were used to minimize the amount of screen time the puppet spent with human actors, and when interaction was totally necessary, the actors (usually Moranis) would pantomime and lip sync in slow motion.^{[citation needed]} The film was then sped up to the normal 24 frames per second and voices were reinserted in post-production. During Audrey II's final stage of growth, 60 technicians were necessary to operate the one-ton puppet.^[3]

The song created for the film, "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It caused a small degree of controversy at the Academy Awards because it was the first Oscar-nominated song to contain profanity and thus had to be censored for the show.^{[citation needed]}

In early 1987, DC Comics adapted the film as part of their DC Movie Special series, featuring art by former Batman illustrator Gene Colan.

The original ending

Audrey II on top of the Statue of Liberty in the film's alternative ending

The film's 23-minute original ending, based on the off-Broadway musical's ending, was rewritten and re-shot after receiving negative reviews from test audiences. The new ending, written by Ashman, changes the fates of the film's main characters and allows for a (basically) happy ending. The film's rarely seen original ending was the preferred choice of Oz and the majority of the actors, including Moranis.^{[citation needed]}

As originally conceived and filmed, the story follows the stage musical's plot: Audrey is attacked by Audrey II and dies in Seymour's arms, begging him to feed her to the plant so that Seymour will get all the fame he deserves. Seymour does so, and in the process coincidentally fulfills Audrey's great wish, that she be "somewhere that's green". After Seymour feeds Audrey to the plant, he attempts to commit suicide by jumping off Audrey's apartment complex. Before he can, Patrick Martin (played in this version by Paul Dooley) climbs to the roof to persuade Seymour to let him cut samples of the plant so that they can grow into little Audrey IIs and be sold across America. Seymour quickly slides down the ladder and crosses the street to Mushnik's while Martin reminds him that plants are in the public domain and can be sold without his permission. After confronting the plant as it sings "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", the plant tears down the shop, plucks Seymour out of the rubble, and eats him. It then spits out his glasses, and laughs evilly as the scene fades to black.

The three chorus girls appear in front of a sparkling American flag (a pastiche of the opening scene of Patton) and narrate how Audrey II becomes a consumer craze like Pet Rocks. People are shown fighting over miniature potted Audrey IIs in an A&P. But soon, Audrey II (along with its army of duplicates) takes over Cleveland, Des Moines, Peoria, and New York City, as the song "Don't Feed the Plants" warns the audience not to give in to evil temptations.^[4] In the dramatic finale, Audrey II takes over New York City, attacks the Brooklyn Bridge, fights the U.S. Army, climbs the Statue of Liberty and, in homage to the 1933 classic monster movie King Kong, scales the Empire State Building. There are also various nods to the 1953 film The War of the Worlds. Finally, in the last shot after the title "THE END?!?" has appeared, the plant crashes through the screen of the film and laughs as the camera (the audience) comes closer and closer to its gaping maw.

A special effects team skilled in working with miniatures, led by Richard Conway, went to great lengths to create the finale. The sequence cost $5 million to produce.^{[citation needed]} However, preview audiences rejected this ending as too disturbing.^[4] Afterwards, director Oz commented: "In a stage play, you kill the leads and they come out for a bow — in a movie, they don't come out for a bow, they're dead. And the audience loved those people, and they hated us for it."^[5] In the final cut, the only miniatures shot by Richard Conway are the New York City streets passing behind Steve Martin's motorcycle ride at the beginning of "Dentist!"^{[citation needed]}

Oz and Ashman scrapped Audrey and Seymour's grim deaths and the finale rampage, and Ashman rewrote a happier ending, with James Belushi replacing Paul Dooley (who was unavailable) as Patrick Martin. In the happy ending, Audrey II is killed and Seymour, Audrey, and humanity survive. The musical number "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" was left intact from the original cut, but shots of Audrey observing from a window were added in. This happy ending is somewhat ambiguous, however, with a final shot of a smiling Audrey II bud in Seymour and Audrey's front yard. Tisha Campbell was unavailable for the final appearance of the chorus girls in the yard and was replaced with a lookalike seen only from the waist down.^[6] A brief scene earlier in the film, in which Seymour asks Audrey to marry him, was also re-shot to provide context for the new ending.

Another cut sequence is seen on the blooper reel on the DVD, in which Seymour is seen running through fog and in the background are white pillars under a black sky. Director Oz, who provided a commentary on the reel, says this was a "dream sequence" that never made the final cut of the film. It is taken from the deleted section of "The Meek Shall Inherit", in which Seymour agonizes over the murders he has committed to feed the plant.^{[citation needed]} Stills from this sequence reproduced in the Little Shop of Horrors photo novel by Robert and Louise Egan show Audrey running through dry-ice fog towards Seymour, only to bypass him and embrace Audrey II (the "Suppertime" sized plant). Another still shows Seymour confronting a giant framed portrait of Mr. Mushnik, and yet another shows Seymour engulfed in vines as if turning into a plant. This sequence was cut, but it appears on the soundtrack album. These scenes are available within the special features section of the DVD.

Other changes from the stage show

Apart from the changed ending, major changes from the stage musical^[7] include:

• The deletion of the songs "Closed for Renovation", "Call Back in the Morning", "Mushnik and Son", "Now (It's Just the Gas)", and "Sominex"; the reprise of "Somewhere That's Green" and "Don't Feed the Plants" were present in the original ending but deleted in the final cut. The song "You Never Know" was adapted into the significantly shorter "Some Fun Now". The opening of "The Meek Shall Inherit" was rewritten entirely and was cut to a fraction of its length in the show. The film originally included Seymour's original solo in a dream sequence, but it was scrapped later on. Moranis's solo bit for this song can be heard on the film's soundtrack.
• The character of Arthur Denton, the masochistic dental patient, was not in the stage show. However, he does appear in the original 1960 film under the name Wilbur Force, played by Jack Nicholson.
• The sequence in which Seymour goes to the WSKID radio station and the character of Wink Wilkinson was added. In the stage show, only the tail end of Seymour's radio interview is heard.
• The subplot of Mushnik's adoption of Seymour (motivated by Musnik's desire to ensure his own profit from Seymour's success rather than from any parental affection) is deleted.
• Mushnik does not witness the dismemberment of Orin in the musical, but rather discovers blood drops on the floor and Orin's dental smock in the garbage after the dentist is fed to the plant. His attempt to blackmail Seymour at gunpoint into giving him the plant is also not present. In the stage musical, he merely confronts Seymour with the evidence he has found and orders him to explain it to the police.
• "Suddenly, Seymour" and "Suppertime" take place the day after Orin's disappearance, unlike in the stage musical, where these events take place several weeks later.
• Seymour is made less culpable in the deaths of Orin and Mushnik than he is in the stage musical, thus making him more sympathetic. In the stage musical, Seymour deliberately waits as Orin slowly asphyxiates. He later lies to Mushnik that he has left the day's earnings inside Audrey II. In the film, it is more ambiguous as to whether Seymour is intentionally helping to kill both characters.
• Productions of the stage show typically have the same actor who plays Orin and/or Martin provide the voices of the opening narrator and the radio announcer of WSKID, and play the first customer, and all of the people trying to get Seymour to sign with them during "The Meek Shall Inherit." In the film, however, different actors portray all of these parts.
• In the film Seymour asks Audrey to marry him, which she happily agrees to do. The two never make a plan to marry in the stage show, but Seymour promises Audrey that they'll leave Skid Row together in a scene before "Suppertime Reprise."
• The Audrey II tricks Audrey into coming into the shop by calling her on the payphone, whereas in the stage musical Audrey comes into the shop worried, unable to sleep and looking for Seymour.

• The characters of Chrystal, Ronnette, and Chiffon didn't interact with the main characters of the film as much as the musical, but rather they were more like singing narrators with not many people appearing to notice them, except in the beginning when they were sitting around by Mushnik's shop, and when they confront Audrey about her boyfriend Orin.

DVD release

Little Shop of Horrors was the first DVD to be recalled for content.^[4]

In 1998, Warner Bros. released a special edition DVD of the film. This DVD included approximately 23 minutes of unfinished footage from Oz's original ending, although it was in black and white and was missing sound, visual, and special effects.^{[citation needed]} Producer and rights owner David Geffen became angry at Warner for including this footage on the DVD without his consent, and as a result the studio removed it from shelves in a matter of days and replaced it with a second edition that did not contain the extra material. The original first edition DVD is now a much sought-after collector's item and sells for upwards of $150 on eBay.^{[citation needed]}

Geffen wanted to re-release the film to theaters with the original ending intact.^{[citation needed]}

On February 28, 2007, Warner hinted that a DVD reissue, featuring the original ending in color with the missing effects, may be on its way. It was later discovered that the original colored film printing was destroyed in a studio fire years earlier, leaving only the black-and-white workprints available to the studio. Geffen has claimed to possess a color copy of the original printing.^[8][9]

Director Frank Oz announced at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens that the film would be released on Blu-Ray in 2012 with the original ending restored.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ "Roger Corman interview". http://www.mjsimpson.co.uk/interviews/rogercorman.html. Retrieved 2007-03-11. 
2. ^ Little Shop of Horrors at Rotten Tomatoes
3. ^ James Berardinelli. Review, Little Shop of Horrors, Reelviews.net, 1999.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Little Shop of Reshoots". DVD Savant. November 20, 1999. http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s92shop.html. Retrieved 2007-03-11. 
5. ^ "Frank Oz Interview". http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/frank_oz/2. 
6. ^ Frank Oz DVD commentary, Little Shop of Horrors (2000).
7. ^ This section is based on a comparison of the musical's script and the film's screenplay
8. ^ *** Official Warner Chat and Discussion Thread - Home Theater Forum
9. ^ Fangoria - America's Horror Magazine^{[dead link]}

External links

	United States portal
	Film portal

• Little Shop of Horrors at the Internet Movie Database
• Little Shop of Horrors at AllRovi
• Little Shop of Horrors at Box Office Mojo
• Little Shop of Horrors at Rotten Tomatoes