Review - Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

      Hey guys, Chuck here. Years before they began writing some of the most iconic songs in the history of Disney Animation, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman made a name for themselves on Broadway, specifically with the musical Little Shop of Horrors. And, with spooky season around the corner, I thought it'd be fun to talk about the 1986 movie adaptation of the musical Little Shop of Horrors. 

      Directed by Frank Oz, this movie stars Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborn, a down on his luck employee of a flower shop called Mushnik's, which is located in a scummy neighborhood called Skid Row. In addition to Seymour and Mr. Mushnik, the only other one working at the flower shop is Audrey, the clerk whom Seymour has feelings for, but she's in a toxic relationship with a sadistic dentist named Orin Scrivello. 

      One afternoon, after Mr. Mushnik is fed up with never getting any customers, Seymour and Audrey make a suggestion to draw in customers. And, it's here where Seymour brings in a plant that he can't identify, but dubbed it "Audrey II." And, upon placing it in the window, the sight of the Audrey II draws in customers, one of whom asks Seymour where he got it. And, Seymour reveals that he found it in the wholesale flower district moments after a total solar eclipse occurred. Now happy with getting business, Mr. Mushnik offers to take both Seymour and Audrey out to celebrate. But, Audrey has another date with Orin, and Seymour has to look after the Audrey II, which isn't always in the best health. You see, Seymour has tried multiple things to feed the plant, but nothing ever worked. But, on this particular evening, after cutting his finger tip on a rose thorn, sees the preferred source of nourishment for the Audrey II: blood. So, after feeding it a few drops of blood, the Audrey II finally starts growing. 

      As the weeks go on, Seymour feeds the plant more blood, the plant gets bigger, and customers are flocking into Mushnik's. However, it's revealed that in spite of her current relationship with Orin, Audrey dreams of a peaceful life in the 'burbs with Seymour. But, given how insane Orin is, she can't leave him. Yeesh. Anyway, after another successful day, and seeing Audrey take off with Orin, Seymour decides to turn in for the night, only for Audrey II to truly come alive, and demand to be fed, to the point of making all manner of promises to Seymour in exchange for nourishment, even if it means murdering someone. And, while Seymour initially is disgusted at the thought, seeing Orin slap Audrey gives him both an excuse and a target. 

       The next day, Seymour goes to see Orin at his dental office, where he finishes up with a masochistic dental patient named Arthur Denton. Unfortunately, Seymour can't bring himself to kill Orin, but doesn't have to. You see, Orin fixed himself with a gas mask that pumps him full of nitrous oxide, which causes him to laugh like a bastard, and he dies of asphyxiation as the valve on the mask broke, and Seymour didn't help take the mask in time to save him. That night, Seymour chops up the corpse and feeds the parts to the plant. 

       Some days later, and Seymour reassures Audrey that she's a better person, and much better off without Orin in her life, and this sparks the beginnings of a romance between Seymour and Audrey. That night, however, Mr. Mushnik confronts Seymour about Orin's death, and as the two prepare to leave to go to the police station, Mr. Mushnik makes an offer: he'll keeps quiet and help get Seymour out of town, in exchange for the secret to care for the Audrey II. However, just as Seymour tries to warn Mushnik about the plant, it opens wide and eats Mushnik up. 

       Seymour's fame and fortune is growing because of the plant, and it looks like he and Audrey are getting ready to get married. But, the plant has other plans, calls Audrey over to the shop, and attempts to eat her. Now, it's here where we get two alternate endings: the theatrical ending and the director's cut ending. In the theatrical ending, Seymour saves Audrey, and after business man named Patrick Martin, played here by Jim Belushi, arrives with a proposal to manufacture smaller Audrey II's to sell on the market, Seymour shoos him away, and has a final confrontation with the plant, destroying it, and going on to love happily ever after with Audrey. Certainly not a terrible ending, but...

       In the director's cut ending, Seymour still saves Audrey, but her wounds prove fatal, and she requests to be fed to the plant after she dies. And, sadly, Seymour complies and feeds the woman he loves to the plant. On a nearby rooftop, Seymour is approached by business man Patrick Martin, played here by Paul Dooley, who has the proposal to manufacture smaller Audrey II's to sell on the market. Realizing what this means, Seymour goes to confront the Audrey II, who goes on to devour Seymour himself. And, the plan to make and sell more Audrey II plants goes through, and the plants grow into an army of plants that take over the world, and cause all manner of mayhem and destruction. 

      So, why the two different endings? Well, director Frank Oz planned to make the movie adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors as faithful to the Broadway musical as he could, and this included the ending. And, the amount of miniatures and puppetry on display in the director's cut ending was just masterful. But, test audiences at the time didn't like the ending, feeling it was too sad. It turns out that in a movie where the audience grows attached to a set of characters, you can't kill them off the way you can in a musical, where everyone comes back for a bow in the end. So, Frank Oz shot the theatrical cut ending, swapping Paul Dooley out for Jim Belushi due to scheduling conflicts, and the movie received much better test scores. However, years later, and Little Shop fans, myself included, tend to prefer the director's cut ending. 

       Aside from that, however, the movie Little Shop of Horrors is a ton of fun. The key performances by Rick Moranis as Seymour, Ellen Greene as Audrey, Vincent Gardenia as Mr. Mushnik, and Steve Martin as Orin were all fantastic. The trio of Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Campbell as the chorus girls Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon were also great, and showed off considerable singing skills. And, adding in the likes of Christopher Guest, John Candy, and Bill Murray was absolutely fantastic. The music was great, and the puppeteering for Audrey II, voiced by Levi Stubbs, was terrific. As far as movie musicals go, this is a really fun one that's worth checking out. 

      Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you in the next review.