Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Retro Review #69: Would you feed it too, if this happened to you?
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
+ Feature film, /¶ 1h 34m
+ Based on literature (stage musical) Little Shop of Horrors (1982)❗by Alan Menken ⭐ and Howard Ashman ⭐
+ Based on feature film The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)❗🔙 by Charles B. Griffith ⭐ and Roger Corman ⭐
+ 3️⃣/4 works in Little Shop of Horrors multiverse ⭐
A+^
Grade: A+^ (20.0) / HOF: 90
EQ 👍A++ | 📖A+ 👥A+ 📽️A+ 🎼A+
DW 😎😎12.0 | 🌚12 🌝12
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R 💻⬆️0️⃣ 👀⬇️0️⃣ 🛐⬇️2️⃣
Rick Retro: For fans of Dark Whimsy, it rarely gets much better than the 1986 masterpiece, Little Shop of Horrors. On our current tour of my Dark Whimsy Favorites, Re-Animator was Darker and The Muppet Movie scored higher on the Whimsy scale, but so far, only Little Shop has registered at twelve or better on both scales.
Based on a 1982 stage musical, which was, in turn, based on a 1960 low-budget black-and-white B-movie, Little Shop of Horrors got the star treatment in 1986, and the result lived up to the effort.
This is Rick Retro, from my Reel Room, and we are joined today, direct from Transylvania, by our new guest critics, Count Doctor Gene Siskelsteinula of the Transylvania Tribune and Roger Egor of the Transylvania Moon-Times.
So, picture a young man working in a Skid Row flower shop. You already know he’s kind of a loser, right? But then as luck would have it, following a total eclipse of the sun, he comes across a plant that seems kind of special. Well, that’s because it’s from Outer Space. And it just so happens that it feeds on human flesh and blood. Dark enough for you, Doctor Gene?
Siskelsteinula: Vell, Reek, eet vuz not awvul. Zeez alien plant vould enyoy our faworeete reztaurant een Tranzylwania!
Egor: Heh heh. Yeth, Doctor.
Rick Retro (sarcastically): I suppose it’s called “The Little Restaurant of Horrors”?
Siskelsteinula: No, yuzt “The Leettle Reztaurant”. Vhat part uv “Tranzylwania” you don’t underztand?
Rick Retro: Right. Moving on. The Whimsy in the film comes from multiple angles. First and foremost, the movie is hilarious. Yeah, the comedy is dark at times, but the film is an out-and-out farce that delivers laughs in all kinds of ways. A scene with Steve Martin as a sadistic dentist and Bill Murray as a masochistic patient is one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever seen!
Siskelsteinula: Vhat “funny”? Great drama, you azk me! Ze character eez no doktor, but vor a deenteezt, he’z kvite eennowayteefe!
Rick Retro: Hm. Well, “innovative” is a good word to describe the producers of the film. They built a huge set, complete with overhead train, to represent downtown 1960s New York. All the settings are full of Whimsy, looking like they were made for the stage.
Then there’s the music.
Egor: Heh. I don’t theenk we are eento mewthic tho much. We prefer leth pleathant thoundth.
Rick Retro (under his breath): Why am I not surprised?
(continuing out loud) The musical numbers are imported from the play, with a change here and there, but without losing a single note of Whimsy, featuring music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. It’s no surprise that every song fits perfectly, since Ashman also wrote the screenplay. The songs are styled with early 1960s rock, doo-wop and Motown influences. Most of the songs can be categorized as Dark Whimsy themselves, so it’s a must-have soundtrack for a Dark Whimsy fan.
Ellen Greene reprises her role as Audrey from the original off-Broadway production of the stage version. She has a superb voice and thanks to her talents, “Suddenly, Seymour” and “Somewhere That’s Green” are the two best songs of the film. And while Rick Moranis will never be highly praised for his singing talents, “Suddenly, Seymour” soars despite the fact that his vocals as Seymour don’t help. Meanwhile, “Dentist!” succeeds, even with Steve Martin’s vocals, because the lyrics are laugh-out-loud perfection!
Providing great back-up vocals to many numbers, are Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon, three waifs who dress impeccably and sing sublimely.
(not really wanting to ask) Do you two have anything else to add?
Egor: Yeth, Meethter Reek. Theeth eeth a thpethial thtory of an aththithtant who thurpaththeth heeth thtation and thuck-theedth wildly. We thyould all thtrive to be like Thee-mour!
Rick Retro: I’m not sure I would characterize the message of the story in quite the same way, Roger, but thank you for your input. Doctor Gene?
Siskelsteinula: Vell, Zeymour’z expeereementation eez commendable, uhv courze. Howeffer, he vould perhaps haf better luck putting parts togezzer, razzer zan zeffering zem!
Rick Retro: Um, that would be a different story, Doctor Gene. He has to sever them to feed them to Audrey II. And please, this is a no-spoiler zone. Save plot details for the Chat, OK?
Siskelsteinula: Uhf courze, Reek! My zeenzere apologiez. I get zo exzited about Zcienze!
Rick Retro (drily): Yes, I suppose Science can be exciting.
Thank you for calling in, gentlemen. (abruptly cuts feed from Transylvania)
It should be mentioned that in an early test screening of the film, the audience did not care for the ending, so it was changed for the theatrical release. In 2012, for a DVD and Blu-Ray release, the original ending was restored as a Director’s Cut version.
I plan to review that version in the future, but before I do, see this version! Even if you don’t typically like Dark Whimsy, especially of the comedic horror or perhaps musical varieties, this is about as good as it gets! You may be pleasantly surprised. But who am I talking to? If you don’t like this sort of thing, you’ve probably stopped reading already, right?
I hope you enjoyed today’s Retro Movie Review. Until next time…
Onwards!
Rick Retro (heard faintly, to Producer John): Those two are a disaster! I say we… (audio cuts off)
+ last viewed (5) 2025-05-06, HDX7, 1.85v, 2D
+ first viewed 1986, ThX, 1.85, 7
+ ⏳🪐🌎👽🗄️🎶🧌💀🥰💘🌑🥸
+ ❌0️⃣ Problematic for teens and sensitive adults. | PG-13
+ 😡-0 😵💫-0 🤬-0 🤭+0 🫣-0
+ 👀⬇️0️⃣ ➖(😐😍)
+ ✝️ -0 ➕(❤️💒🥴) ➖(🤬💣👙)
+ ✡️ +0 ➕💎(🤍) ➖(🤬)
+ 🗽 -0 ➖(💻)
Last updated 2025-05-14
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