Little Shop of Horrors [M]

In a tiny little flower shop, business is terrible. That is until Seymour is allowed to put his newly discovered, strange, and exotic plant which he’s named Audrey II in the window to attract attention. At first it works a treat, but then Seymour discovers what Audrey II eats: meat, preferably human. Soon Audrey is growing to a spectacular size and bringing Seymour fame and fortune, until he starts eating everyone he can and threatening to take over the world. 

Beginning as a low-budget 1960 Roger Corman movie, Little Shop of Horrors then sprouted again as a smash hit Broadway musical. Then in 1986 Frank Oz sat down and brought us this hilarious movie musical based off the stage hit. This film is fantastic! With its bizarre story, hilariously high-powered performances, great creature effects, and a memorable score done by Academy Award winners Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, Little Shop of Horrors is as memorable an 80s musical as The Blues Brothers and as loveable a movie as Ghostbusters. It’s brilliant! 

In a tiny little flower shop, business is terrible. That is until Seymour is allowed to put his newly discovered, strange, and exotic plant which he’s named Audrey II in the window to attract attention. At first it works a treat, but then Seymour discovers what Audrey II eats: meat, preferably human. Soon Audrey is growing to a spectacular size and bringing Seymour fame and fortune, until he starts eating everyone he can and threatening to take over the world. 

There is something childishly yet hugely entertaining about movie musicals that take the piss out of the genre. Little Shop of Horrors was filled with overblown and overly dramatic musical numbers, quite a few of which were bringing me the vibe of West Side Story and then, to counteract the cheesy romantic and slow songs we have some great Elvis-esque numbers as well as some sinister and irrepressible soul numbers. The speckling of music genres in this movie is fantastic as it makes each song just as, if not more, entertaining than the next. I particularly was quite taken with Steve Martin’s Dentist song as well as Mean Green Mother From Outer Space, the final climactic song in the piece. 

As well as being armed with a fantastic soundtrack and a kick-arse cool story, Little Shop of Horrors is studded with great names in comedy. Whether they be stars or just have a cameo, each actor makes their presence known in this movie and each is as memorable as the next. And the characters! It goes from one extreme to another! It's FANTASTIC. 

Starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, Tisha Campbell-Martin, James Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, and Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops as the voice of Audrey II, Little Shop of Horrors is a manically musical and wildly funny movie packed with action, great creature effects, romance, science fiction, great songs, a bit of sadism, and plenty of comedy. I loved it, it’s absolutely hilarious!