By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
Little Shop of Horrors is a remake of the 1960 movie by Roger Corman. Apparently, Roger Corman did not copyright the movie thinking no one would steal it. Well, in the 1980s, they made a Broadway musical out of it, and that’s what became this movie.
This is another musical with Steve Martin.
It is a wonderfully entertaining movie. I must say in watching it that it really looks like a cartoon. The characters act out as if they are in a cartoon and of course the creature, a giant plant that likes to have people on the menu, act as if it’s in a cartoon. And there is even a very visible chorus of three women who take you through the movie, narrating by singing the events.
Frank Oz, who was the puppeteer behind the Muppets of Miss piggy and Yoda, is the director of this movie. This is perfect because the killer plant is obviously a puppet of some sort and it is handled very well.
Rick Moranis, plays a character named Seymour, who lives in works in the poorest section of town. He works for a florist, Vincent Gardenia, who is going out of business. He has the hots for Ellen Greene who is a coworker.
Seymour discovers a rare plant that likes to eat blood like a Venus flytrap. Except that this is like a Martian fly trap that grows very very quickly and likes to put people on the menu.
Everyone here gets their role and plays it magnificently, often singing.
The movie is in 4K and it looks terrific. The colors are vibrant. The images are sharp and there is great detail.
The audio is also excellent and fitting for this movie.
In the Barry rating system the movie gets solid “good” rating. Maybe a “very good.”
There are a lot of good extras, including the original ending, which was once thought lost.
Spoiler alert!
When the movie was first produced the ending was based on the ending of the Broadway show. In the show Seymour and his girlfriend meet a very unpleasant ending when they are eaten by the plant.
When the movie was shown to test audiences and they saw that ending, they hated it and gave it a terrible review. So the ending was changed for the theatrical release.
Frank Oz mentions that in the Broadway show the girl who is eaten by the plant at the end, comes out 10 minutes later and takes a bow. That doesn’t happen in a movie so they had to give it a happier ending. But both endings are on this disc.
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