Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)

This article is about the 1986 musical film. For other uses, see Little Shop of Horrors.

Little Shop of Horrors
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Frank Oz
Written by	Howard Ashman
Produced by	David Geffen
Starring	Rick Moranis Ellen Greene Vincent Gardenia Steve Martin Tichina Arnold Michelle Weeks Tisha Campbell Levi Stubbs
Cinematography	Robert Paynter
Edited by	John Jympson
Music by	Songs: Alan Menken Howard Ashman Score: Miles Goodman
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	December 19, 1986
Running time	94 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000 (estimated)
Box office	$38,747,385

Little Shop of Horrors is the 1986 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 plant that feeds on human blood. The film was directed by Frank Oz, and starred Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene and the voice of Levi Stubbs. The musical was based on the low-budget black comedy The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman.

Little Shop of Horrors was shot 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 US$30 million, in contrast to the original 1960 film, which, according to Roger Corman, only cost $30,000. Like the 1960 film, the 1986 musical film did not make a big impact during its initial theatrical release, but is now considered a cult film.

Plot

A nerdy young florist's assistant named Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) discovers a mysterious new plant that came from outer space during a solar eclipse. He names the plant "Audrey II," because he secretly has a crush on his co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene). The plant improves business at Mister Mushnik's (Vincent Gardenia) failing skid-row flower shop, and Seymour becomes a local celebrity. However, late at night when the shop is deserted, Seymour accidentally cuts open his fingers and discovers that the only way to make Audrey II grow is to feed it with human blood.

Eventually, the now-huge Audrey II begins to talk to Seymour, demanding more blood than Seymour can give. He convinces Seymour to kill Audrey's abusive, sadistic dentist boyfriend, Orin Scrivello (Steve Martin). Seymour books an appointment with Doctor Scrivello and arms himself with a revolver. However, Orin, disappointed with his previous masochistic patient Arthur Denton (Bill Murray), decides to amuse himself by sniffing nitrous oxide. His gas mask malfunctions and Seymour allows him to die from asphyxiation. Orin dies laughing hysterically.

Seymour drags Orin's body back to the the flower shop, where he chops it up for the plant. He is in the middle of dismembering the body with an axe when Mister Mushnik passes by the flower shop and silently witnessess it. He does not confront him, but runs off scared silly. Seymour feeds the body parts of Orin Scrivello D.D.S. to the plant.

After Seymour has spent a sleepless night, he discovers two policeman 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 die. Seymour tells Audrey that she is beautiful and shouldn't have such low self-esteem, and she realizes that she loves him.

That night, Mushnik finds Seymour and accuses him of being an axe murderer. Seymour says nothing, and stands by while Mushnik investigates Audrey II and gets killed and swallowed whole by the carnivorous plant. Seymour's fortune continues to grow, and he becomes a media star, but he is very worried about Audrey II's growth and insatiable appetite.

Later, Audrey II calls for Audrey to come over, and the plant tries to eat her. Seymour comes and saves her. They go out of the shop, and a salesman named Patrick Martin from World Botanical Enterprises (James Belushi) offers to breed Audrey II and make a fortune by selling the plant to families around the world. Seymour, frightened, realizes that Audrey II must be destroyed before more lives are lost. Seymour fights with the gigantic plant, who now had little pod-lits as his henchmen, and blows him up by electrocuting him with an exposed wire.

Seymour and Audrey wed and move to the suburbs, but in front of their picket fence is a little Audrey II bud.

Production and development

The character of the masochistic dental patient, played in the original by Jack Nicholson and cut from the stage version, was added back to the story and was played by Bill Murray, who reportedly ad-libbed his lines.

The film's ending was re-shot after receiving negative reviews from test audiences. While the off-Broadway musical version and 1960 film have downbeat endings, the 1986 film has a happy ending in which Audrey II is killed, while Seymour, Audrey, and humanity survive. The film's ending is somewhat ambiguous, however, with a final shot of a smiling Audrey II bud in Seymour and Audrey's front yard.

The film's version of Audrey II was an extremely elaborate creation, using puppets designed by Lyle Conway and The Jim Henson Company. 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 FPS, 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. The film was then sped up to the normal 24 FPS and voices were re-inserted in post production. During Audrey II's final stage of growth, 60 technicians were necessary to operate the one-ton puppet.

Musically, 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. The song "Ya Never Know" was re-written into a calypso-style song called "Some Fun Now," although some of the lyrics were retained. Five other songs ("Closed For Renovation," "Now (It's Just the Gas)," "Mushnik and Son," "Call Back In The Morning" and the dramatic reprise of "Somewhere That's Green") 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 the "Finale Ultimo (Don't Feed the Plants)" were cut from the film, but are included on the soundtrack album.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song for "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. It caused a small 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.

Frank Oz cast Steve Martin as the Dentist after watching his performance in The Muppet Movie.

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and John Landis were all planned to direct at before Frank Oz took on the project.

This remains, as of August 2007, Steve Martin's only death role.

The alternate ending

Audrey II on top of the Statue of Liberty in the alternate ending of the film

The film has become legendary for a widely-unseen 23-minute alternate ending that retains the B-movie roots of the original source material. 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 in a way, she will always be with him. Seymour does so, and in the process ironically fulfills Audrey's great wish, that she wants to 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 by Paul Dooley in this version, and Jim Belushi in the revamped ending) 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 Mushnick'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 eats Seymour. The three chorus girls are enlisted by Patrick Martin to cut shoots from the plant in order to sell them around the world. Soon, Audrey II clones take over the planet as the song "Don't Feed the Plants" warns the audience not to give in to evil temptations.

This version of the stage ending was adapted to film, with some changes: in the film, an extended showdown between Seymour and Audrey II (featuring the new number "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space") takes place in the shop, which Audrey II eventually destroys before overpowering and devouring Seymour. Oz then took the show's apocalyptic finale far beyond the limits of the stage version by actually showing the plants' takeover of Earth (rather than just describing it).

Oz and his special effects team went to great lengths to create this dramatic finale during which Audrey II takes over New York City, attacks the Brooklyn Bridge, fights the U.S. Army, strangles the Statue of Liberty and, in a 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. The sequence cost $5 million to produce. However, preview audiences rejected this ending as too disturbing. 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."

Oz scrapped Audrey's and Seymour's grim deaths and the finale rampage, and reshot a happier ending with Jim Belushi replacing Paul Dooley as Patrick Martin. The showdown between Seymour and Audrey II remains intact, but now Seymour wins by electrocuting the plant as Audrey is seen observing through a window. Seymour and Audrey get married and move to the suburbs, where a little Audrey II grows in the garden.

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 Frank Oz, who has a commentary on the reel, says this was a "dream sequence" that never made the final cut of the movie.

The DVD conflict

Little Shop of Horrors was the first DVD to be recalled for content.

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.

David Geffen, the film's producer and owner of the rights, wanted to re-release the film to theaters with the original ending intact. Geffen became angry at Warner Bros. 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.

On February 28, 2007 Warner Bros. hinted that a DVD re-issue featuring the original ending may be on its way[1], but has been keeping any more details from the public until further notice.[2]

Cast

• Seymour Krelborn - Rick Moranis
• Audrey - Ellen Greene
• Mister Mushnik - Vincent Gardenia
• Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. - Steve Martin
• Audrey II (voice) - Levi Stubbs
• Crystal - Tichina Arnold
• Chiffon - Tisha Campbell
• Ronnette - Michelle Weeks
• Arthur Denton - Bill Murray
• "Weird" Wink Wilkinson - John Candy
• Patrick Martin - Jim Belushi (Paul Dooley for the original ending)
• Flower Shop Patron - Christopher Guest

Comic book adaptation

In 1987, DC Comics published an adaptation of the movie, written by Michael Fleisher and drawn by Gene Colan. However this adaption differs from the movie, most notably in the placement of Audrey II's mouth and the elimination of the three chorus girls. In addition to this, the dentist's hair is an orangish blonde color instead of the black featured in the film.

External links

• Little Shop of Horrors (1986 movie) at IMDb
• Little Shop of Reshoots at DVDtalk.com