As far as non-Disney movie-musicals from the 80's go, Little Shop of Horrors is probably about as good as you can get, although since its sharing a category with disasters like Earth Girls are Easy and Xanadu, that's not saying much. In this adaptation of Roger Corman's schlocky monster flick, Rick Moranis (remember him?) plays Seymour Krelborn, a poor doofus of a kid working as a lackey for a downtown flower shop on its last legs. One day he comes across a "strange and unusual plant" he affectionately names "Audrey II" after his co-worker and girl of his desires, Audrey (Ellen Greene). As Seymour's discovery rapidly grows, so does the store's business; alas the catch is the plant won't grow unless it is regularly fed blood, which Seymour does with a poke and squeeze of his fingers. When Audrey II lets Seymour in on the secret that she can talk (and sing with soul thanks to the vocal talent of The Four Tops' Levi Stubbs), the evil manipulative plant talks Seymour into something a tad more chewy than blood in exchange for empty promises. All of the songs are catchy - standout musical numbers include "Skid Row" (Moranis, though nasal, is shockingly talented at singing), "Feed Me," and my favorite scene, "Dentist!" with classic doll-decapitating Steve Martin appropriately miscast as Audrey's rebel D.D.S. boyfriend. The movie can come off as painfully campy at times (especially if your high school is one of the millions to do the stage production), but through the astounding puppetry of the Jim Henson Creature Shop (Frank "Fozzie" Oz directed) and some memorable funny cameos by the likes of Bill Murray and Christopher Guest among others, Little Shop gets the passing grade, even if the ending does a complete 180 from the original stage musical's.
Review of Little Shop of Horrors
