I strongly disliked this film when it came out in the 80s. I thought that the visuals were very cool, and I liked the music, but I really disliked the happy ending.
***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Essentially, "Little Shop" is set up as a tragedy from the very beginning, with a classic Greek Chorus narrating the way that Seymour, the main character, has doomed himself. Seymour actually does some pretty horrific things throughout the movie (killing people then chopping them up and feeding them to a plant). Then, at the end, there is no retribution, he marries the girl of his dreams and goes off to live happily ever after.
Last night, I saw the alternate ending of the film, which is much more true to the earlier Roger Corman film, as well as the stage musical. In it, the evil space-alien plant eats Seymour and Audrey, his love interest, after informing Seymour that he's "been had." The alien plants then proliferate around the world, and attempt to take it over, as depicted in a montage of scenes spoofing various monster movies of the 50s and 60s.
This is not a "feel good" ending, but then, this is a movie about a serial killer who feeds his victims to a plant that eat human blood, I don't think it deserves a "feel good" ending. The ending they gave it was much more contrived, and it always felt a bit creepy to me, in that it seemed to reward someone who did some terrible things. I liked the ending they threw away. It was a lot more elaborate, and I would have enjoyed seeing it on the big screen.
***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Essentially, "Little Shop" is set up as a tragedy from the very beginning, with a classic Greek Chorus narrating the way that Seymour, the main character, has doomed himself. Seymour actually does some pretty horrific things throughout the movie (killing people then chopping them up and feeding them to a plant). Then, at the end, there is no retribution, he marries the girl of his dreams and goes off to live happily ever after.
Last night, I saw the alternate ending of the film, which is much more true to the earlier Roger Corman film, as well as the stage musical. In it, the evil space-alien plant eats Seymour and Audrey, his love interest, after informing Seymour that he's "been had." The alien plants then proliferate around the world, and attempt to take it over, as depicted in a montage of scenes spoofing various monster movies of the 50s and 60s.
This is not a "feel good" ending, but then, this is a movie about a serial killer who feeds his victims to a plant that eat human blood, I don't think it deserves a "feel good" ending. The ending they gave it was much more contrived, and it always felt a bit creepy to me, in that it seemed to reward someone who did some terrible things. I liked the ending they threw away. It was a lot more elaborate, and I would have enjoyed seeing it on the big screen.