Fans of Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street will see a very familiar creative streak and aesthetic in this wild, eccentric 1986 sci-fi/musical/horror. Though very different from his previous films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, Frank Oz (when not voicing Kermit or planting cellophane bags of Angel Dust on Dan Aykroyd) does seem right at home and the perfect choice to direct this movie of a giant hungry plant gone mad.
Nerdy florist Seymore Krelborn (Rick Moranis) encourages his boss to display a bizarre new plant, the Audrey II, in the shop window in order to entice more customers into their failing business. The plan works, and as Audrey II grows larger so does their fame. But Audrey demands to be fed, and blood and human meat are at the top of the preferred menu, as so, in a sort-of botanist version of Hellraiser Seymore arranges to keep Audrey II fed with people who deserve to die.
Little does he know that Audrey II actually has plans for world domination and is merely using him as a naive puppet. Many musical numbers and cameos later (from John Candy, Bill Murray, and Steve Martin) the film forks into two different endings, depending on what version your watching. The theatrical cut, which I never really liked, gives us a happy ending that was shot merely to appease a fickle test audience (insert groans and rolling eyes here) while the extended ending of Frank Oz's director's cut is more epic, darker, crazier, and feels like a more natural homage to creature features of the 1950s such as Godzilla or Creature from the Black Lagoon. I can't believe this ending was ditched and not seen for over 25 years.
Little Shop of Horrors deserves and enduring popularity and if you watch it I insist on the director's cut.
Nerdy florist Seymore Krelborn (Rick Moranis) encourages his boss to display a bizarre new plant, the Audrey II, in the shop window in order to entice more customers into their failing business. The plan works, and as Audrey II grows larger so does their fame. But Audrey demands to be fed, and blood and human meat are at the top of the preferred menu, as so, in a sort-of botanist version of Hellraiser Seymore arranges to keep Audrey II fed with people who deserve to die.
Little does he know that Audrey II actually has plans for world domination and is merely using him as a naive puppet. Many musical numbers and cameos later (from John Candy, Bill Murray, and Steve Martin) the film forks into two different endings, depending on what version your watching. The theatrical cut, which I never really liked, gives us a happy ending that was shot merely to appease a fickle test audience (insert groans and rolling eyes here) while the extended ending of Frank Oz's director's cut is more epic, darker, crazier, and feels like a more natural homage to creature features of the 1950s such as Godzilla or Creature from the Black Lagoon. I can't believe this ending was ditched and not seen for over 25 years.
Little Shop of Horrors deserves and enduring popularity and if you watch it I insist on the director's cut.