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This is about the 1986 film. For other uses, see Little Shop of Horrors. Little Shop of Horrors is a 1986 screen adaptation of the off-Broadway stage musical of the same name. Both the film and the musical were based on the low-budget 1960 Roger Corman cult-film The Little Shop of Horrors. The film, directed by Frank Oz, is generally faithful to both the original and the stage version of the story, which is based on the classic Faust legend. The budget for this film was reportedly US$30 million (over one thousand times the budget of the 1960 Roger Corman original). The movie was shot on the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage at the Pinewood Studios in England, where a whole area of 'downtown' was created, complete with overhead train track.
Plot Little Shop of Horrors tells the story of a nerdy young florist's assistant named Seymour Krelborn, an employee of Mushnik's Skid Row Florist Shop. The incompetent Seymour is about to be fired by Mr. Mushnik when Audrey, another employee, urges him to bring out a mysterious new strain of plant that he's been tinkering with. Seymour, who has a secret crush on Audrey, names the mysterious plant after her. Mushnik gives Seymour one week to see if the "Audrey II" plant improves his lackluster business. Unfortunately, Seymour soon learns that Audrey II can talk and has a gruesome appetite for fresh human blood. He also discovers that the plant brings him success, money and fame — as well as the romantic interest of Audrey. In order to continue his good fortune, Seymour decides to keep Audrey II alive by feeding it blood...with tragic results. Seymour feeds the sadistic dentist to the plant and in the musical, Seymour and Audrey are also eaten by the plant. Film notes 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 biggest change is its ending which was re-shot when it received negative reviews from test audiences. While the off-Broadway musical version, like the 1960 film, has a downbeat ending, the 1986 film has a happy ending in which Audrey II is killed, while Seymour, Audrey and humanity survive. The 1986 version of Audrey II was an extremely elaborate creation, using puppets designed by Lyle Conway and The Jim Henson Company. During Audrey II's final stage of growth, over 40 people were enlisted to operate the 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 and one, "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)" which were recorded, but cut from the film, are included on the soundtrack album. The 1986 movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song for the song, "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 foul language and thus had to be censored for the show. Despite the fact that some might consider Steve Martin too old to play the Dentist, Frank Oz still insisted on casting him in that role, for he witnessed Steve Martin making the role of a waiter with only three lines one of the most memorable roles in The Muppet Movie. This, as of 2006, is the only role in which a character played by Steve Martin dies. The alternate ending The film has become legendary for a widely-unseen 23-minute alternate ending that retains the darkness and 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 he can continue his success; 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) 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 Musnick'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 an homage to the 1933 classic monster movie King Kong — scales the Empire State Building. There are various nods to the 1953 film The War of the Worlds as well. The entire action sequence cost $5 million to produce (some reports say $2 million). But 1986 preview audiences rejected this ending as too disturbing. Afterwards, director Oz commented: "They hated us when the main characters died. In the play, they're eaten... but you know they're coming out for a curtain call. But the power of movies is different." 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 safely observing through a window. Seymour and Audrey get married and move to the suburbs, where a little Audrey II grows in the garden, paving the way for a sequel. Oz's subsequent re-edits, while making the film lighter and thus more palatable to general audiences, had the unfortunate effect of making the film morally questionable. While Seymour never actually kills anyone in the story, he does participate in luring people to their deaths, hacking up their bodies and feeding them to the plant. In both the stage play and the original edit of the film, the song "The Meek Shall Inherit" was designed to illustrate Seymour's moral dilemma via a musical soliloquy. As his fame grows, he is tempted by offers from Hollywood, but cringes at the idea of having to continue to do evil deeds. He finally decides to destroy Audrey II, but at the last minute changes his mind because he feels that without his plant, Audrey will not love him anymore. He signs the Hollywood contracts and seals his fate. Later, when he is killed and eaten by Audrey II, it is because he made a wrong and greedy decision. The theatrical version of the film retains only the very beginning and end of "The Meek Shall Inherit," with the soliloquy cut entirely so as not to raise the idea of Seymour's moral dilemma. 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 1986 musical 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, apparently 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 yanked it off the shelves in a matter of days and replaced with a second edition without 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, although there are copies of the ending floating around the net. Some guess that, with the coming 20th anniversery of the film's theatrical release, it will be featured on a new DVD, though with no announcement regarding this as of October 2006, (two months from the 20th Anniversary) this seems unlikely. Some even speculate that they're aiming for the 25th anniversary for a re-release. For the time being, no plans have been made to re-release the film or DVD with the alternate ending, although modern audiences may be better prepared for a darker version of what is essentially a morality play. Cast Comic book adaptation In 1987, DC Comics published an adaptation of the movie, with Michael Fleisher in the script and Gene Colan in the drawings. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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