REVIEW: Little Shop of Horrors

For those of us of a certain age, Little Shop of Horrors conjures up memories of yet another Roger Corman quickie, with a script from Charles B. Griffith and featuring many of his regulars, including the great Dick Miller. A very young Jack Nicholson plays a small role, which is one reason this film has had staying power.  Griffith had written several scripts that Cormac rejected until this one, originally entitled The Passionate People Eater, a variation on the man-eating plant stories found in the SF pulps.

This wacky romance had a charm that made it memorable, even though it was shot on a $28,000 budget in 1960, and it later became an off-Broadway musical in 1982. With music and lyrics from the developing powerhouse team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, this version transcended its source material and became a hit, opening around the world and turning actress Ellen Greene into a star, forever linking her to Audrey. A film adaptation of the dark comedy seemed inevitable and, under director Frank Oz, became a critical hit, but Warner Bros. deemed it underperforming.

Its fortunes changed when the film was released on home video in 1987 and was hugely successful, which brings us to today and the release of the 4K edition from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Thankfully, it’s even better in this format.

We are reminded of just how talented and inventive Oz can be as a director, as he conveys the off-kilter, shadowy feeling of dread as the alien plant thrives on Earth, as long as it is fed human blood. Its caretaker, flower shop employee Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), grows to love the creature, named Audrey II, even as its demands for more drive him to offer his own blood at first, then help feed it more. The romance between the hapless Seymour and his fiancée, Audrey, unfolds against this threat to not only their love but everyone in Manhattan.

Oz populates the film with a terrific collection of comedians who bring an edge to their parts, from fetishist Bill Murray to disc jockey John Candy, and of course the sadistic dentist, Steve Martin. Vincent Gardenia, Jim Belushi and Paul Dooley help round out the supporting cast.

The songs and music open the film and capture a moment in time, along with the timeless love between people, as heard in “Suddenly Seymour”.

Famously, the film’s bleak ending, where the plant conquers the city, dooming Audrey and Seymour, was filmed but jettisoned by producer David Geffen, who insisted on a new ending, which was far more upbeat. Thankfully, we have the release version and a director’s cut that restores the original ending. You can see for yourself how the director’s vision wins. Similarly, he and Warner didn’t want Greene and tried to recruit Cindy Lauper instead, which could have been good, but not as perfect as Greene.

The movie has received a major upgrade. The HEVC / H.265 native 4K, with its 1.85:1 ratio and Dolby Vision/HDR10, brings sharp focus to every detail and plant petal. It handles blacks and shadows excellently while retaining the color palette without loss. It is well matched by the English Dolby Atmos, English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) audio options. To their credit, Warners has ensured both versions of the film look and sound terrific.

The Special Features include two new pieces celebrating the film’s 40th anniversary. First up is To Feed or Not to Feed: For the Love of Little Shop (14:39), with Oz and Greene reminiscing, plus plenty of BTS graphics to flesh out the story. Oz and Greene are back for Mean Green Mother – Creating Audrey II (8:23), joined by special visual effects artist Bran Ferren and model unit supervisor Richard Conway.

The extras from the 2012 Blu-ray release are retained: Frank Oz and Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut (10:40); A Story of Little Shop of Horrors (23:03); Outtakes and Deleted Scenes, with or without director commentary (8:41); Director’s Cut Ending, with or without Oz’s commentary (22:03).