Reeling Backward: Little Shop of Horrors
When I was in high school, the big midnight-show movie was “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a poorly made low-budget horror-movie spoof, which also happened to be a musical, and warranted (sometimes unwelcome) audience participation. By the mid-1980s, the “Rocky Horror” fad was beginning to fade when Frank Oz (of Muppet fame) churned out a well-made, larger-budget horror-movie spoof, which also happened to be a musical. I was certain “Little Shop of Horrors” would be the next big midnight-show classic.
Guess what? I was wrong. While “Little Shop of Horrors” never really caught on with the midnight crowd, it was a mainstream hit, and it’s still an absolute joy to watch. Based on the 1982 Broadway musical (which, in itself, was based on Roger Corman’s low-budget non-musical 1960 film), “Little Shop” concerns a nerdy young man named Seymour, who works at Mushnik’s Flower Shop. His co-worker and love interest, Audrey, likes Seymour platonically, but her boyfriend, Orin, is the strangest, most macabre dentist you’ve ever seen.
In an effort to drum up business, Seymour brings an exotic plant from his apartment to the store, and even names it Audrey II, only to discover this plant survives solely on human blood. Naturally, Audrey II becomes the talk of the town, and Mushnik’s business booms. Faced with losing Audrey II to hunger (and therefore, all the free publicity for the store), Seymour feeds the dentist to the plant! And here you have the twisted yet delightful tenor of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Affable Rick Moranis plays the wistful Seymour, while Ellen Greene (from the Broadway production) shines as Audrey. Steve Martin has a great time as the dentist, a role seemingly tailor-made for his formerly madcap humor. Character actor Vincent Gardenia plays Mr. Mushnik, and Bill Murray (an actor/comedian I’ve always found overrated) gives perhaps the best performance of his career in a hilarious supporting role. Levi Stubbs, the powerful lead singer of the Four Tops, provides the acerbic voice of Audrey II.
When “Little Shop” was released, my only real complaint was that, in typical Hollywood fashion, almost all the lead characters were played by well-known actors. Only Greene came from the Broadway musical, and her spot-on performance is dynamite. She plays Audrey just daffy enough to be non-threatening (either to the dentist or to Seymour) yet astute enough to realize Seymour is the far better match for her. And her singing is astonishing. Nothing against Moranis, but why not also use a Broadway original in the lead role?
Remember how some of those insipid Burt Reynolds comedies ended with a series of outtakes, showing the cast members having a great time on the set? That was neat, but when the audience is bored (or worse, embarrassed for the actors) that gimmick makes us long to have as much fun watching the picture as the cast and crew had making it. That’s not the case here. “Little Shop of Horrors” is a real treat to watch, and we genuinely see the actors having fun as well. For example, Martin’s early brash humor was difficult to pigeonhole into screenplays (see “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” or “The Man With Two Brains”). But “Little Shop” offered Martin a chance to show his talent within the context of a script not written specifically for him. And it’s obvious he has a blast with the material. So does Murray. And even the unseen Stubbs radiates a sparkle with a voice part, again, seemingly tailor-made for his talents, but was not written specifically for him.
It’s always a pleasure to revisit “Little Shop of Horrors.” It’s as enjoyable today as it was in 1986.