Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)

 

Genre: Musical/ Horror        Time: 1hour 28mins        Director: Frank Oz

Quick Summary: In the hopes of turning around the fortunes of his failing floral business, a nerdy florist purchases a bloodthirsty plant, from a Chinese street vendor.

I will never get tired of this film, it is such a fun time and such an enjoyable film. From its funky soundtrack to its narrative structure, the film merges well-known genres in very unique ways. It’s a collision of the classical Hollywood musical and horrifying man-eating creatures, it boasts dark themes and brilliant puppet work.

All of the songs are hugely memorable, witty, and often very funny; the title song grabs your attention immediately, ‘Suppertime’ is a brilliant attention-grabbing number, as well as ‘Dentist’ a Steve Martin-powered delight (as dark as it is, subject matter-wise, it’s an upbeat and hilariously staged song).

What I love about this film is its ability to create a fantastical world that is filled with cartoonish characters that still feel real enough to tug on your heartstrings.

 One of my favorite examples of this is Audrey’s character, who is so painfully weak-willed that it becomes pretty funny, but we still feel awful for her as she goes through some difficult circumstances. Audrey’s driving force in life is to ‘find a man she can follow blindly,’ which is absolutely ridiculous as a character motivation unless of course it’s meant to be satire. That satire is played heavily when Audrey sings the song, ‘Somewhere that’s Green,’ in which Audrey daydreams about an unrealistic life with Seymour, pictured after the "American Dream" 

Another thing I really liked about the film was Audrey II itself, that is, the singing man-eating plant named after Audrey. The plant was done with all practical effects, and I was absolutely floored by the amount of detail that went into it. The limbs (or rather, the vines) were all articulated and able to wrap themselves around different things or items, and the mouth and lips moved to form every word the plant spoke. Now being a massive fan of puppets, I know how much hard work has to go into a puppet like that and I really commend this film for that.

 The plant also grew on screen at different points in the movie, and again, all of this was done with practical effects and puppetry. Audrey II also rides the line between humorous and cartoonish and deviously devilish quite well (he’s never frightening by any means). I do tend to have a soft spot for puppets and especially ones done by Frank Oz and Jim Henson.

9/10

"Does this look inanimate to you, punk? If I can talk, and I can move, whose to say I do can't anyhing I want?”

“- Seymour Krelborn: The Audrey II is not a healthy girl.

- Mushnik: Strictly between us - neither is the Audrey I.”