Little Shop of Horrors (1960) directed by Roger Corman
Little Shop of Horrors was actually the very first musical I'd ever seen and I remember thinking "WTF? Are all broadway shows this weird?" It features a singing and dancing man eating plant whose catch phrase is a whiny "Feeeeeeeed me!" Yet I found myself laughing at and enjoying the offbeat comedy. Years later I would run across the 1986 musical comedy starring Rick Moranis and was gleefully delighted at its campy awesomeness. To me this story kicks the crap out of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as far as horror comedies go. I had no idea that the that the man eating plant went all the way back to 1960 with this campy low budget B movie. And of course it is awesome.
Seymour is a young loser who works at a florist shop who has been breeding a plant that he brings to the shop. The owner is unimpressed with the droopy looking thing and gives him one week to revitalize the plant or he's fired. Seymour tries everything, water, fertilizer, various plant foods, but nothing seems to work until he accidentally cuts his finger and drips some blood on it. Suddenly the plant springs to life and Seymour realizes this is no ordinary plant. It must feed on human blood. It starts off with just a drip of blood but soon enough Seymour finds he must feed it whole humans. Ridiculous? Yes. Preposterous? Yes. One hour of laughs and good times? Yes!
Little Shop of Horrors is billed as a comedy and treats it as such, taking nothing very seriously, though it isn't just the concept that is funny. This is actually pretty well written with clever punchlines and zany characters to catch your attention. Film buffs will be delighted to see a young Jack Nicholson in one of his earlier roles as a sort of sadomasochistic dental patient. My one complaint might be that this is not a musical, though that is only because of my fond memories of the broadway show and 1986 film it inspired. This original is fine as it is, that is to say a genuinely funny light hearted comedy deserving of its cult status.
Grade: B+
Little Shop of Horrors was actually the very first musical I'd ever seen and I remember thinking "WTF? Are all broadway shows this weird?" It features a singing and dancing man eating plant whose catch phrase is a whiny "Feeeeeeeed me!" Yet I found myself laughing at and enjoying the offbeat comedy. Years later I would run across the 1986 musical comedy starring Rick Moranis and was gleefully delighted at its campy awesomeness. To me this story kicks the crap out of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as far as horror comedies go. I had no idea that the that the man eating plant went all the way back to 1960 with this campy low budget B movie. And of course it is awesome.
Seymour is a young loser who works at a florist shop who has been breeding a plant that he brings to the shop. The owner is unimpressed with the droopy looking thing and gives him one week to revitalize the plant or he's fired. Seymour tries everything, water, fertilizer, various plant foods, but nothing seems to work until he accidentally cuts his finger and drips some blood on it. Suddenly the plant springs to life and Seymour realizes this is no ordinary plant. It must feed on human blood. It starts off with just a drip of blood but soon enough Seymour finds he must feed it whole humans. Ridiculous? Yes. Preposterous? Yes. One hour of laughs and good times? Yes!
Little Shop of Horrors is billed as a comedy and treats it as such, taking nothing very seriously, though it isn't just the concept that is funny. This is actually pretty well written with clever punchlines and zany characters to catch your attention. Film buffs will be delighted to see a young Jack Nicholson in one of his earlier roles as a sort of sadomasochistic dental patient. My one complaint might be that this is not a musical, though that is only because of my fond memories of the broadway show and 1986 film it inspired. This original is fine as it is, that is to say a genuinely funny light hearted comedy deserving of its cult status.
Grade: B+
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