Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #742 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-05-26
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Hilarious, tacky black comedy from 1960 that may be the best film by B-picture master Roger Corman, other than Bucket of Blood, made about the same time with the same writer, Charles Griffith. Seymour (Jonathan Haze) is an assistant in a skid-row flower shop who's on the point of losing his job when the unusual plant he's developed turns the store into a major attraction. The only problem is that the plant needs human blood to live, all the while crying, "Feed me! FEED ME!" Luckily, Seymour causes a series of inadvertent deaths that more than make up for the food shortage. Jack Nicholson provides a comic sidebar as a masochistic nutter visiting a dentist's office. Giggling and wild-eyed from the same impulse that might lead others to read scandal sheets, he can be seen in the dentist's waiting room reading aloud from Pain magazine. Famous for having the shortest shooting schedule on record (two days and a night), The Little Shop of Horrors spawned an off-Broadway musical that was in turn made into a successful film in 1986, starring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin. It was in just this quick-shoot atmosphere that Corman nurtured the careers of many of America's most celebrated film directors; this little shop of honours included Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, and Jonathan Demme. --Jim Gay

Special Features
* Music Only track
* Outtakes
* Making Of featurette
* 2 TV spots: Fearless Hero, Cast/Revised
* Audio Commentary by Director Frank Oz
* 2 Theatrical Trailers
Aspect Ratio Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio Dolby Digital 5.1

Synopsis
In this dark but goofy and thoroughly fun musical, shy Seymour and bubbly Audrey don't recognize the romance blooming between them, but they do recognize the money-making potential of Seymour's weird plant, discovered after a total eclipse of the sun. Soon money pours in and Seymour becomes a minor celebrity, but behind the glamour and fame lies a secret Seymour can't reveal: this strange and unusual plant's favorite food is blood. As the plant grows taller and taller, its demands for food grow as well, and Seymour starts to suspect that the plant might have an agenda for world domination.

Customer Reviews

It Came From the Eclipse
Things are not going well at Mr. Mushnik's (Vincent Gardenia) flower shop. He has had no customers for the longest time. In fact, he can hardly afford to keep paying his two employees, plant nerd Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) and cashier Audrey (Ellen Greene). Seymour, meanwhile, has a crush on Audrey, but she is currently dating a sadistic dentist named Orin (Steve Martin).

Everything changes after an unexpected eclipse of the sun. Seymour finds an unusual plant. Naming it Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs but played by a series of puppets), he places it in the shop window. Almost immediately, it starts to draw in customers.

However, Seymour discovers a serious problem. It requires human blood to live. And the more he feeds it, the more it starts to grow. What will happen when the blood from a cut finger no longer satisfies Audrey II?

I had long heard of this musical and always been curious about it. Fortunately, I got to see it for free. The story was just too strange for me. I know it was supposed to be funny, but I didn't really find anything to laugh about. I will say the acting was great, especially Steve Martin as a wanna be Elvis (with black hair even). The songs were pretty good and catchy as well.

But the story! I could never find anyone to truly root for. As a result, it became an exercise in waiting to see how things would unfold. And as I said, I found parts of it painful instead of funny, especially most of the scenes with Steve Martin. (Yet his acting was great. Go figure.) I enjoy dark comedies, but this one was just too dark to find anything funny.

As much as I love musicals, this is one I won't be adding to my collection. Do yourself a favor and hurry on by before Audrey II gets you.

Brilliant
I bought this DVD after seeing a stage production of Little Shop of Horrors.

This film is amazing and has hardly dated. The plant puppetry is breathtaking (if you like plant puppetry) The performances are great (I didn't know Rick Moranis could sing so well)

As for bonuses, the out-takes are interesting and include a brief glimpse of the original end (the not so happy end) The behind the scenes documentary lets you see how they controlled the plant and makes it even more amazing as well as looking at the choice of actors, the set, interviews, etc.

One word of warning however, the 'music only track' is the most bizarre extra I've ever seen, you 'see' the film as per usual but only 'hear' the music and singing, so between songs you have several minutes of silence (whilst you watch the mute film). Even spoken words in songs are silent. I cannot see any point to this feature, however since this is a freebie I won't knock off any stars. Bizarre, but hey it's a film with a giant singing plant.

An Unsung Gem
This little gem of a musical cannot be recommended more. It stars Rick Moranis as geeky Seymour, a guy whose totally in love with his sweet co-worker Audrey. However, she is in a relationship with an abusive dentist. When a talking plant appears from outer space though, things have got to change for the better, right? An astonishingly original concept - which was actually borrowed from the horror original by Roger Corman, with an early appearance by Jack Nicholson - is brought to life by Frank Oz, director of The Dark Crystal and Bowfinger, also starring Steve Martin. The songs are outstanding and are performed with much gusto by the leading actors, particularly Ellen Greene, who reprises the role of Audrey which she played in the stage version. The film was not a huge success when it was first released, but has rightly established a cult following since then. Long may it continue!