The Little Shop of Horrors

The recently deceased Roger Corman (he was older than God), the potentate, reigning high priest, and Holy Father of bad exploitation cinema, helmed this sleazoid gem, which inspired both a Broadway musical and a retro camp cult classic featuring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin, among others. I've watched it at various times in my life, so I guess I’d better write about it. The film boasts a no-star cast, with one notable exception: Jack Nicholson, in an early role, plays a sadist who loves dental pain—a role reprised in the 1986 remake by none other than Bill Murray. Nicholson’s gleeful, giddy madness is one of the most amusing aspects of this otherwise mildly entertaining film. Only mildly amusing. Nonetheless, it’s something you might want to watch more than once, though I’m not certain why.

The plot is well-known. Gravis Mushnik (Mel Welles) runs a flower shop on "Skid Row" and does a very, very meager business. His employees—he miraculously has two—are the incredibly happy-go-lucky, Pollyannaish Audrey (Jackie Joseph), who speaks in amusing and comical malapropisms (she tells Seymour at one point, "Why, you're the most magnanimous man that's ever existed!"—meaning to say "magnificent" but getting confused), and Seymour Krelboined (Jonathan Haze), a schleppish ne'er-do-well and put-upon little dweeb in a striped scarf and cabbie's cap, who is fostering a mysterious plant that looks like an upturned potato with a crack down the side. It falters at first, but the application of a little accidental blood from Krelboin's veins awakens the beast in the thing. It grows bigger and bigger and even talks (at least a few phrases, whining, "Hungry! Feed me!").

Dick Miller drops by as a man who compulsively eats flowers (he salts them first), and Seymour's mother (Myrtle Vail) is revealed as a hypochondriac obsessed with sickness, whipping up nauseating dishes of chop suey, vapor rub, cough syrup, and Epsom salts. Gag!

Rounding out the cast are TV cop show parodies ("Joe Fink," played by Wally Campo, an obvious nod to "Dragnet"), two Bobbsey Twin high school girls with two thousand dollars to spend on flowers, and Mrs. Siva (Leola Wendorff), an old Jewish lady whose relatives are constantly expiring. Seymour nurtures his blood-drinking, demanding little plant until it becomes quite large, and Mushnik’s ailing business suddenly thrives. Krelboin then accidentally kills a rummy on a railroad track and feeds the body parts to his little "Audrey Junior." After that, the plant grows to an enormous size.

Seymour becomes the horticultural star of Skid Row, and even a society lady wants to know his secret. Meanwhile, Mr. Mushnik learns the truth and uses it to rid himself of a pesky burglar. None of this is wildly amusing or entertaining, but I suppose there's something to the central idea, ensuring that the story would be continued on stage and again on screen decades later.

Grinding out an additional 120 words on this celluloid "gem" is proving to be a bit of a challenge. It makes me want to feed my computer to a giant, talking, man-eating plant. I will say, though, that there is a scene where human faces appear on budding "Audrey" blooms, which is quite effective, all things considered. The performances are good, if a little lampoonish, and Seymour, Mushnik, and the ever-cheerful Audrey 1 are appropriate enough as cartoonish foils. There aren’t many thorny plot elements or story twists to write home about—or to stretch this review by another twenty-five words. I could conclude by saying that if you liked the loud, colorful adaptation from 1986, starring that mystifying disappearing man of Eighties camp cinema, Rick Moranis, you’ll want to see this much quieter, starker, and dour little gem. After all, a rose by any other name, right?

(That last joke may have missed the mark a bit. Feel free to feed me to the plant if you so desire. I deserve it. Ciao!)

Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - Classic Horror Comedy Movie | Sci-Fi Horror | Comedy Cult Classic

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