The Horror is Not Seeing This Movie Little Shop of Horror, the movie that made me fall in love with musicals.
Before watching this movie I thought of musicals as plays on film, with long drawn out singing segments you struggled not to nap during. In my eyes musicals weren’t even on the same level as regular movies with all of its high tech effects, fast paced plots and trendy soundtracks. The movie Little Shop of Horrors changed my narrow minded way of thinking into dare I say, a movie musical believer.Interestingly enough the movie “started as a 1960 Roger Corman horror comedy, filmed in two days; it then inspired a lavish 1982 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
Finally in 1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1960) graduated into a multimillion-dollar, all-star film musical (Rotten)”. Although the movie has childlike qualities and innocence, and very animated characters – I would rate it a PG-13 movie because of various content. So, ironically it was just as I had perceived it to be, a play on film, only there were no long drawn out singing scenes that allowed you to nap for five or more minutes.The songs where upbeat and very danceable, soulful, and yeah they did throw in 1 or 2 slow prolonged songs, but even they had their moments. Let’s take a moment to introduce ourselves to the movie’s main characters: Semour Krelborn played by Rick Moranis, once an orphan, he was taken in by the shop owner Mushnik and has now grown into a timid, geeky man who is lives in the basement of the florist.
The florist shop owner is Mr. Mushnik played by Vincent Gardenia, who is a money hungry, unsympathetic man who treats Seymour as a slave.The florist arranger and (as the older folks would say) “loose looking” Audrey played by Ellen Greene who dresses like a “slut” and suffers from very low self-esteem, but who Semour loves deeply. Little does Seymour know, Audrey privately dreams about the two of the together as man and wife with two kids (a boy and a girl) and living the American dream – white picket fence and all.
Audrey doesn’t tell Seymour because she doesn’t think she deserves such a nice, sweet guy; plus her sadistic boyfriend Dr. Orin Scrivello, D. D.S played by Steve Martin would kill both of them if he found out.
Dr. Scrivello is a ruthless dentist that enjoys inflicting pain on others, especially his girlfriend Audrey. The movie opens as any musical should with a song, sang by “Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell and Michelle Weeks who sashay through the film as Crystal, Chiffon and Ronette, one of the only known Greek choruses to perform doo-wop material” (Rotten). Diving right into the movie plot, it begins in a small, quaint floral shop on Skid row, business has been anything but booming; So, Audrey suggests to Mr.Mushnik that he put one of Semour’s tropical plants out in the shop to attract customers, well jokingly Mr. Mushnik puts one of the plants in the store window and the plant becomes the main attraction at the florist and in the movie.
We soon find out Seymour bought the odd plant from an oriental store owner played by Vincent Wong, “during a sudden total eclipse of the sun” (Little). Business is booming, on the surface everything looks great, but Seymour harbors a dark secret – his plant not only looks odd, it also has an odd appetite.Throughout the movie everything centers around the unusual diet of Audrey II ,the plant’s name, (voice of the Four Tops' Levi Stubbs) and takes us on a ride that’s anything but dull! By the end of the movie you are on the edge of your seat watching every scene and rooting for your favorite character. As I mentioned in the beginning of this review the songs are great, most seem up to date with the movie, soulful and memorable.
All of the movie seems to be written or modified specifically for the movie. The cast is very talented and play their roles convincingly and skillfully.Even the supporting role actors and actresses (which included lots of celebrities) performed impressively. There were masterful performances from Steve Martin as Dr.
Scrivello and Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II. Steve Martin plays a smaller role, but his on screen presence is awesome. He steals the show from the main characters, with his unique interpretation of the dentist role. Levi Stubbs is the unsung hero of the movie, his colorful voice gave us the illusion of a plant even more imposing than its appearance suggests. He put the creep in creepiness of the movie.And let’s not forget the main man behind the scene, “director Frank Oz, known for his work with Jim Henson for years on "The Muppet Show" and all the Muppet movies- as well as voice acting for the wise sensei Yoda in the "Star Wars" films” (Berardinelli).
This movie musically reels you in from the first 2 minutes during the opening song and doesn’t release you until the last 5 minutes during the closing song. The producers have found a way to give you the best of both worlds, the feel of a play with all of the excitement of a live performance and the celebrity cast and high tech effects of a multimillion dollar movie.You can’t help but get caught up in this unique movie, even if you don’t enjoy the plot as a whole. The most unbelievable thing about this movie musical is it is just as entertaining today, 2011, as it was during its premier in 1986. That’s just a testament to its legendary status, not just for past generations but for all the generations to come.
Work Cited Berardinelli, James. Reelviews. net. Review: Little Shop of Horrors (1986).
9 June 2011. ; www. reelviews. net/movies/l/little_shop. html; Jensen, Marc.
"Feed Me! ": Power Struggles and the Portrayal of Race in Little Shop of Horrors”. Cinema Journal; Fall2008, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p51-67, 17p Academic Search Premier. _Little Shop of Horror_. Dir.
Frank Oz. Warner Brothers Pictures, 1986. Streaming Netflix Maslin, Janet. “The Screen: ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. ”New York Times 19 Dec 1986. P5 Academic Search Premier.
Rottentomatoes. com. Little Shop of Horrors (1986). Flixster. 9 June 2011. ;www.
rottentomatoes. com/... /1012515-little_shop_of_horrors/;.
