Movie Review #11: Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

My third favorite musical just might be even weirder than Sweeney Todd. I mean just look at the poster. The description tells you exactly what you're going into.

Little Shop of Horrors is the story of Seymour Krelborn, who's a nerdy florist who finds an amazing plant that's unlike any other. Seymour hopes that with this plant that he can find success and the love of his life.

Oddly enough, this is a remake of an early Roger Corman film from 1960. In 1986 years later, Frank Oz remade it and even though it was considered a box-office bomb, it gained a cult following and two Oscar nominations. Few low-grossing films can say that.

The title was rather misleading to me. I watched this movie without knowing anything about it, so the title Little Shop of Horrors made me think it would be scary (or at least scary like Gremlins). It turned out to be a musical satire with some unbelievable puppet work. That leads me to what I adored about this movie. The puppets blew my mind! I thought that I had seen it all when it came to puppets in movie. Well NOW I've seen it all. The fact that this was made in the late '80's astounded me even more. People who think puppets are lame clearly have seen this movie or Labyrinth. I really want to re-watch Labyrinth now.

The characters are likable and funny, especially Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborn. But the one who steals every scene he's in is Steve Martin as The Dentist. He portrayed dentists exactly how I think they are: Sadistic, Cruel and certifiably insane. I apologize to everyone in the orthodontia field. I'm just scared of dentists and this movie didn't help my fear. Aside from Steve Martin, there are quite a few other memorable cameo appearances from actors like Bill Murray, Christopher Guest and John Candy. Bill Murray was easily the funniest and weirdest. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, it was just the most memorable.

All of the songs are so much fun. Especially the song that Seymour's plant, Audrey II sings. It's completely weird considering Audrey is voiced by Levi Stubbs who was a member of the Four Tops.

Final Report: Little Shop of Horrors is perhaps the weirdest musical of all time and one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. And I wouldn't want it any other way.