Review of Little Shop of Horrors (1986) by Frisby 2 — 20 Jul 2011

I only watched this movie once, on youtube, & I have to say I adored it from the very first opening song. Little Shop of Horrors is one of the best musicals ever made, as well as a great black comedy movie for laughs.

Cast/Acting/Characters: Every character in here is not only memorable, but also lovable, especially Audrey II, & the casting choices as well as the performances are just fantastic from the amazing cast members. Seymore is your typical orphaned boy who grew up in a horrible street, who barely makes money to eat, sleep, & work; He is played by Rick Moranis, who was well known in many other films such as Space Balls, the Honey I shrunk series, Ghostbusters, & even Parenthood. We also have Audrey, played by Ellen Greene, a sweet, & kind girl who secretly loves Seymore, but already has a semi-sadist boyfriend who treats her like crap. Then we have Orin, played perfectly by Steve Martin, the horrible dentist, & Audrey's sadistic boyfriend who is nothing more than your typical rebellious asshole of a man. We then have Vincent Gardenia playing Mr. Mushnik, a man who wants his business to rise & go well, but tends to be a bit of a jerk to his own employees. We then have the greek choirs, Crystal (Tichina Arnold), Chiffon (Tisha Campbell), & Ronette (Michelle Weeks), who aren't necessarily important characters in the movie, but are instead the girls who sing in the background for the movie's plot & story. And we finally have Audrey II (Levi Stubbs), the best character in this movie, & sure as hell one of the greatest ones out there. Hell this plant was so great, it inspired the Piranha Plant of the Super Mario series.

Plot/Story: The plot & story in this movie are nothing new, & we've seen it many times, but, it is so ridiculously written that it is easily ignored & is made up of how fun it is.

Songs/Score: By far the best thing this movie offers. Every song in here is memorable, well written, & catchy. The songs have that classic R&B, soul, & Jazz feel to it that I listen to them every time in my iPod. My favorite songs in here (in order) are definitely the Prologue, Skid Row (Downtown), Some Fun Now, Suppertime, & Mean Green Mother from Outer Space.

Effects: Do I have to say? the best effects this movie has are the puppetry used for the Audrey II. I have sen many amazing movies using such great puppetry (The Thing), but this one definitely lands top 5. What's the difference between a puppet & CGI? That there is something actually something in front of you when you use a puppet. I couldn't imagine how much work they had to put in not only to color & design the [plant, but to make it move the way it did.

This movie tends to have a dark feel to it & also has characters we can relate to. It's also got a very dark sense of humor (the best kind of humor there is), but hey, it's a black comedy. I am a huge fan of musicals, & this one definitely has some of the best songs ever done.

Final summation, an amazing, funny, weird, & well thought-out film. Watch it though, it may be a little to much for kids. But if you hate musicals, avoid this movie like the plague, but I would actually say to give the soundtrack a chance.