Review of Little Shop of Horrors (1986) by Andre B — 30 Mar 2009

The film opens with the words read by Stanley Jones: "On the twenty-third day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence. And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places..." ("Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors").

Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), a nerdy young assistant in a New York City florist shop, is trying to store pots but breaks them by accident. Seymour and Audrey Fulquard, his coworker, with all the other tenants of their Skid Row area complain of their surroundings ("Skid Row (Downtown)"). The day of a solar eclipse, Seymour discovers a mysterious new plant ("Da-Doo"). He names the plant "Audrey II", because of his secret crush on Audrey (Ellen Greene). However, when the shop closes for the day, Seymour discovers that Audrey II is wilting from lack of food. It refuses to eat anything normal plants would feed on, such as soil, water and sunlight. Seymour accidentally cuts his finger and discovers that Audrey II has an appetite for human blood ("Grow for Me").

As the plant thrives, business booms at Mr. Mushnik's (Vincent Gardenia) previously failing flower shop ("Some Fun Now"). Seymour becomes a local celebrity, but he is very weak because Audrey II needs more and more of his blood every day. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Audrey has feelings for Seymour. She dreams of one day marrying him and moving to a tract house complete with plastic coated furniture, a "big, enormous" twelve inch television screen, and two children ("Somewhere That's Green"). Seymour tries to ask Audrey out, but she has a date with her dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello D.D.S. (Steve Martin), who is revealed to be sadistic and abusive ("Dentist!").

Eventually, the now-huge Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops) begins to talk to Seymour, demanding more blood than Seymour can give ("Feed Me (Git It)"). He convinces Seymour to kill Orin after Seymour becomes enraged watching him abuse Audrey. Seymour books an appointment with Orin and arms himself with a revolver. However, Orin, disappointed with his previous algolagnic patient Arthur Denton (Bill Murray), decides to amuse himself by huffing nitrous oxide. His gas mask malfunctions and Seymour allows him to die from asphyxiation as Orin laughs hysterically.

Seymour drags Orin's body back to the flower shop where he chops it up for the plant (per its demands). He is in the middle of dismembering the body with an ax when Mr. Mushnik passes by the flower shop and witnesses his actions. He does not confront him, but runs off scared. Seymour feeds the body parts to the plant, which it, too, laughs hysterically from the nitrous oxide contained in Orin's blood. Audrey II continues to grow as the movie progresses.

After Seymour has spent a sleepless night, he discovers two policemen questioning Audrey about Orin's disappearance. She says that she feels guilty about Orin's death, even though she did not cause it, because she always secretly wished that he would die. Seymour tells Audrey that she is beautiful and shouldn't have such low self-esteem. They admit their feelings for each other and kiss ("Suddenly Seymour").

That night, Mushnik finds Seymour and accuses him of being an ax murderer. Seymour confesses that he chopped Orin up but denies that he killed him ("Suppertime I"). Before leaving the store, Mushnik decides to bargain with Seymour, offering Seymour protection if he allows Mushnik to take care of the plant. Seymour is undecided and stands by while Mushnik investigates Audrey II and is killed and swallowed whole by the carnivorous plant. Seymour's fortune continues to grow and he becomes a media star ("The Meek Shall Inherit"), but he is very worried about Audrey II's growth and insatiable appetite. He is also afraid that Audrey will only love him if he continues to be famous. He knows that it is only a matter of time before another murder will happen.

Seymour decides to get out of town and marry Audrey, leaving the plant to starve. While Seymour momentarily leaves the shop to get the plant some meat, Audrey II telephones Audrey and asks her to come over, then tries to eat her ("Suppertime II"). Seymour saves her in the nick of time, and tries to explain to her what happened. When he mentions that she liked him because of the plant and his fame, Audrey tells him that she would still love him even if he was poor again ("Suddenly Seymour (reprise)").

As they share this moment together, they are interrupted by a salesman named Patrick Martin (James Belushi) from World Botanical Enterprises, who offers to breed Audrey II and make a fortune by selling the plant to families around the world. Seymour, frightened, realizes that Audrey II must be destroyed before more lives are lost. Seymour confronts and fights the gigantic plant, who by now has little offspring in tow. Audrey II bursts out of his pot and reveals to Seymour that he's an alien from outer space ("Mean Green Mother from Outer Space").

After brawling with Seymour, Audrey II manages to latch onto the store's support beams and yank the shop to pieces, assuming that he's killed Seymour with the mass amounts of debris and bricks that crushed him. However, Seymour's arm bursts through the rubble in which he has been buried and he grabs two broken exposed electrical wires, which he uses to shock the massive plant, causing Audrey II to explode.

Seymour survives the explosion and, he and Audrey are safely together again at last. They wed and move to the same suburbs that Audrey dreamed of; however, just before the end credits start to roll, there appears a new, little, smiling Audrey II bud in their front yard.

[edit] Cast.