HalloWatch: Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Watched:  10/31/2023

Format:  Max

Viewing:  Unknown

Director:  Frank Oz

It seems unfathomable that I've never done a post on Little Shop of Horrors (1986) but a quick glance my history here, and I haven't.  We did watch it back in 2020 during Halloween season, but I seemed to think we were about to podcast the movie.  We did not.

So, the way I first saw the movie was a tad unlikely.  Some kids at my school figured out there was a pay phone outside, and they called in a bomb threat with about two hours left to go in the day.  So, we stood around in the drizzling rain until the buses came, and then we just went home without our books or homework.  

Over dinner, The Admiral realized I had nothing to do, found the next movie on, and he and I jumped in the car and drove over to Showplace 6 to see Little Shop of Horrors.  I was delighted.  Loved the movie.  Sci-fi/ horror/ comedy/ musical?  Slam dunk home run.

We were a family that attended a lot of musicals and theatrical productions, so the language of a movie musical was no real surprise to me, but I'd never seen anything that also squarely jived with a comedic sensibility of the time in that format, and which featured some of my favorite comedians.

Of course, Rick Moranis as Seymour, but cameos from Bill Murray, Steve Martin, John Candy and more.  And, of course, a giant, singing, talking plant bent on world domination.  The music was reminiscent of what I was listening to on Oldies stations (I missed the gag about our chorus' names until college), and it's kind of banger after banger.  We forget Howard Ashman and Alan Menken did this off Broadway before they were the Disney-famous Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. 

The big visual feature of the movie is, of course, the gigantic puppets of the Audrey II as the plant goes through its various stages, paired with the voice of Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops, one of the best R&B groups of the 20th Century.  I've read some things about how the puppet was animated that seem impossible watching the movie, but some part of it must be true.  And it can almost make one angry seeing the amazing work on Audrey II and then how... bad everything looked for quite a while as puppets were replaced with CGI.  Maybe the wildest bit is that, to get the right motion, they sped the film up, so everyone in scenes with Audrey II had to move in slow-mo.  It's completely seamless.

But one rarely discussed bit is the actual set, which is clearly a set, putting you in the mind space of seeing a play, but allowing for cinematography to do its thing on the multiple levels, across streets, in back alleys and in the Flower Shop.  The artifice is upped even more in the "Somewhere That's Green" number, recreating the perfect house and yard of Better Homes and Gardens (is that still in print?). and putting us into Audrey's POV. 

It's funny that the story works so well, but it was work shopped off-Broadway for a long time before becoming a film.  I have no idea what early versions may have been like, and while I've seen the play twice, can't remember too many specifics of what is and isn't in the film and play.  But as a sort of intergalactic Faustian deal, it works as a pretty solid horror movie.  And, recognizing that the story is kind of slight (I mean, the source is a Roger Corman movie shot in a few days), the insertion of the dentist stuff keeps you going.

You don't need me to tell you that the music in this play also works, song after song .  There's really not any tunes in the film that slow the actual pace of the film or seem like they exist so we can change out sets or costumes.  "Somewhere That's Green", which sits where these songs usually kill the vibe, is a highlight thanks to the design and Greene's pipes.  (I'll also argue that the po-mo giggles the song were intended to draw now feel utterly sincere in an era where home ownership is becoming harder and harder to achieve).

And, of course, we have our Greek Chorus of Ronette, Crystal and Chiffon - who carry the story along, comment and perform all the necessary duties of the chorus while also nailing the bit of girl group.  

I think we're all friends here, so I'll be honest - This is where this flips to a thirst post and things get awkward.

I was 11, and now the age where it was generally acknowledged one liked girls, if that was your bag.  I still carefully couched my interest in jokes and wisecracks and lingering too long in the poster section at Spencer's Gifts.  But, hoo boy, did Ellen Greene leave an impression.* 

Look, we all react differently to different things, and we have little control over what we'll imprint upon.  But, yeah, for me it was Ellen Greene as Audrey, not your Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.  After all, Cathy Ireland didn't take it to 11 singing when she needed to get her feelings out.  Plus, what bespectacled nerd wouldn't want to think "hey, maybe?"

Anyway, credit where it's due, and whatever damage Greene, her character and this movie did to my impressionable psyche, I have never recovered from, but there you go.  On a rewatch, I stand by my brain chemistry's decision from nearly 40 years ago.  

In recent years, the loss of Rick Moranis in film (but not to Planet Earth) has been widely discussed.  His decision to leave Hollywood for his family is honorable and admirable.  But, man.  He's so good in this.  He wasn't going to get to play the leading man very often, and he swung for the fences with this one.  And, who knew, he can even carry a tune?

Frank Oz turned out to be a talented director.  I don't think folks thought he wouldn't, but he was king of tailor-made for the complications of putting together a movie with a gigantic puppet, visual effects, multi-layered sets and working with music and not making it about Frank Oz.  That may have been to his detriment as he directed multiple favorites from the 1980's and 90's, but we always have to be reminded "that was Frank Oz on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels".  

Anyway, glad to return to the movie.

On a final note, I like both endings to the movie - the one that adheres to the play is obviously a bit of black, nihilistic humor and when I've seen it as a play or as a DVD extra, I dig it.  But I also don't think the story seems upended or ruined by the ending that satisfied test audiences.  People sitting through a movie may not be looking for a punchline so much as a resolution to a conflict, especially in a goofy musical.  I appreciate the original ending, but I actually lean toward the conclusion of the theatrical release when it comes to the film.  I know.  Heresy.

* Longtime readers may recall that in the long, long ago, when I was running a column over at League of Melbotis called "Dames in the Media The League Once Dug", Ellen Greene as Audrey was prominently covered so this is not news.