jamesgandrew A young man named Seymour works for a florist and discovers a strange and unusual plant that attracts the locals. However, he later finds the plant is attracted to human blood and flesh and after a series of accidental occurrences, he is forced to feed the plant.Roger Corman is a familiar name in the world of schlock. He filmed Little Shop of Horrors in two days and a night on a budget of $22500. Corman after his first few films created his own company 'New World Pictures', which produced films from the likes of exploitation flicks to foreign arthouse films.Little Shop of Horrors is an excellent comedy horror that takes a schlocky premise and turns it into something clever and endearing. Jonathan Haze is excellent at playing the awkward Seymour, who you really get attached to and feel sorry for as these unfortunate events occur.The film also stars some recognisable faces. Jack Nicholson makes a cameo as a masochist who enjoys pain and getting his teeth ripped out by the dentist. Dick Miller also makes an appearance as a store regular and he's starred in the majority of Joe Dante's films and also makes a show in many eighties films such as 'The Terminator', 'After Hours' and 'Gremlins', just to name a few. Jackie Joseph plays Audrey and coincided with Dick Miller as the Futterman's in Joe Dante's classic 'Gremlins'.The film was later adapted into a famous Broadway musical and got a remake in 1986 directed by Frank Oz. I find Frank Oz's version to be great in its own right, however, I would try to track down the most recent release which reinserts Oz's preferred pessimistic and impressive ending he intended to use originally.

B MovieManiac Superb B movie mayhem.Either by design or through a fortunate coming together of genius this movie hits all the marks. Well paced with good balance of black humour. This movie could probably stand the test of time in it's own right but the sprinkling of artists who delivered well here and went on to greater heights just adds to its fun.I'm torn between the concept of "if an infinite number of monkeys directed an infinite number of films" and Corman's personal approach "make 'em fast 'n make 'em cheap" ... he had to strike gold eventually. As a Corman fan, for me everything just comes together in a perfect storm for this one, actors, writers and director and maybe he blew an extra $50 on this one.

SimonJack "The Little Shop of Horrors" is a low budget (almost no budget) film that doesn't fit the fright and terror of the horror genre. It's in a league of somewhat scary flicks that are funny as well. The silly premise here is festooned with farce, parody, puns, sight gags, and horrendously humorous lines. The movie pokes light-hearted fun at all sorts of subjects with impunity. The script subtly and not so-subtly switches between subjects that it knocks. One moment it jabs at an ethnic neighborhood, and the next it pans a phobia of dentists. The cast is mostly unknown outside the industry at the time and a cult following today. One exception is a 23-year-old Jack Nicholson in just his fourth movie. This is a decade ahead of his A-film roles and 15 years ahead of his Oscar performance in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." Here he plays Wilbur Force with hilarious aplomb. Nicholson's scene in the dentist's office is one of the funniest of the film, combining dialogue and sight gag. In the waiting room, he's reading an article by a doctor in a magazine: "There were other complications. The man had cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy and a touch of the grippe. I decided to operate." One of my favorite scenes is when Seymour, played by Jonathan Haze, goes home to check on his hypochondriac mother. He walks in the door and we hear the radio from his mother's bedroom. "This is radio KSIK. You've been listening to music for old invalids. Our next selection is entitled, 'Sick Room Serenade.'" Seymour is the source of most of the buffoonery in the film. Many sight gags happen throughout the film, and some go by rather quickly. I caught one in a street scene as the camera was panning toward Mushnick's flower shop. A billboard above the street shops advertised in large letters, "Skidrow Seminary." A sign in the flower shop reads, "We don't letting you spend so much."The names of many characters are wonderful jabs at Hollywood and humanity. Detective Sergeant Joe Fink parodies Joe Friday of the long- running TV police drama, "Dragnet" (1951-1959). But in this film, Joe Fink says "I'm a fink," and his partner is Detective Frank Stoolie. Finks and stoolies were the same thing in the underworld of that day, and the terms still are used today. Mrs. Siddie Shiva is a pun for a Jewish funeral rite. Then there's Hortense Fishtwanger of the Society of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California – the SSFOSC. And, there is Gravis Mushnick, for which I offer one possible generic parody – a producer or lover of serious mushy romance stories. By a wild stretch of the imagination, I can see a clever similarity of this movie with the 1940 big-name film, "The Shop Around the Corner." Who knows what director Roger Corman and writer Charles Griffith had in mind at the time? Or any time?All of this is fun, of course. What makes this movie a true treasure and delight to watch – and listen to, is the witty script. Two characters stand out for their riotously laughable lines and hilarious malapropisms. Jackie Joseph is a hoot as demure Audrey Fulquard. And Mel Welles is over the top hilarious as the bombastic Gravis Mushnick. This is a great piece of comedy film, well worth having in any film library. I encourage viewers to read the IMDb Trivia and Quotes sections. Here are some of my favorite funny lines and malapropisms. The latter are wrong words (or no words) that sound like words that should be used, so that the dialogue is nonsensical and usually very humorous. Gracie Allen was a master of malapropism on the George Burns and Gracie Allen TV show (1950-1958). Mrs. Shiva: "I thought possibly because I give you all my funeral business, that maybe you should possibly give to me a little cut rate." Mushnick: "Look at me, Mrs. Shiva. What am I – a philatelist? To my throat I would be giving a cut."Mushnick, to Seymour: "You're fired!" Audrey, to Mushnick: "Why don't you give him a chance to resurrect himself?"Winifred Krelboyne, reading a medicine bottle label: "If you get hit by a truck, call your physician."Mushnick: "I don't like my house cluttered up with rotten vegetables."Seymour to his mom, Winifred: "Look Ma, I've gotta go. Can I bring you anything?" Winifred: "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring me the Evening News. They're running a self-diagnosis contest. The winner gets to go to the Mayo Clinic."Seymour: "I gave it (the plant) a name." Mushnick: "What name?" Seymour: "Aw, gee …" Mushnick: "What, you gave it a dirty name that you can't even mention it?"Burson Fouch: "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm crazy about kosher flowers."Audrey to Seymour: "I think you're a fine figurative of a man."Seymour: "Look, Audrey. Isn't he beautiful? Isn't he delicious? Isn't he got a $2 raise? What happened to your fingers?" Seymour: "Bee stings." Mushnick: "All four fingers?" Seymour, holding up both hands: "All 10 fingers."Seymour: "Look at that. It's almost a foot long." Audrey: "Isn't it a spiracle?" Mushnick: "It grows, like a cold sore from the lip."Girl in the flower shop: "Doesn't it have a scientific name?" Mushnick: "Yes, of course. But who could denounce it?"Audrey, to Mushnick: "Try to eat something. It'll calm your agrimation."Seymour: "Ain't that something'?" Audrey: "It's monstrosinous."Seymour: "You kiss good, Audrey." Audrey, "I guess I just have a good kisser."Mushnick: "It's a finger of speech."Mushnick: "Are you hungry?" Audrey: "Sure am. I could eat a hearse."Audrey: "There's a lady from some kind of a comitance outside."Seymour, to his dentist: "It's this tooth, over here." Dr. Farb: "Seymour, who's the dentist here, you or me?"

Paul Magne Haakonsen I remember seeing the musical version of this classic movie back in my youth and did enjoy that, but never having seen the original 1960 movie, I made a super bargain at a local DVD store and picked it up.Now, keep in mind that this movie is 52 years old already and shot in black/white, but still it was a great movie to watch. A lovely dark comedy with a funny and good story.To shortly summarize what "The Little Shop of Horrors" is about, then Seymour Krelboyne (played by Jonathan Haze) works at Gravis Mushnick's (played by Mel Welles) flower store, and he is hopelessly in love with Audrey Fulquard (played by Jackie Joseph). Having a very unique plant, Seymour names the plant after his love, and he accidentally finds out that the plant needs blood to live. As the plant grows in size, which it does at an alarming rate, the plant grows more and more hungry and need more than just blood to satisfy it's ravenous desire.The storyline is very good, easy to follow and offer some funny moments. Being such an old movie, don't expect too much from the props and scenery, although I will say that the movie actually fares quite well with whatever meager props and scenery they made use of.And of course, Jack Nicholson, is in this movie as well, one of the first performances of his I have seen personally, but he is not the star of the movie. After his fame and success in Hollywood, of course, his name is one of the headliners on the DVD cover, despite him having a small role only."The Little Shop of Horrors" is a definite must watch movie, because it is a great comedy from that age, and probably a pioneer in its genre at the time. Well worth a watch and a great addition to any movie aficionado's DVD collection.