Little Shop of Horrors Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Little Shop of Horrors
Year: 1986
Director: Frank Oz
Country: US
Language: English

If a cinephile was to ask me to recommend them three musicals, I would not hesitate to list the following; Bye Bye Birdie, Phantom of the Paradise and Little Shop of Horrors (sorry Rocky Horror Picture Show, you would be my fourth choice) My top three musicals are incredibly strange, but very memorable and full of offbeat songs. Out of these I've seen Little Shop of Horrors the most, mainly because of how hilarious it is. Directed by Frank Oz (Yoda himself)  it is entertaining despite its age. 

In the film, a nerdish florist (Rick Moranis) finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant (voice of Levi Stubbs) who demands to be fed.

A long running stage hit, Little Shop of Horrors had a lot of expectations to live up to when it hit theaters in 1986. It's a dark comedy and a capitalist satire; every character tries to make big money off the talking plant named Audrey II, but in order to do so Moranis needs to feed it his blood-and later on in the flick- fully grown humans. Surprisingly Audrey II has quite a personality and can do its own musical numbers with the talented voice of Levi Stubbs. Moranis is a likeable leading man reminiscent of Woody Allen. He is a bumbling underdog who you can't help but want him to succeed.

Full of cameos by comedians like Bill Murray and Steve Martin, it's hard to not be entertained by this ludicrous science fiction premise. Little Shop of Horrors is quite charming and doesn't obsess over making the audience laugh, it isn't campy in that sense. Infact the film is rather optimistic and has a good heart with its message of inner-city hope. The romance is innocent and beautiful. The music is full of passion and desire.

In conclusion, Little Shop of Horrors is a well written picture with plenty of characters to pour your heart into. Though many musicals have a running time that is far too long, this is just right. Remarkably all of its well choreographed musical numbers greatly contribute to the overall plot. It's a musical about hope and will surely bring hope into your life. Praise it! 4.5/5