Remembering...
Little Shop of Horrors
Starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene
and the voice of Levi Stubbs
Released December 19, 1986
by Live Music Head
It's
an unusual little story;
a
dark comedy-musical-science fiction-drama
set
in the slums of New York City during the Kennedy era.
I
was pulled in from the get-go…
from
the opening musical number
by Chiffon, Ronette, and Crystal,
who
set up the story, singing in the rain.
And
I loved how these three “Supremes”
continued
to pop up throughout the film
(reminding
me of Neil Young in Wonderin’).
Levi
Stubbs from The Four Tops is the voice
of
the strange and interesting plant called Audrey II
(named
after the busty bleached-blonde
who
works as a secretary in the flower shop);
a
plant who grows evil and terrorizes the people
working in the shop.
The
cast also stars SCTV/Saturday Night Live alumni:
Rick
Moranis (who plays the lovable little nerd
who
takes care of the strange and interesting plant,
until
it turns into a man-eater;
the
mean green mother from outer space);
John
Candy (the weirdo disc jockey,
who
has Audrey II as a guest on his radio show);
Steve
Martin (the nitrous oxide-addicted,
sado-masochist
wife-beating dentist,
boyfriend
of the busty bleached-blonde);
Bill
Murray (the masochist who all too enthusiastically
goes
to the wife-beating dentist for a long, slow root canal);
and
John Belushi’s brother James
(who
plays the licensing executive
looking to profit off mass marketing
the
strange and evil man-eating plant).
Vincent
Gardenia plays the grouchy,
opportunistic
flower shop owner
who doesn’t live long enough
to
roll in the piles of dough he plans to make.
As
the love interest of the lovable little nerd,
Ellen
Greene is the true star of the film in my opinion.
That
busty bleached-blonde with the big voice
is a real scene-stealer.
Suddenly
Seymour just may play in your head
for days afterward.
But
of all the catchy musical numbers,
I’d
have to say my overall favourite is Skid Row,
the
film’s opening sequence.
High
marks in set design, costumes,
cinematography,
and choreography.
The trailer for Little Shop
of Horrors...
