Well, we’re at the end of Musical Adaptation Month, and it just so happens that it falls on Halloween. So, I should take advantage of this day to highlight a classic musical film that stood out to me not only because of its spooky and cautionary themes but also because of how upbeat and artistically evocative it is.
You may remember how I gushed on and on about the musical Little Shop of Horrors. Ever since I watched it back in Santa Fe many years ago and again in Montrose last year, I was drawn in not only by its catchy tunes, not to mention some inventive lyrics and wordplay in writing by Howard Ashman, but also by its frank warnings about temptation and what happens when you give into it before it consumes you from the inside out.
I’ve been looking forward to doing this, but after seeing it on stage, I should now look at Little Shop of Horrors as it was translated into a musical film.
In my review of the musical, I covered both the production I’ve seen from the Greer Garson Theater in Santa Fe and the one I’ve seen from the Magic Circle Players Theater in Montrose. Here, with the film, I plan to highlight both the film’s Theatrical Cut and its recently unearthed Director’s Cut.
To refresh your memory, it goes like this. In a rundown New York City neighborhood called Skid Row, a young florist named Seymour Krelborn worked and lived alongside his coworker, the bright but always down-on-her-luck Audrey, and under the wing of their shady employer, Mr. Mushnik. They were working at the florist shop when it started to near the end of its run. Business had gone downhill, and their plants had been collecting dust.
However, things started to look bright for them when Seymour presented to Audrey and Mushnik a ’strange and interesting plant,’ as the characters often described it, that he found. It resembled a Venus flytrap and had a bulbous head, and Seymour nicknamed it Audrey II – after his coworker – or Twoey.
As Seymour elaborated in ’Da-Doo,’ he walked down in New York City when he stopped at a familiar Chinese florist shop. And just as he was about to go about his day afterwards, he and everyone around him noticed an unanticipated total eclipse of the sun. Once he turned his head back to the Chinese florist shop, Seymour caught sight of the tiny, unfamiliar plant waiting for him.
Once Seymour presented Audrey II in the front window, not a minute passed before customers came in hordes, for the plant drew them in like a magnet. Every customer who walked into the shop expressed an interest in the plant and walked out of the store with boatloads of flowers and bouquets. However, Audrey II willingly wilted after a certain period of time, thus sending Seymour into a frenzy about how to feed it properly.
But Seymour eventually discovered why it was wilting. So often, it did not live off water or any of the fertilizers that Seymour thought were suitable for plants like Audrey II. It turned out that the plant craved blood, particularly human blood. Catching on to this, Seymour begrudgingly gave Audrey II a few droplets worth of his own blood after pricking his finger to keep it satiated. As Audrey II thrived off of blood, he grew bigger and stronger, but it still wilted because of its lack of blood supply every time, so Seymour decided to tend to the plant and give him as much of his blood as possible.
Then, after a while, the plant suddenly started talking, but he did more than that. Seymour discovered from Audrey II that it knew how his influence spread to so many people around the neighborhood and that if Seymour continued doing his bidding, he would have repaid him with whatever he wanted.
However, there was a catch: because Audrey II started to grow too big to live off of Seymour’s blood supply alone, he started getting hungry for blood from anyone. What was Seymour to do?
Well, shifting to Audrey, his coworker, she always proved herself a capable customer at Mushnik’s. But she walked in with signs that seemed quite alarming to Mushnik and Seymour, such as when she walked into work with a black eye one day and with her arm in a cast in another. And the reason for that ties back to her boyfriend, a maniacal dentist named Orin Scrivello DDS. And just as Seymour noticed poor Audrey walking into her house and being beaten down by Orin, it gave Seymour just a hint of an idea as to how to keep Audrey II fully fed.
And if he did go through with it, how much of a toll would this and all that was to follow have taken on his conscience and those closest to him?
Again, as you may remember me mentioning about Little Shop of Horrors, it originally started as a 1960 B-movie that starred a young Jack Nicholson, was made with recycled sets, and had a pretty minuscule budget. However, the bizarre story, moral grayness, and ultimate resolution resonated with many people, especially songwriters Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, who translated the movie into an Off-Broadway musical in 1982.
But this musical film is more than just the film version of the musical or even a remake of the original 60s movie. Even on its own, it provides a good chunk of what was most cherished about the Off-Broadway musical, except on a scale that was considerably larger, more immersive, more realistic, and more imaginative.
To start, let’s talk about the puppetry used on Audrey II.
Usually, on stage, the puppet is operated by two people operating each of Audrey II’s jaws as they move them up and down to emulate the illusion of Audrey II speaking or eating. But in the movie, the puppet had to be operated by animatronics as Audrey II spoke to Seymour or anyone else. It was said that as the puppets became larger and Audrey II matured and grew, they became more challenging to move around so fluidly. So, the filmmakers had to move the puppets slowly and shoot them with multiple frames to keep the puppetry intact while giving enough of a decent impression to heighten the illusion of the plant coming to life and speaking and singing a mile a minute. And for what they were able to accomplish in the movie, it did nothing but pure wonders for the film and Audrey II’s character thanks to the skillful puppeteers at hand, most of whom originated from Jim Henson’s line of work, including director Frank Oz and daughter Heather Henson, who, I might add, cameoed in this movie as one of Orin’s unfortunate victim–excuse me, patients.
Of course, Frank Oz was no stranger to directing. Before Little Shop of Horrors, he also did the honors of directing The Muppets Take Manhattan. If you recall from my review, I find it a top-tier and refreshingly grounded Muppet movie. Here, even though he dipped into fantastical elements, what he unleashed on his return to New York City in this movie proves he’s a man of many talents, and not just with acting or puppetry.
The puppeteers also nailed it when Audrey II had to be slow himself in the film, and I don’t mean just because of his size during the moments when he moved about throughout the movie. It helped convey a more sinister essence lurking about with him, as if the plant’s body language was enough to clue me into how he planned something diabolical without Seymour or anyone knowing it until it was too late.
Look at how conniving Audrey II’s expression is in this shot. One look, and I could already feel so much personality seeping through from this character.
Once Audrey II was fully grown, I can imagine the hardworking tasks the puppeteers went through to have him move about as fluidly as possible while still maintaining everything that put Audrey II together. And by the time Audrey II moved and sang about as he did in, say, the ’Mean Green Mother’ musical number, the collective movements came about so fluidly and with so few jumps or cuts in between that it helped me buy into the possibility that this alien creature moved about, lived, and breathed as if he was real.
I also admire the settings throughout the film. Skid Row looked like a grungier part of New York City, looking worn out and tired from the rest of the metropolitan society. And with its generally disorderly atmosphere rampant throughout the neighborhood, I can understand why Seymour and Audrey wanted to hightail it out of Skid Row. In addition, I sensed a slight artificiality from Audrey’s dream home when I saw it in Audrey’s musical number, ‘Somewhere That’s Green.’ In the Theatrical Cut, since Audrey and Seymour went ahead and lived in that house after defeating Audrey II, it did not matter, for the triumphant feeling associated with it did wonders for it. But in the Director’s Cut, it felt more noticeable because it emphasized how it was wishful thinking from Audrey and nothing more before reality intervened and threw her plans out of whack.
I don’t feel like I need to go into detail about the characters since I already went to great lengths about them in the original review of the musical. But I could go on about what this movie pulled off with them that I find so magnificent. For example, the casting throughout this movie was just on point, not just for the main characters but also for the cameos. Whatever the characters left behind regarding their general impressions were all made more effective thanks to the actors’ collective contributions, and those who broke out in song throughout the film hit the right notes both musically and characteristically.
Hot off the heels of Ghostbusters, Rick Moranis perfected his meek and humble exterior as Seymour Krelborn as he went about his usual business until he stumbled into Audrey II. From there, all the turmoil and debacles he engaged with concerning Audrey II tested his resolve as he contemplated what he would have done to keep the plant healthy, keep the business alive and thriving, and supposedly win Audrey’s affections. And even when he was talked into going all out and committing horrible crimes for Audrey II’s sake, Moranis still played him with enough conflict to clue me into the uncertainties he still expressed about what he thought should be the right thing to do, even if it was to keep Audrey II alive and healthy. There’s a sense that Rick Moranis played him with so much intriguing, attractive modesty that it helped make him entirely sympathetic, even if he engaged in morally questionable habits under Audrey II’s influence. Whenever he was infuriated, dubious, or in despair, either because of Orin or Audrey II’s outrageous demands, I began to feel that complexion all over him as he racked his brains over what he thought would be the best way to keep up with Audrey II and his growing appetite.
I also admire what Vincent Gardenia conveyed about his character, Mr. Mushnik. When I look at his performance, I cannot help but look at him as if he portrayed a slightly thin layer of modesty while also making it clear that he’s usually very uptight as an employer, mainly when he dealt with Seymour. But once Audrey II came into the picture, he gradually became sleazier with his interest in the plant. He wanted to get his hands on what was suddenly giving his failing florist shop so much thriving business and swipe it from Seymour in the hopes of having the bigger slice of the pie. He even tried to achieve this when he caught wind of Seymour’s ‘assassination’ of Orin Scrivello DDS after he chopped him into pieces and fed them to Audrey II. From beginning to end, though, Gardenia played him with such jitteriness that even at his most neurotic, he delivered his performance with just a twinge of comedic flavoring to go with it.
The three girls who acted as the movie’s out-of-story Greek chorus - Tichina Arnold as Crystal, Michelle Weeks as Ronette, and Tisha Campbell as Chiffon - owned their roles and jazzed up the movie with their own colorful, lively narrations of the film in musical form as they gave the audience a glimpse of what was about to befall the main characters. These three ladies strutted along throughout the streets and corners of Skid Row and conveyed every beat of the story and circumstances through song as any Greek chorus would have done. Their sense of grace and style and the elegant and fun elements they added to the movie felt most fitting since this was an early-60s-inspired musical with dark subtexts about the unthinkable.
In addition, they played them as in-story side characters, also as Greek choruses would have done. In this case, they played them as regular street urchins roaming the streets of Skid Row and going back and forth between the characters, even if they didn’t do it as often in the movie as they did in the musical. Either way, they still played their characters, conveyed their disengaged omniscience, and enlivened the story to a tee.
Let’s also take a look at the cameos. The film roped in plenty of big-name stars here, and each actor made the most of the little time they spent in the movie, but never to a point where they outshined the main cast.
Let’s start with Christopher Guest, who starred as the first customer to walk in curious about Audrey II. He conveyed him with an upbeat attitude and a modest demeanor, though I personally could’ve done without the mere blatancy of how stilted his voice, expressions, and body language were. At the same time, while it did seem on the nose regarding the potential artificiality of his interest in the plant and the store, Guest’s deliveries still carried enough humor to help them leave a charming mark in the film.
And do you remember the radio host who interviewed Seymour about his ’strange and interesting plant’ in the musical? Here, he was portrayed in person by the late John Candy, and he just went to town with the different impressions he expressed depending on the characters that his character portrayed. He sounded reasonable and observant as a weatherman. And as Wink Wilkinson, the host of the radio program ’Wink Wilkinson’s Weird World,’ he let it all out and infused his personality with animated vigor, fitting for a radio personality. Also, watching him work his magic feels no different from watching radio plays, with all the behind-the-scenes action and the creative gadgets used to make the sound effects for every radio program.
Let’s not forget Patrick Martin, the businessman who approached Seymour in the climax about taking leaf cuttings from Audrey II to sell worldwide. This one is unique because more than one actor played the character, depending on the cut. In the Theatrical Cut, Martin was played by James Belushi, and Paul Dooley portrayed him in the Director’s Cut. Both actors played their roles with enough professionalism and inner obsession to highlight their pursuits. Of course, whereas Belushi played Patrick Martin with a hint of theatricality – and thus more like a salesman – Dooley played him with more of a grounded approach.
And last but not least, Rick Moranis’ fellow Ghostbusters co-star, Bill Murray, topped off the cameo list as Arthur Denton. He was an eccentric, masochistic patient who reportedly saved up to see Orin Scrivello DDS - I’ll talk about him shortly - as he pestered him with his demands to be checked on and his life stories about his background and relationships, all of which Bill Murray improvised. Murray delivered his own sense of weirdness to the picture with just that personality alone. However, once he walked into Orin’s office and saw his generally wacky and outlandish dentist equipment, his reactions to them and the whole process were just priceless. Almost all of Orin’s patients walked away in pain or fear of what he was going to do to them. But Denton walked into Orin’s office with much excitement and anticipation and went through Orin’s more painful operations like he was riding a roller coaster. Murray’s performance and character are just dynamite!
Even more impressive is that this character did not appear in the musical. Instead, he was a reference to the young Jack Nicholson’s character from the original 1960 film, who resembled Bill Murray’s character, down to getting a thrill out of the pain that comes with his dentist’s more chaotic operational methods.
However, there are three exceptional performances in the movie that help bring it to life.
Again, the casting is wonderful, and all the actors chosen to play their roles played them with such obvious talent. But if there’s one that I’m tickled the movie roped in, it’s Ellen Greene as Audrey.
Reprising her role from the original Off-Broadway production, I can feel Ellen Greene’s experience from playing this character as she displayed Audrey’s bubbly attitude, and she also blazed forth with her musical talents as she performed her musical numbers, whether sweet and modest or proud and outgoing. Whichever mood or tone she expressed, I could feel her musical tenors marching on with their utmost strength, as only Ellen Greene could have conveyed it. What also worked so well about her performance for me is that sometimes, Audrey’s general portrayal could have suffered from an overemphasis on the dumbness of her character. But Greene played her as pretty clumsy yet sympathetic enough for me to see her in a more tragic light. Audrey was a pretty clueless character, but Greene conveyed her with enough vulnerability to clue me into all the dilemmas she went through, especially with Orin Scrivello DDS, the so-called ’semi-sadist’ that she saw as being as worthy a suit for her as can be. So, by the time I pieced together her past troubles and current condition, I could not help but feel sorry for her and want to see her find a way out of the mess she desperately wanted to escape from. Even seeing Audrey constantly telling herself that she didn’t deserve someone like Seymour or whoever would have been a better suit for her than the dentist was among her more tragic convictions as a character. Greene hit all the right notes with Audrey so effectively that she left me wondering if there would’ve been any hope for Audrey on the horizon…unless Seymour could’ve arranged it for her.
And the second acting highlight, Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello, DDS, is just a ball of gleefully psychotic energy. Whenever I think of Steve Martin, I think of him as the boisterous comedian with white hair. But here, he was almost unrecognizable with his hair being made black. What’s more, Steve Martin may have flexed everything about himself for this role, for what he portrayed out of this otherwise detestable character was electrifying and added intriguing aspects to him. Audrey’s boyfriend was psychotic and a maniac, but man, Martin played him with such energy and enthusiasm that it makes this completely deranged dentist truly enjoyable to watch, especially during his more immoral and unorthodox tendencies. His performance makes it so that he would’ve been just as engaging to watch as it is sickening to watch whenever he stepped out of line. I enjoy how Martin kept this character from being 100% hateful or getting to a point where you’d automatically want to get away from this character. Orin Scrivello DDS’ portrayal was such that anyone watching him would’ve been entranced by Martin’s fantastic performance and Orin’s cartoonishly extreme methods as he performed his dentistry and beat down poor Audrey, for the movie never shied away from the harm he’s doing to them because of it. It’s just the right balance for me, and I get Gaston vibes watching Steve Martin bring him to life the way he did.
And, finally, that leaves us with Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops as Audrey II. I was utterly lost and transfixed by the prowess, musicality, tones, and outgoing expressions Stubbs gave Audrey II. He played Audrey II with such liveliness, giving him his unique identity as the big, talking, jive-talking, outgoing, and scheming plant that Audrey II grew to be. I can feel Stubbs’ enthusiasm, colorful attitude, and inner monster slowly seeping through Audrey II as he grew bigger and ate more. And once Audrey II sang his songs, I could feel Stubbs’ background as the Four Tops member. Whenever he was upbeat, he sang them with such evident vocal prowess. But when he sang them with more menace, I can feel the fright factor with this plant through his voice, however subtle or blatant it is every time.
What can I say? Everything about this character is pure perfection: the voice, the character, the puppetry, everything. Levi Stubbs provided a most animated voice to him, the puppetry of this plant is all practical – and we’re talking about without a hint of CGI – and it flowed so smoothly that you’d have been shocked that it even was puppetry at work. And by the time you finally discover the plant’s motivations, you’d be surprised by just how diabolical, crafty, and how much of a long-term planner he is. It goes to show you that whenever you’re dealing with something or someone beyond your understanding, you should never underestimate them, for they may be more knowledgeable or capable of certain things that you would never have imagined them doing simply because where Audrey II came from is indeed unimaginable to the human race.
Almost all the songs make a comeback here, and again, just like the characters, I already went into great detail about them in my review of the musical. They were all sung in this film about as brilliantly, perfectly, and with just the right amount of emotion and energy as each song deserved. But before I talk about what’s new with the songs in the film, I should first point out the presentation of some of its returning songs.
Let’s start with ’Grow For Me’. In the original musical and even the ’60s film, Seymour’s discovery of Audrey II’s appetite for blood was mostly conversed. This makes sense since we were all watching the action unfold before our eyes with him anyway. But in this film, when Seymour discovered it, it was without any dialogue. It was primarily displayed through Rick Moranis’ expressions and the puppetry work on Audrey II. It’s just Seymour Krelborn and the habits and responses from Audrey II as he slowly pieced together what the plant was craving. He returned to singing the rest of the song when he finally figured it out. This kind of thought-processing was handled very well in this musical number, thanks to the ’show, don’t tell’ mechanisms it utilized.
Also, the musical number ‘Dentist’ seemed like an opportunity to allow Steve Martin to go wild with the poor patients who had to endure his characters’ torturous dentistry methods. And frankly, every time I heard Orin Scrivello DDS mention his mother and what she encouraged out of him because of his sadism, I reflected on her thinking that she may have been as warped as Orin. And there’s just something hilarious about seeing Orin keep a secret shrine to her. It just seemed as over-the-top as the rest of the number.
But let’s talk about the one song that somewhat made a comeback from the musical but was condensed as a mere transitional piece: ‘The Meek Shall Inherit.’ It was portrayed as an upbeat song that highlighted Seymour’s rise to fame and what kind of deals were thrust his way after axing off Mr. Mushnik, and that Audrey II, as it grew larger and more prominent, drew the attention of plenty of magazine publishers and newscasters from outside Skid Row. But in the original musical, it was more than just Seymour racking his brains over the deals and contracts being placed on his lap. A good chunk of the song highlighted his inner turmoil as he tried to keep the plant as well-fed as possible. His progressively murderous habits in cooperation with Audrey II rattled him so much that he debated whether to keep killing and satisfy Audrey II’s hunger or nip his murder spree in the bud and hack off Audrey II before any more lives were taken. It seemed like he was about to lunge on the last option, only to relent and not go through with it when he remembered what this could mean to Audrey. He believed he would have lost her if he hung him out to dry, thinking that this drew Audrey to him in the first place when that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Yes, the song still served as an adequate transitional piece as it clued us more into Seymour Krelborn’s sudden rise into fame. And it is true that the filmed version of its mid-portion was not shot to perfection, and parts of the effects did look a bit fake. But I still think it would’ve added much value to the movie because of how deep it dove into Seymour Krelborn’s anguish. I get the impression that perhaps the film wanted Seymour’s guilt over his killing habits and his feelings for Audrey to feel more implicit, similar to what was achieved in ’Grow For Me.’ But the song still felt like it was missed as I only saw a fraction of it used here in the movie despite it doing as good a job as it could have in cluing me into Seymour Krelborn’s inner demons.
Hopping over to the new songs, the first musical number is entitled ’Some Fun Now.’ This number is not entirely new, as it expresses the themes and some of the lyrics from the original number, ’Ya Never Know.’ In this case, the song displayed to livelier effect some of the constant pressures Seymour Krelborn went through as he gave into the still-budding Audrey II’s requests to feed off his bloodstream.
But probably the most famous number that made a splash in this movie, and not the musical, is Audrey II’s song from the climax, ’Mean Green Mother From Outer Space.’
Whereas Levi Stubbs conveyed high energy in ’Feed Me (Get It),’ and pure malice in ’Suppertime,’ he unleashed both aspects simultaneously and with more pride in this song as Audrey II boasted to Seymour about his contributions to his growth as an alien plant and that he was ready to take over the world thanks to him. It seemed like he continued the more upbeat rhythms that Stubbs mastered in ’Feed Me,’ only this time it was used more mockingly, like Audrey II was this time rubbing it in Seymour’s face about his plans to take over the world and how Seymour was just a needless sap who did him his bidding, even if he did so unwittingly.
Audrey II also went into greater detail about where he came from and what he intended to do with the world he landed in as a group of flower buds around him sprouted forth, blossomed, and sang along with him. In a way, this song almost continued what the original song, ’Da–Doo,’ started in that it touched upon the plant’s potential origins. As Seymour elaborated during the surprise total solar eclipse and seconds before he discovered Audrey II:
It got very dark. And there was this strange humming sound, like something from another world.
I also enjoy just how the song can be interpreted. When you listen to it in the Theatrical Cut, I can enjoy its bouncy energy, the impressive vocals by Levi Stubbs, and the forthright boasting from Audrey II. When I listened to it in the Director’s Cut, I caught on to the more horrifying undertones of the song and how much mockery there is hidden underneath the lyrics as Audrey II sang them to Seymour. But when I listened to it in the soundtrack, I went back and forth between appreciating its bouncy energy or catching on to what lurked underneath its lyrics. I think it’s little wonder that it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song.
When you look at Alan Menken and Howard Ashman as a songwriting duo, much like Rodgers and Hammerstein withtheir music, you can do no wrong.
It’s also pretty interesting. Audrey II calls himself a Mean Green Mother From Outer Space. A mother, even though Audrey II carried the voice of a man. Well, I suppose it alludes to some of the drag aesthetics associated with Howard Ashman. I can tell this would later have reflected how he based Ursula from The Little Mermaid off of the drag queen Divine.
So, with all of this in mind, Little Shop of Horrors is bound to be a fun musical movie that does right by the musical and is a classic right away, right?
Almost. It turns out that it went through some hurdles to earn that legacy.
One of the most intriguing parts of the movie centers around its story. Let me lay out again how it works for you: A florist finds a strange plant, Audrey II, and feeds it his blood supply; the plant grows big, and he starts killing people to feed Audrey II. He begins to feel guilty over his actions, and then it all boils down to the showdown with the florist and Audrey II.
However, the direction the movie decided to take boils down to when Audrey II chomped on Audrey. As Seymour walked in to see her being munched on, he quickly grabbed her out and carried her away to safety, still alive and breathing. Then, after that, a salesman named Patrick Martin came in to offer Seymour a deal to take clippings of Audrey II and sell them worldwide. Knowing what this alluded to, Seymour refused to sign and decided to take matters into his own hands by confronting Audrey II and preventing him from following through with his plans. And just when it looked like his time was up, Seymour emerged from the rubble, grabbed an electric cord, and struck Audrey II by the end of one of his vines, electrocuting and blowing him up. Then, Seymour and Audrey lived happily ever after… with an Audrey II flower growing amidst their garden.
On its own, It’s not that bad an ending, especially for one fit for a comedy-horror flick. However, whenever I looked at how Audrey II bit Audrey as Seymour came to her rescue, Audrey looked and felt too much like she had thick skin and was able to resist being chopped down and disfigured by Audrey II. I can see it being more like she was still able to survive being eaten by Audrey II but still in critical enough condition to have to be sent to a nearby hospital whileSeymour still faced off against Audrey II himself. At least, that would have been my idea of adding more realism to the happy ending.
But more importantly – and this is what I was building up to - this differs significantly from the stage musical’s original ending, where, as you may remember me pointing out, Seymour’s guilt eventually got the best of him.
The Director’s Cut almost felt like the original, with the songs, the performances, and the editing. However, in the Theatrical Cut, Audrey II said to Audrey,
Relax, darling, it’ll be easier.
…and then attempted to eat her whole. In the Director’s Cut, it took on a new life of its own and went in a completely new direction when Audrey II said this line to her next.
Come join your dentist friend and Mushnik. They’re right inside!
In this version, when Audrey II chomped down on Audrey, she did not survive that encounter. Instead, she died in Seymour’s arms and became Audrey II’s next meal, the results of which were overwhelming and almost sobering. Only then was Seymour approached by Patrick Martin, who showed him a miniature Audrey II that he grew from one of the clippings he snipped. Horror-stricken by this revelation and what could happen next, that was when Seymour confronted Audrey II and attempted to stop him. But just like Audrey, Seymour ended up on the receiving end and became the last meal Audrey II gnawed on just as he finished ’Mean Green Mother from Outer Space.’
Of course, despite the tragedy that came with Audrey’s death in this cut, that’s when it hit me. The bigger Audrey II grew, the more blood he needed. And the more blood he needed, the more drastic his requests, Seymour’s murder spree, and the situations became. Once Audrey died, it was at that point when the consequences that came with Seymour’s underhanded antics finally started catching up to him. By the time he was struck down by the effects of his actions coming back to him, he had discovered everything he didn’t think possible about what happened because of him until it was too late, leaving him more helpless than ever before.
In which case, when you compare these two endings, with Seymour trying to climb out of the pit and succeeding by killing Audrey II in the Theatrical Cut, and then him attempting to do the same thing only for his efforts to be in vain in the Director’s Cut, it only makes the situations with Audrey II in the climax feel a lot dicier and a touch more suspenseful, because by that point, there’s no telling exactly how the situations could have gone and whether the results would have turned out in Seymour’s favor or to that of Audrey II.
Let’s go into more detail about the Director’s Cut’s ending. Audrey II finished singing ’Mean Green Mother from Outer Space’ to Seymour when he wrapped his vines around him and ate him whole. So now, except for the Greek chorus, all the characters we recognize from Little Shop of Horrors have died and ended up in the belly of Audrey II. And what happened after that? According to the Greek chorus, the clippings Patrick Martin took and grew multiplied and were sold throughout the country. And everyone who bought the Audrey IIs was suckered into keeping them alive through a steady blood input, just like Seymour was. It resulted in each plant growing larger and larger until they became as strong and independent as the original Audrey II and went out on a rampage, eating all of humanity.
And it led to an explosive, chaotic, sometimes breathtaking, and sometimes frightening five-minute sequence of a horde of Audrey IIs rummaging throughout New York City, crashing through buildings and eating people everywhere they went. It was just an insane ending running with the Hell on Earth that could’ve been avoided if Seymour and the characters saw through Audrey II’s deception sooner. It was said that around $5 million alone was chipped in to make this ending come alive. Considering that this ending was generally faithful to the original musical, it felt like the filmmakers, especially Frank Oz and VFX artist Richard Conway, took full advantage of the cinematic medium to translate the implications and aftereffects of the musical’s climactic ending and went all out with it while stylistically paying homage to the monster flicks of the 50s and 60s. It makes the ’60s Little Shop of Horrors look like it was made with almost no budget, whereas this Little Shop of Horrors was made with nothing but the budget. That’s how much effort was put into this movie, particularly the Director’s Cut.
Of course, as much as I love the Director’s Cut, the test audiences’ reaction when they first saw this in 1986 was something else. Frank Oz said that as the test audience watched the movie together in El Paso and Los Angeles, they were tapping their feet along to the tunes and having fun. But by the time Audrey II devoured Audrey, they went from being awestruck to dumbstruck. For the rest of the movie, everyone can hear a pin drop, it was so silent. And in this case, the audiences’ reactions by then were more out of disappointment than from shock over Seymour’s underhanded antics finally catching up to him. They found the characters too likable to be worth killing in a movie like this. I think the astonishing performances that Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene put into their roles may account for that, which, again, goes to show you just how phenomenally they played their roles.
And that’s another thing. I know Ellen Greene was phenomenal as Audrey, but there’s something about Rick Moranis’s portrayal of Seymour Krelborn in this version. In the reprise of ’Somewhere That’s Green,’ Audrey sang about how she expected herself to blossom as part of Audrey II. But once she died and Seymour fed her to the plant shortly afterwards, what I saw blossoming was Rick Moranis’ acting. I knew he was a terrific comedic actor, but after being used to seeing him as Wayne Szalinski in ’Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ and even Barney Rubble in the live-action ’Flintstones,’ of all things, what I witnessed out of Rick Moranis throughout the entire ending was just him busting some moves performance-wise. He felt just as phenomenal dramatically as he was comedically; when you have it where Moranis can master both sides of his acting tones within the same movie, you know you’re in for an unanticipated whirlwind of emotions and circumstances throughout the film.
Thinking back on the Director’s Cut, it hits home what a different ending can do to everything else that came before it. With the theatrical ending, I loved the movie just fine for all its simultaneous lightheartedness and creepiness factor. But the Director’s Cut’s ending left me feeling like it revitalized Little Shop of Horrors. It gave it nothing but pure vitality throughout its bloodstream, like this was the ending the film was building up to, just like the musical’s ending was what the musical built up to. Even the ending of the original Little Shop of Horrors demonstrated the aftereffects of the consequences once they caught up to the main character for performing so many underhanded antics.
If you can even call this a remake, I can tell you that this movie blows the original Little Shop of Horrors out of the water and stands on its own two feet, towering above the original film for what it had achieved. I don’t know what it achieved compared to the original musical, but to me, it stands tall enough to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the original musical because what it did accomplish is just that colossal. Everything about the ending was as magnificent as it was harrowing, and whereas the test audience reactions to the ending implied that they were dumbfounded in a bad way, the ending left me feeling as such in a good way. I was fully aware of what Seymour Krelborn had done throughout the film and that for all his likability, he still made some huge mistakes that may have been impossible to remedy, mistakes that were too great to be forgiven for once committed. Once Audrey II ate Audrey, it was at that point when Seymour began paying the price for his misdeeds in a genuinely tragic fashion.
Back to what I was saying about the test reactions to the Director’s Cut’s ending, this signified a slight oblivion on the filmmakers’ end regarding what they considered theatrical and cinematic endings. As Frank Oz put it:
I learned a lesson: in a stage play, you kill the leads, and they come out for a bow — in a movie, they don’t come out for a bow, they’re dead. They’re gone, and so the audience lost the people they loved, as opposed to the theater audience where they knew the two people who played Audrey and Seymour were still alive. They loved those people, and they hated us for it.
Frank Oz also believed that the reason they were so shellshocked about their deaths was the portrayal of the actors and characters via close-up, which is a cinema thing and not a stage thing.
But even with that in mind, that tells me how committed the filmmakers were in putting all their effort and money into bringing Little Shop of Horrors to life as authentically as possible.
After the test audiences shut this ending down, it slipped into limbo for a few decades. Throughout Little Shop of Horror’s time in home entertainment thus far, only a couple of DVD releases contained the alternate ending as a specialfeature, and it was only in black and white. And the DVD it came from was considered a limited edition and rare. So its obscurity only amplified its reputation among Little Shop of Horror fans who were fully aware of it. Whether they were familiar with the original musical or not, they looked at the ending with just as much bewilderment as anyone watching the original ending would have responded.
This is why the fact that the movie was released with the original ending inserted back in is almost miraculous. The ending had been in limbo until it was found in 2012, and Little Shop of Horrors was released on Blu-ray with the original ending edited back into the movie, all restored and treated to perfection. Because of that, it allowed us to revisit the ending and finally see Little Shop of Horrors as writer Howard Ashman and director Frank Oz meant to present it.
Not only did the efforts pay off when it first came out and when they finally found the ending, but I think it only may have cemented Little Shop of Horror’s reputation as a grand musical and an artistically brilliant one since then.
I’ve already gone on and on about this ending, so I’ll tell it to you this way. Much like what I’ve told you about The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Neon Genesis Evangelion, they’ve both been blessed with more than one ending that I consider equally satisfactory. In the case of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, both the movie’s ending and the musical’s ending worked in the story’s favor. In the case of Neon Genesis Evangelion, its last two episodes and the film The End of Evangelion all provided different intakes of the show’s anticipated resolution.
With Little Shop of Horrors, I believe that the two endings it ended up with achieved different effects; if the Theatrical Cut was spectacle first and the story second, the Director’s Cut would have been the story first and the spectacle second. However, neither cut is wrong.
The theatrical ending gave Seymour a sporting chance to fend off Audrey II and secure a happy ending for himself and Audrey. In addition, as its own movie, Little Shop of Horror’s Theatrical Cut is pretty fun with a dark edge, in which case, I could watch it as a grade-A escapist popcorn flick. Meanwhile, the Director’s Cut returned to its roots, so to speak, and stuck to the landing with the underlying themes of temptation coming back to finally do Seymour in because that happens when you give in and do something unthinkable for short-term gains.
Everything about the original musical was carried over here to the nth degree, no matter which version you see. It emphasizes its campy and 60s-influenced aspects while spicing the film up with the common horror-comedy elements expected from a plant that can move, talk, and eat blood. But everything else about the movie, from a technical standpoint, propels the translation of the film into an incredible musical classic.
The performances are remarkable, the singing is on point, the songs, again, are mesmerizing, the puppetry of Audrey II is mind-blowing, and both cuts achieve their intended effect well. I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened if I gave in to my temptations, and watching Seymour Krelborn do that and react to them in either cut gives me a hefty idea of how to refrain from such temptations whenever I deal with them.
I had so much fun doing Musical Adaptation Month to express my taste in musical films and theater by sharing my two cents on which ones I felt most acquainted with and found the most intriguing. And I feel honored to have wrapped it up, and on such a fitting occasion, no less, by sharing my thoughts on what I consider one of the best musical films ever made. Little Shop of Horrors is one of my all-time favorite movies and might also be my all-time favorite musical.
Happy Halloween to all of you, and remember, as the saying goes…
Don’t feed the plants!
My Ratings
Theatrical Cut: A strong A-
Director’s Cut: A
Additional Thoughts
When Orin noticed the plant in Mushnik’s shop when he came to pick up Audrey, Seymour told him it was named Audrey II. And what does Orin say?
Cute name. It’s catchy. Nice plant. Big.
You see how he doesn’t put two and two together? Either he’s more brawn than brains, or that’s all you need to know about how little he cares about Audrey herself. 
Works Cited
“Frank Oz and Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut.” Little Shop of Horrors (Director’s Cut + Theatrical), Warner Home Video, 2012. Blu-ray.
“The Story of Little Shop of Horrors.” Little Shop of Horrors (Director’s Cut + Theatrical), Warner Home Video, 2012. Blu-ray.