- Title: Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
- IMDb: link
Director Frank Oz‘s well-received toe-tappin’ big-screen adaptation of the 1982 off-Broadway musical (which itself was a reimaging of the original 1960 film) about loveable loser Seymour Krelborn’s (Rick Moranis) relationship to a carnivorous plant from outer space (voiced by Levi Stubbs) comes to 4K for the first time.
Set in a struggling florist on Skid Row in a city block set that was constructed in Pinewood Studios, the cast includes Moranis, Vincent Gardenia as the shop’s owner, Ellen Greene as Seymour’s co-worker and forever crush Audrey, and Steve Martin as Audrey’s abusive boyfriend and demented dentist. Seymour’s discovery of the odd plant immediately following an eclipse is responsible for saving a struggling flower shop in the worst part of town. although not without a cost.
Packed to gills with recognizable faces in small roles and cameos, we also get Jim Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, and Bill Murray. We also get Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Campbell as a Greek chorus who inspired the quite similar group in Disney’s Hercules a decade later.
Moranis and Greene (who played the role on-stage) are the highlights of the film with the various sized Audrey II props and all of the notable familiar faces stealing memorable moments (including a sequence likely to change your opinion of ever going to the dentist). The mix of camp, horror, and and great music (including the Motown feel of the chorus) didn’t result in the strongest box office for Little Shop of Horrors, but the movie became a hit on home video.
The new 4K includes both the theatrical cut and the director’s cut along with commentary by Oz on the film’s original darker ending which the studio nixed in favor of something they felt would better appease audiences. Also included are retrospective and behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes, and deleted scenes.
