Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie''s plot.
Gravis Mushnik is a Skid Row florist who’s barely keeping his head above water. His assistant Seymour is a clumsy kid who can’t seem to get his stuff together. When Mushnik finally fires the kid, Seymour begs for one more chance, insisting he’s got a plant he’s developed just for Mushnik that’s sure to bring in business. A customer, carnation-eating Burson Fouch (yes, you read that right), convinces Mushnik to bite, and Seymour is given one week to prove himself.
Seymour brings in his plant, the miniscule bulb he’s named Audrey Jr. after Mushnik’s other employee Audrey Fulquard, but to little fanfare. The thing’s barely clinging to life. Seymour promises to stay up all night with it, attempting to nurse Audrey Jr. back to life. An accident with another plant results in Seymour’s blood falling into Audrey Jr’s gaping maw and then the words that change Seymour’s life. “Feed me!”
Roger Corman’s 1960 classic THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is something else. Intended as a black comedy and made in only 2 days on the left-over sets from a previous movie, Corman’s film about the man-eating plant is one of his most famous and also, in my experience with Corman pictures, one of his most well-made.
Charles Griffith’s script is hilarious, and the performances from the actors, especially Mel Welles as Mushnik and Griffith’s own voicing of the killer plant, make this one of coolest movies on this list. Griffith is a very funny writer (recall my enjoyment of CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA), and the actors deliver his lines with such straight faces, you wonder for a second if you were supposed to laugh or not:
Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: How's the wife, Frank?
Det. Frank Stoolie: Not bad, Joe.
Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: Glad to hear it. The kids?
Det. Frank Stoolie: Lost one yesterday.
Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: Lost one, huh? How'd that happen?
Det. Frank Stoolie: Playing with matches
Det. Sgt .Joe Fink: Well, those're the breaks
Det. Frank Stoolie: I guess so.
Or this exchange between Seymour and Audrey:
Seymour Krelboin: Don't waste your pity on me, Audrey. I'm not worth it.
Audry Fulquard: Who says you're not?
Seymour Krelboin: Everybody.
Audry Fulquard: Yeah, I know.
At only 73 minutes, the story is so full and well-developed, it’s hard to believe it was shot in only 2 days. Even with the main set being the flower shop, we see so much more of the city, a restaurant, Seymour’s apartment, the police station, the rail yard, a junkyard . . . the story takes its viewers all over the place, but always returns to the comfort of the flower shop and its 4 main characters (Seymour, Mushnik, Audrey, and Audrey Jr.).
I’ve seen many Roger Corman movies and there’s always something interesting to see, but let’s be honest, sometimes it’s that one shining moment in an otherwise bad movie. CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA was funny, but looked as cheap as it probably was, while THE TERROR was dull as anything, but at least we could make fun of the horrible dialogue. THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, however, is a true gem. Classic, most definitely, and while I know it was intended as a farce, there’s just enough of the horrible in there to make it a bona fide horror movie as well.
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