Little Shop of Horrors

Year:	1986
Running Time:	94 minutes
Aspect Ratio:	1.85:1 (XWide)
Certificate:	– Parental guidance
Subtitles:	The level of subtitling in this film is unknown to WSC
Directed by	Unknown
Starring:	Unknown

Review: If ever there was a film searching for a massive cult audience, its "Little Shop of Horrors". With songs to rival any West End musical, sick black humour delivered with dead-pan precision by some of the most popular of the Saturday Night Live alumni, and one of moviedom's great singing plants, surely it begs to have the same reputation as the similarly-named "Rocky Horror Picture Show"? Moranis stars as nerdish Seymour, a no-hoper wiling away his time at Mushnik's Flower Shop, a similarly dead-end establishment, where the only living thing of beauty is the willowy Audrey, a fellow shop assistant stuck in a masochistic relationship with a psychopathic dentist (Steve Martin, in a career-best performance). Seymour's big break comes, however, when he discovers a "strange and interesting" plant, which he cultivates to maturity and which soon becomes a star attraction, bringing fame and fortune to the shop. However, when the plant starts demanding to be fed with nothing less than human blood, Seymour is confronted with a dilemma - give it all up, or hack up innocent people to feed his insatiable money-spinner. So far, so 50s Sci-Fi (and indeed the film is based on a black and white quickie from cult director Roger Corman), but this is hardly a genre film. What it is, however, is a deliriously enjoyable, superbly directed idiosyncratic hybrid of a film, one that consistently delights with its toe-tapping tunes ("Skid-Row" is a particularly grandstanding highlight) and insane comedy - this came at a time when Moranis, Martin and Candy were Hollywood hot property. And the plant, Audrey II, is a superb creation, a singing, wisecracking vampiric weed that effortlessly steals every scene its in. For those who haven't seen it, this is a perfect opportunity to see one of the greatest unsung cult gems of the 1980's. For those who have seen it, you know how much fun it is, and I expect to hear chants of "Feed me, Seymour" reverberating through L3. See you there...