{"id":921811,"date":"2026-10-05T18:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/921811\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T18:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:44:09","slug":"exceptionally-crafted-why-little-shop-of-horrors-is-my-feelgood-movie-musicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/921811\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Exceptionally crafted\u2019: why Little Shop of Horrors is my feelgood movie | Musicals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The key to a feelgood movie<\/a>, beyond the necessary rewatchability, is familiarity \u2013 the real kind that lets you look away or fall asleep without doubting your affection. Musicals are perfectly suited to this particular subgenre since the majority of them, especially the classic ones adapted for film, atrophy with second-act problems. That\u2019s where writers suddenly remember the plot they had introduced and drop all that singing and dancing to arrive at some type of conclusion.<\/p>\n

The first act of Funny Girl? A near-flawless parade of showstoppers, Barbra Streisand<\/a> as Fanny Brice having the time of her life falling in love. I\u2019ve probably seen it 200 times. The second act \u2026 well, who ever cared about her husband\u2019s gambling addiction?<\/p>\n

At just 94 minutes, Frank Oz\u2019s film of Little Shop of Horrors doesn\u2019t suffer from that sharp of a drop-off. The cult 1982 musical that translates to the screen is already a pretty perfect piece; a hilarious send-up of B-movies with glorious songs by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the duo whose music would soon ignite the Disney Renaissance. The whole thing is a miracle of dumpster diving: adapting an almost-forgotten 1960 movie<\/a> by indie legend Roger Corman<\/a>, who didn\u2019t even bother to copyright his low-budget horror comedy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But enough history. Little Shop, the movie, begins, and you\u2019re there: Skid Row, the derelict, richly detailed cityscape with the lovingly obvious soundstage feel that most art departments left behind sometime in the 90s in favor of realism. The son of puppeteers and the first to perform both Yoda and Miss Piggy, Oz had individuality and scene-setting in his DNA.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s there we meet Seymour (Rick Moranis), a perennially orphaned adult who works alongside the ditzy bombshell Audrey (Ellen Greene) at a run-down flower shop owned by the miserly Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia). Their dreams of a better life arrive quickly, when a mysterious plant Seymour has been secretly nurturing grows into a national sensation.<\/p>\n

His trouble, of course, is that the plant \u2013 named Audrey II, due to Seymour\u2019s simping after his co-worker \u2013 feeds exclusively on human blood. In classic Michigan J Frog<\/a> fashion, the anthropomorphic Audrey II (voiced by the Four Tops\u2019 Levi Stubbs), only voices its carnivorous needs to Seymour, who\u2019s left alone to decide whether success (and human Audrey\u2019s love) are worth the carnage.<\/p>\n

In the simplicity of its plot and the spectacle of Oz\u2019s puppetry, the film is sensational. Greene, a holdover from the original stage production, gives an all-time weirdo performance that is massive, intimate and memorable, with pipes to make the celluloid rattle. And she\u2019s surrounded by heavyweight 80s funnymen, including Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Christopher Guest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A high concept horror-comedy with an all-star cast of comedians, Little Shop is a lot like Clue<\/a>, released the previous year, and which also grew a devoted cult reputation over time. And here\u2019s where I\u2019ll get annoying again: both are intelligent critiques of capitalism disguised as kooky popcorn fare.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisguised\u201d might not be the right word for Little Shop, which never hides its thematic concerns. Menken\u2019s score is a blend of doo-wop and rock\u2019n\u2019roll, but mostly Motown: a genre of romance, struggle and comfort. But even before that level of analysis, you\u2019re hit with the original plot\u2019s fable-like message, aided by Ashman\u2019s cheeky anti-capitalist lyrics and, on film, Oz\u2019s remarkable visions.<\/p>\n

Vincent Gardenia, Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene in Little Shop Of Horrors. Photograph: The Geffen Company\/Allstar<\/p>\n

The movie\u2019s first real number, Skid Row (Downtown), is a masterclass in placing its character\u2019s individual desires against the backdrop of communal conflict. Every single shot is framed to acknowledge the individual\u2019s involvement in the class struggle, which increases with each foot-stomp and angry face in increasing desperation<\/a>. Certain frames seem lifted straight out of classic Soviet propaganda.<\/p>\n

Do you see how excited I get talking about this? How all this spews out of me with such attractive, enviable ease due to how many times I\u2019ve witnessed it? And do you feel how that breathlessness, upon an 857th rewatch, could easily tire itself out into a daze which, soon after the iconic Suddenly, Seymour climax, leads to a satisfied doze?<\/p>\n

What should convince any skeptics that this is a feelgood classic is that (a) one of its ardent fans can\u2019t help but sound insufferable describing its merits and, (b) it is crafted with that Muppets-era showmanship, a remnant from an age where talent and individuality ruled, but acts would get caned off the stage if they weren\u2019t pleasing the audience.<\/p>\n

Little Shop is exceptionally designed, performed and crafted, but there\u2019s no whiff of spotlight-seeking to detract from the greater project. Tapping into that strain of communal excellence is why Oz delivered one of the finest movie musicals of all time, building on what Ashman and Menken fertilized from Corman and screenwriter Charles B Griffith\u2019s seed of an idea. Clearly I\u2019m not as good an analogist as all of these men, so don\u2019t take my word for it. Go feed the beast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The key to a feelgood movie, beyond the necessary rewatchability, is familiarity \u2013 the real kind that lets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75],"class_list":["post-921811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}