Stars: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin
Director: Frank Oz
Wow, I don’t know about all of you but August just sucked for me. I had high hopes for September but it started with my demon cat tripping me and I ended up with a bruised shoulder. Fingers crossed that this was the last remnant of August and it is all smooth sailing from here.
I decided to grab one last film from 1986 for the blog and also honor my musical loving side with this fun little musical comedy horror film…
Brief synopsis:
A trio of singers, who work as a Greek chorus, introduce us to our story and our characters. Seymour Krelborn is an orphaned boy who works at Mr. Mushnik’s flower shop down on Skid Row and tries to find new plant species in his spare time. Klutzy and shy, he harbors a crush on his blonde bombshell coworker Audrey. Unfortunately, she is dating a sadistic Elvis-impersonator dentist named Scrivillo who delights in demeaning and abusing her. Their job situation isn’t any better as Mr. Mushnik’s shop is always empty. Just as Mushnik is about to close the shop, Seymour introduces him to a new plant he discovered, the Audrey II.
Spoilers below (you have been warned):
The plant instantly attracts attention and Seymour and his odd plant become famous. The shop is booming with success but what no one, except Seymour, knows is that the plant survives on blood and is slowly draining Seymour of his life. Eventually the plant is 8 feet tall with a huge venus flytrap-like mouth. The plant also begins speaking to Seymour, demanding fresh blood to continue to grow. Seymour refuses at first until he sees Scrivillo beating up Audrey and decides he deserves to die. Seymour goes to Scrivillo’s office to kill him but Scrivillo accidentally gives himself too much laughing gas and ends up killing himself.
Seymour cuts up Scrivillo’s body and feeds it to Audrey II. Unknown to him, Mr. Mushnik sees him cutting up the body. Audrey is questioned by the police about the dentist’s disappearance and admits to Seymour it would be a miracle if he were dead because she couldn’t escape him. Seymour tells Audrey he loves her. At first, she doesn’t feel like she deserves a nice guy but eventually admits she feels the same way. She goes home and Mushnik confronts Seymour about Scrivillo’s death. Seymour swears that he didn’t kill him, just cut him up. Mushnik offers to help Seymour escape if he will just tell him the secret of the plant. Mushnik backs into Audrey II and gets eaten.
Seymour’s success continues and he if offered a TV show. Since they are paying him his fee up front, Seymour sees this as a chance to escape with Audrey from Skid Row and Audrey II. He asks Audrey to marry him and she happily accepts and goes home to pack and change into the wedding dress she already owns for some reason. Seymour goes to the butcher shop to pick up meat for the plant. Audrey II waits until Seymour leaves and the lures Audrey to the shop to eat her. Seymour arrives in time to save her. They head out to the back alley to discuss what to do when they are approached by a salesman who wants to cut off parts of Audrey II and sell them to customers across the country. Seymour realizes that this was the plants’ plan all along and goes to confront it. Audrey II admits that they are a big, green, mother from outer space and they are going to take over the world. It brings the ceiling down on top of Seymour but he survives the crash and manages to blow up the plant with electricity.
We then flash forward to a married Audrey and Seymour on their wedding day going to their home far from Skid Row, complete with a baby Audrey II in the garden.
My thoughts (with spoilers):
As much as I love musicals, they are harder to do a plot summary on because most of the plot is given to us in song. And there are so many great songs in this film. I have not seen the off-Broadway musical the film was based on but I did buy the soundtrack years ago. Full of 50s & 60s style songs that makes the horror of what is happening seem almost fun. There are some darker musical numbers, Suppertime stands out, but most of them are bouncy and fun. Ellen Greene was a transplant from the stage production and is perfect as Audrey. The music and lyrics are by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, names you should be familiar with if you watch any Disney movies. These are the men behind the wonderful music of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
The cast here could not be better. Rick Moranis is perfect as the meek and mild Seymour, Steve Martin has a blast as the sadistic dentist, and our Greek chorus of ladies are exceptional in their girl group form. Two of the women, Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell, would work together on Martin together in the 1990s. The third, Michelle Weeks, only has a couple of credits to her name and that is a shame because she was a powerhouse vocalist and a real talent. The fact that she stands out among a cast this stacked is proof enough that she deserved a better career. Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops voices Audrey II and kills each song and line delivery.
But this movie also delivers in the bit parts, using well-known names to up the ante. Bill Murray plays a masochistic dental patient, a part originated by Jack Nicholson in the original film. John Candy is a local disc jockey who interviews Seymour. Christoper Guest, Count Rugen in The Princess Bride, master of the mockumentary, and husband of Jamie Lee Curtis, appears as a flower shop customer. It goes on and on and I imagine that might have a little bit to do with Rick Moranis and the man who helmed this film, Frank Oz.
Frank Oz is more than a director, he is a Muppet. Oz provided the voices Fozzy the Bear, Miss Piggy, Animal, Cookie Monster, Grover, Bert, and Yoda over the years. Because of his wide range of work in The Muppets and Sesame Street, I am sure he had no problem calling in a few favors from some old friends. In addition, he does a great job of working with the Audrey II puppet. As a former muppeteer, he understands the ins and outs of shooting a film with a puppet and the person running the puppet. I would argue that a good part of the success of this film lies in his ability to make Audrey II not only believable but scary. We fear for the characters when they get near it, worry that Audrey will not survive her encounter, and want to see it destroyed in the end.
The original film by Roger Corman was a cheap quickie that was good enough and had a downer ending with Seymour getting eaten and the pictures of all the victims appearing in the flower buds. It was okay but nothing special. This film almost had a downer ending, like the play it is based on, but the studio interfered based on test screenings and I think it is better for it. I don’t mind a downer ending, my favorite film is John Carpenter’s The Thing, but it has to feel earned. Based on the 80 minutes that came before, the new ending works. Keep in mind that Seymour never kills anyone in the film. The abusive dentist killed himself and Mr. Mushnik stumbled into the plant after trying to blackmail Seymour. In this version, Seymour has not done enough to earn death and Audrey certainly doesn’t deserve. I have seen the Audrey-takes-over-the-world ending and it is so over the top and ridiculous that it instantly drops the film by at least 2 stars in my opinion.
This film is short, fun, and you will be humming the songs in your head for days after you see it. Definitely worth at least one watch.
More films from 1986 to check out:
The Fly – I am not much for gross out horror but the performances of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis almost gets me past it. Almost. Still a must watch at least one for horror fans.
Maximum Overdrive – Stephen King admitted to being on cocaine while directing this film and it shows. However, I love a good bad movie and this definitely fits the bill.
Witchboard – Lesson learned from this movie – never play with a Ouija board alone. Tawny Kitaen does and ends up communicating with a bad spirit. Co-starring Stephen Nicholas aka Patch Johnson from Days of Our Lives.