Putting together 'Little Shop Of Horrors' (1986)

'Little Shop Of Horrors' (1986) is a musical about a bloodsucker from out of space that's popular, but, I think, perhaps a little underappreciated in terms of its artistry which makes beauty out of artifice and artificiality. The musical 'Little Shop Of Horrors' (1982) was produced off-Broadway, with music composed by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (the two men later collaborated on the 1991 animated fantasy 'Beauty And The Beast' which was dedicated to Ashman who sadly died in the spring of that year). The original musical 'Little Shop Of Horrors' was inspired by Roger Corman's horror comedy 'The Little Shop Of Horrors' (1960) which became famous for being shot in about 2 days on sets used by Corman for the satirical beat horror 'A Bucket Of Blood' (1959).

To my mind, the makers of 'Little Shop Of Horrors' got just about everything right in terms of recruitment and intent, beginning with their decision to maintain the dark, chaotic spirit of Roger Corman's early work in science-fiction, fantasy and horror. The film itself is filled with genre references and uses familiar tropes to tell its story. It evokes America's dark, disturbing history of freakshows just as Corman had once done. It deals with troubling themes like loneliness, abandonment, responsible ownership and the dependency that can result. It tackles difficult subjects like domestic abuse, sadomasochistic desire, premature death and erectile dysfunction. To do this, director Frank Oz struck just the right tone, pitching it at a level of pure delirium, similar to genre-based comedies like Carl Reiner's 'The Man With Two Brains' (1982), Sam Raimi's 'Crimewave' (1985), the Coen Brothers' 'Raising Arizona' (1987) and Josh Becker's 'Lunatics : A Love Story' (1991).

The detailed design of the movie was worked upon during some very long hours spent at the studio, though there were artistic templates provided by the original movie and stage production. Production designer Roy Walker was noted for his work with two of cinema's most exacting directors, David Lean and Stanley Kubrick, and he brought an exquisite level of detail in to play. Art director Stephen Spence had worked alongside Walker previously. Costume designer Marit Allen had an eye for the fanciful which proved to be ideal for dressing up the eccentrics that populated 'Little Shop Of Horrors'.

None of these elements would have worked without someone to pull them all together and they picked the right man in England's very own puppet master Frank Oz who was descended from Poland's long tradition of puppetry. Oz was well known for his work on 'The Muppet Show' and 'Sesame Street' and knew how to activate the monster, Audrey II, who was even gifted her own p.o.v. camera. Oz would work 2 years later with some of the same cast and crew members on the sophisticated con trick picture, 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' (1988). He already knew a lot of comedians as he was close to filmmaker John Landis, so he was able to bring in Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy and James Belushi (as a late replacement for the great Paul Dooley). Moranis and Martin added considerable musical ability to the cast, as well as perfect comic timing. Satirical filmmaker Christopher Guest was also cast, as were veteran stage comic Vincent Gardenia, and cabaret singer Ellen Greene after Cyndi Lauper passed on the role.

The musical team put together for 'Little Shop Of Horrors' was exemplary. In addition to Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, Bob Gaudio (The Four Seasons) served as an arranger, Levi Stubbs (The Four Tops) provided vocals and Miles Goodman composed an original score (sadly, Goodman died in 1996). Heavyweight producer David Geffen had a lot of industry clout and knew how to use it. Also included were a call-and-response girl group trio named in deference to the Crystals, the Chiffons and the Ronettes, a preening doo wop quintet that included sci-fi fantasy icon Danny John-Jules, and a zombie chorus that was pitched halfway between the roaming undead of George Romero's 'Dawn Of The Dead' (1978) and John Carpenters' 'Prince Of Darkness' (1987). Frank Oz created what's ostensibly a family-friendly musical (viewer discretion is strongly advised), but one with real bite. I suspect a CGI remake would remove certain "questionable", or "dodgy", elements if made today.