Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)

Little Shop of Horrors
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrank Oz
Screenplay byHoward Ashman
Based onLittle Shop of Horrors
1982 musical
by Howard Ashman
The Little Shop of Horrors
1960 film
by Roger Corman
Charles B. Griffith
Produced byDavid Geffen
Starring
CinematographyRobert Paynter
Edited byJohn Jympson
Music byMiles Goodman (score)
Alan Menken (songs)
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • December 19, 1986 (1986-12-19)
Running time
94 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million
Box office$54 million

Little Shop of Horrors is a 1986 American horror comedy musical film directed by Frank Oz. It is an adaptation of the 1982 off-Broadway musical of the same name by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, which is itself an adaptation of the 1960 film The Little Shop of Horrors by director Roger Corman. The film, which centers on a floral shop worker who discovers a sentient carnivorous plant that feeds on human blood, stars Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, and the voice of Levi Stubbs. The film also features special appearances by Jim Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, and Bill Murray. It was produced by David Geffen through The Geffen Company and released by Warner Bros. on December 19, 1986. It grossed $39 million domestically and $15 million internationally for a worldwide total of $54 million.

Little Shop of Horrors was filmed on the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage at the Pinewood Studios in England, where a "downtown" set, complete with overhead train track, was constructed. Produced on a budget of $25 million, in contrast to the original 1960 film, which, according to Corman, only cost $30,000,[2] it was well received by critics and audiences alike, eventually developing a cult following. The film's original 23-minute finale, based on the musical's ending, was rewritten and reshot after test audiences did not react positively to it.[3] For years only available as black-and-white workprint footage, the original ending was fully restored in 2012 by Warner Home Video and a director's cut was released.

  1. ^ "LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. January 27, 1987. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  2. ^ "Roger Corman interview". Archived from the original on January 4, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference EntertainmentWeekly was invoked but never defined (see the help page).