The Little Shop of Horrors

This article is about the 1960 film. For other uses, see Little Shop of Horrors.

The Little Shop of Horrors
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoger Corman
Screenplay byCharles B. Griffith
Produced byRoger Corman
Starring
Narrated byWally Campo
CinematographyArchie R. Dalzell
Edited byMarshall Neilan Jr.
Music by
Production
companies
The Filmgroup
Santa Clara Productions[1]
Distributed byThe Filmgroup
American International Pictures
Release date
  • September 14, 1960 (1960-09-14)
Running time
72 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$28,000–34,000[3][4]
Box office25,066 admissions (France)[5]

The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about a florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The film stars Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, and Dick Miller, who had all worked for Corman on previous films. Produced under the title The Passionate People Eater,[6][7] the film employs an original style of humor, combining dark comedy with farce[8] and incorporating Jewish humor and elements of spoof.[9] The Little Shop of Horrors was shot on a budget of $28,000 (equivalent to $288,000 in 2023). Interiors were shot in two days, by utilizing sets that had been left standing from A Bucket of Blood.[10][11][12][13]

The film slowly gained a cult following through word of mouth when it was distributed as the B movie in a double feature with Mario Bava's Black Sunday[10][14] and later with Last Woman on Earth.[10] The film's popularity increased with local television broadcasts,[15] and the presence of a young Jack Nicholson, whose small role in the film has been prominently promoted on its home video releases.[16] The film was the basis for an Off-Broadway musical, Little Shop of Horrors, which in turn was adapted into a 1986 feature film. The musical enjoyed a 2003 Broadway debut and a 2019 off-Broadway revival, amongst other productions.

  1. ^ "Catalog - The Little Shop of Horrors". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "The Little Shop of Horrors (A)". British Board of Film Classification. March 1, 1973. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  3. ^ Fred Olen Ray, The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers as Distributors, McFarland, 1991, p 28-29
  4. ^ Goldman, Charles (Fall 1971). "An interview with Roger Corman". Film Comment. Vol. 7, no. 3. pp. 49–54. ProQuest 210229038.
  5. ^ Box office information for Roger Corman films in France Archived 2020-05-26 at the Wayback Machine at Box Office Story
  6. ^ Corman, Roger; Jerome, Jim (1998-08-22). How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. Da Capo Press. pp. 61–62, 67–70. ISBN 0-306-80874-9.
  7. ^ Gray, Beverly (2004). Roger Corman: Blood-Sucking Vampires, Flesh-Eating Cockroaches, and Driller Killers. Thunder's Mouth Press. pp. 62–65, 67–69. ISBN 1-56025-555-2.
  8. ^ Graham, Aaron W. (5 November 2000). "Little Shop of Genres: An interview with Charles B. Griffith". Senses of Cinema. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  9. ^ Weaver, James B.; Tamborini, Ronald C., eds. (1996). Horror Films: Current Research on Audience Preferences and Reactions. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 59.
  10. ^ a b c Ray, Fred Olen (1991). The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers As Distributors. McFarland & Company. pp. 28–30. ISBN 0-89950-628-3.
  11. ^ "Fun Facts". A Bucket of Blood (Media notes). MGM Home Entertainment. 2000. UPC:027616852847.
  12. ^ Peary, Danny (1981). Cult Movies. New York: Delacorte Press. pp. 203–205. ISBN 0-440-01626-6.
  13. ^ Simpson, MJ (September 23, 1995). "Interview with Roger Corman". Archived from the original on January 4, 2010. Retrieved 2007-10-24. I shot Little Shop of Horrors in two days and a night for about $30,000, and the picture has lasted all these years.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Weaver was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Hogan, David J. (1997). Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film. McFarland & Company. p. 224. ISBN 0-7864-0474-4.
  16. ^ Pearce, Joel (June 16, 2006). "Review of The Little Shop of Horrors". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved 2007-10-24.