It's wonderfully fascinating to read of the production, and learn of what a truly bottom-dollar budget and tight production schedule informed everything down to reused sets and music, and a shot of the moon. It's a joy to know that this was the eventual inspiration for an off-Broadway musical, and the movie musical of 1986 that has become a treasure of pop culture in its own right. And with filmmaker, producer, and schlockmeister Roger Corman sadly having just recently died, an icon important to cinema well beyond his penchant for B-movies, it is a pleasure that this should be part of his enduring legacy. It may have been cheaply and hurriedly made, and its low-grade nature may show in the quality of its sound and image, but 'The little shop of horrors' is marvelously fun and funny to an extent well surpassing no few other comedies across all periods of the medium.
The image is grainy, the sound is muddled, the editing is kind of rough, and not since the most vaudevillian days of the silent era had movies boasted acting this over the top. Yet all told this is all just part of what makes the picture a tremendous delight, endearing it further to us. It's not so surprising after all that this would become a musical, because this is already a spectacle, and the comedy is already stupendously robust. Leave it to Corman to whip something up on a lark to make an easy buck, and the result is so imaginative and cheeky that it becomes a certified classic. The cast unreservedly embrace the silliness with their highly energetic performances, and I really don't know if I could pick a favorite among Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, or John Herman Shaner, among others. Young Jack Nicholson is a splendid and instantly recognizable bonus, and writer Charles B. Griffith clearly reveled in his voice performance for Audrey Jr. Fred Katz's peppy original score adds terrific flavor to the proceedings, and despite the nature of the production, the art direction, costume design, and even the practical effects really are fantastic, and very suitable for a film of this tenor. Who would have thought that this, of all things, would have such staying power?
Flush with giddily ridiculous situational humor, surprisingly sharp dialogue, cartoonish characters and animated acting, and some choice gags, 'The little shop of horrors' is built purely to entertain. Between the cheerful comedy, the underlying genre roots, and a smidgen of crime flick on top, this ably does just that. Griffith's script gives us a fabulously wacky narrative rounded out with equally wild scene writing, and as if the cast needed any prompting to go all-out in portraying their characters, Corman's fly-by-night direction maintains a thrumming, electric joviality about the proceedings. To top it all off, as the feature clocks in at a trim seventy-three minutes, there is no room for excess; from top to bottom the abbreviated length is filled with vibrant, playful punch, and when all is said and done this is far more clever than one is likely to assume of similar fare.
What more is there to say? Sometimes the titles that hold up as gems come from the most unlikely of places. This piece is outwardly preposterous in concept and in execution, and to read up on how it was made, it's almost a wonder that it got made at all. Yet with a little ingenuity and hard work, and unswerving commitment, the sum total is an incredibly enjoyable slice of nonsense that remains a blast. I can understand how such works won't appeal to all comers, but if you're open to all the wide possibilities that cinema has to offer, 'The little shop of horrors' is a blast, and well worth checking out!
The image is grainy, the sound is muddled, the editing is kind of rough, and not since the most vaudevillian days of the silent era had movies boasted acting this over the top. Yet all told this is all just part of what makes the picture a tremendous delight, endearing it further to us. It's not so surprising after all that this would become a musical, because this is already a spectacle, and the comedy is already stupendously robust. Leave it to Corman to whip something up on a lark to make an easy buck, and the result is so imaginative and cheeky that it becomes a certified classic. The cast unreservedly embrace the silliness with their highly energetic performances, and I really don't know if I could pick a favorite among Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, or John Herman Shaner, among others. Young Jack Nicholson is a splendid and instantly recognizable bonus, and writer Charles B. Griffith clearly reveled in his voice performance for Audrey Jr. Fred Katz's peppy original score adds terrific flavor to the proceedings, and despite the nature of the production, the art direction, costume design, and even the practical effects really are fantastic, and very suitable for a film of this tenor. Who would have thought that this, of all things, would have such staying power?
Flush with giddily ridiculous situational humor, surprisingly sharp dialogue, cartoonish characters and animated acting, and some choice gags, 'The little shop of horrors' is built purely to entertain. Between the cheerful comedy, the underlying genre roots, and a smidgen of crime flick on top, this ably does just that. Griffith's script gives us a fabulously wacky narrative rounded out with equally wild scene writing, and as if the cast needed any prompting to go all-out in portraying their characters, Corman's fly-by-night direction maintains a thrumming, electric joviality about the proceedings. To top it all off, as the feature clocks in at a trim seventy-three minutes, there is no room for excess; from top to bottom the abbreviated length is filled with vibrant, playful punch, and when all is said and done this is far more clever than one is likely to assume of similar fare.
What more is there to say? Sometimes the titles that hold up as gems come from the most unlikely of places. This piece is outwardly preposterous in concept and in execution, and to read up on how it was made, it's almost a wonder that it got made at all. Yet with a little ingenuity and hard work, and unswerving commitment, the sum total is an incredibly enjoyable slice of nonsense that remains a blast. I can understand how such works won't appeal to all comers, but if you're open to all the wide possibilities that cinema has to offer, 'The little shop of horrors' is a blast, and well worth checking out!