The Little Shop of Horrors (Audio Commentary)

Film Year:  1960
Genre:  Comedy, Horror
Director:  Roger Corman
Starring:  My public domain DVD insists that this movie stars Jack Nicholson and no one else
Commentator:  Michael J. Nelson

The Movie

*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*

Yes folks!  It's Little Shop of Horrors!

No.  Not THAT Little Shop of Horrors.  The original that inspired the beloved musical version.  But since this is not that version, out of fairness to the original there will be no references to that one or any songs from it throughout this review.*

Infamously known as the film Roger Corman shot in two days, Little Shop of Horrors tells the story of klutzy nerd Seymour who cross breeds a special plant and takes it to the flower shop he works at in hopes that it will boost business.  But there's a catch:  the only thing the plant will eat is human blood!  Seymour becomes an unlikely murderer to sustain his plant, meanwhile daydreams of making enough money to marry his beloved Audrey.

To describe Little Shop of Horrors is almost impossible.  To review it is almost futile.  Much like Plan 9 from Outer Space, it's something that needs to be seen in order to be understood.  You'll either find it dumb or you'll find it charmingly simple.  You'll either find it annoying or you'll find it endearing.  As a slapstick comedy about a nerd who kills people and feeds them to a plant it transcends the concept of good or bad cinema to become something that's a bit of both.  Predicting one's reaction to the film is fairly impossible, though it helps to have something of a love for low budget cheapies of the time period.  I like Little Shop of Horrors quite a bit, if I'm being honest.  There's something captivating about how aloof it is, and there's something otherworldly cartoonish about it that just tickles me.

One thing I will note, out of all the films I've seen from Roger Corman I'd say there is a decent shot that Little Shop of Horrors is the best.  And I'm sure that's completely by accident.

*Okay, just one.

The Commentary

I imagine most riffing fans are ecstatic to hear their favorite comedians taking on Roger Corman.  Look at the MST episodes It Conquered the World or The Undead, for example.  However Corman has the same problem that Melissa McCarthy has in that he thinks he's funny.  If you've ever seen a Corman directed comedy they're very strange beasts:  bizarre and goofy.  Handing Mike Nelson Corman's most famous comedy is almost a recipe for disaster.  Luckily this commentary coasts a bit on how enjoyably silly the film is, and while Mike doesn't quite drown, he just goes along for the ride.

Little Shop of Horrors is nothing if it isn't eccentric.  The fact that this movie shows the audience things that you probably won't see anywhere else (save for a potential musical remake) is enough fuel for Mike to play along with.  Mike does some quality reacting to this movie, at times adding to the gag or just claiming confusion at it.  He questions the use of the wacky music, and plays up the characterizations of most of the nutty characters that are featured (what with the maniacal dentists and insistent hookers and all).  The only one here who seems to get off the hook is Audrey, who you could easily play up her pixilated qualities though Mike barely notices her.

Another virtue of Little Shop is that it's barely 70 minutes long, and Mike seems to strain himself by the end, where he's given a lengthy chase scene where the best he can offer is a bunch of puns.  As the film abruptly ends we're left somewhat satisfied, though the experience isn't quite as charming as the film by itself.  It plays very much like a popular public domain film that Mike was handed and not something chosen because he could make something out of it.  It's not unwatchable, though it's not a must see either.

Average

The DVD and Blu-Ray

Mike's commentary on this film accompanied the film on a colorization release by Legend Films.  The film was also one of two films in this series to be released on blu-ray (the other being Plan 9 from Outer Space), though I'm viewing the DVD version.  You can watch it with either the black and white version or the colorized one, of which I chose color because I hadn't seen it before.  The colors aren't exactly realistic, though they add to the cartoonish vibe of the film and almost enhance it in a way.  I'd say Little Shop in color is something worth watching at least once.  Picture quality is fair, and audio is pretty good.

Special features include an informative Gallery on Killer Plants.  Next up is a charmingly dumb (like the film itself) thirty second feature called "Man Eating Plants," which is just a man eating plants.  Finally we have trailers for Little Shop of Horrors, Plan 9 from Outer Space, House on Haunted Hill, Carnival of Souls, and Reefer Madness.