Little Shop of Horrors (2021 film)

Little Shop of Horrors is a 2020 horror comedy musical film directed by Greg Berlanti, based on the musical comedy of the same name written by Howard Ashman with music by Alan Menken, which in turn was based on the 1960 film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman. The film stars Josh Gad, Celine Dion, Danny DeVito, Jim Carrey, and Mark Hamill as the voice of Audrey II, with Destiny's Child as the three urchins and cameo appearances from Jack Black, Steve Buscemi, Bill Hader, and others.

Like other adaptations of the play, the film follows Seymour Krelborn (Gad), a passive, nerdy florist shop employee who becomes a celebrity on the filthy town of Skid Row when he discovers a strange flytrap-like plant lovingly dubbed "Audrey II". Unfortunately for Seymour (and all of mankind), this plant needs human blood to grow, and when it begins to demand more blood than one man can give, poor Seymour is forced to commit murder. Meanwhile, Seymour's secret crush, Audrey (Dion), is in an abusive relationship with sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello (D.D.S.) (Carrey), and while Seymour's meek demeanor prevents any dominate action on his part, all it takes is a little push from the plant and Seymour serves revenge in a dish best served bloody.

Like the 1986 film adaptation, this film is faithful to the stage version, with a few changes; for examples, the song "Now (It's Just the Gas)" is removed, and the scene where Orin suffocates to death from his laughing gas is replaced with Seymour becoming so incensed over Orin insulting Audrey that he grabs a chainsaw (which he found in the tool shed behind Mr. Mushnik's florist shop) and goes straight-up Leatherface on the screaming dentist (off-screen, of course) before feeding his blood-soaked remains to Audrey II, justifying the crime to Mr. Mushnik as being for Audrey's sake. The change was to make Seymour less sympathetic than most versions for actively committing murder, and thus making his consumption by Audrey II near the end all the more well-deserved. Some of the dialogue and song lyrics are rewritten (for example, "He knows your life of crime" from "Suppertime" to "He knows about your crime"), Seymour omits "...and so am I!" when referring to Audrey II as a monster during the climax, and a sequence is added during Patrick Martin's appearance where Seymour flashes back to the events of the film, realizing in horror that the plant had a plan to take over the world, and that he had helped it grow in power. Unlike the theatrical version of the 1986 film, the movie ends with the song "Don't Feed the Plants", as in the stage version, where Audrey II succeeds in conquering the world.

The film was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and released in the United States on October 30, 2020, the day before Halloween. The film was shot on-location at the Bowery, known as New York's Skid Row, and the Skid Row in Los Angeles, to accurately depict the Skid Row featured in the show. It received mixed reviews, with the direction, acting (particularly the performances of Gad, Dion and Hamill), songs, special effects, and overall presentation largely praised, with criticism directed at Seymour's change in characterization starting from the end of the first act.

The six plant pod puppets in the film were built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New York, based on puppet designs for the original musical by Martin P. Robinson. Robinson was directly involved with the creation of the film's puppets, overseeing the building process and even acting as principal performer for Audrey II, leading a team of twelve puppeteers from the Jim Henson Company. To ensure that no jealousy or conflict occurred between them, each puppeteer took turns operating the mouth, while the others controlled the lips, tongue, vines, and leaves. For example, Robinson was lead plant puppeteer for the song "Grow for Me", Karen Prell performed the mouth during "Feed Me", David Rudman lip-synced to "Suppertime", and Kevin Clash lead puppeteered the plant during the climactic battle. For the "Don't Feed the Plants" number, around 240 puppeteers were needed to control twelve versions of the plant in its biggest form, reused for several shots to illustrate the idea of a large plant army taking over Earth, with the twelve main puppeteers controlling the mouth of each plant. While not directly involved with the film's production, Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire are credited as "puppeteer consultants".

Plot
"On the twenty-first day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence. And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places..."

Three street urchins (Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon) introduce the film, as they tell of forthcoming horror ("Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors"). We are introduced to Seymour Krelborn, a pathetic orphan living in a gritty New York neighborhood called "Skid Row", and Audrey, a beautiful but meek woman with a tacky fashion sense and no self-worth. Both desperately wish to escape the city, but can't because they're poor and down on their luck ("Skid Row (Downtown)"). They work at a florist shop run and owned by the grumpy but well-meaning Mr. Mushnik, one that's run-down and on the verge of bankruptcy. Seymour has recently bought a new, weird-looking plant, but doesn't know what it needs to grow. Suddenly, a man stops by the store and notices the plant, asking Seymour where he got it. Seymour reveals that he was walking by a florist shop run by a Chinese man one day, when an eclipse of the sun occurred. As it did, a new plant suddenly materialized in the shop, and while even the Chinese man had no idea where it came from, he offered to sell it to Seymour for a cheap price ("Da-Doo"). Seymour, who has a secret crush on Audrey, names the plant after her: "Audrey II".

In his bedroom underneath the shop, Seymour laments to a dying Audrey II that he has tried numerous ways to make it grow, all to no avail ("Grow for Me"). During the song, while filing Mushnik's taxes, Seymour gets a paper cut and his finger bleeds. This attracts Audrey II's appetite, and Seymour realizes that's what the plant needs to grow; he reluctantly agrees to feed it a few drops of blood, on the condition that it not make it a habit. Sure enough, once Seymour exits the room, Audrey II does indeed grow. The plant soon becomes a popular tourist attraction on Skid Row, revitalizing Mushnik's business and making Seymour the hottest celebrity in town. Meanwhile, Audrey returns with a black eye and her arm in a sling, and despite concern from the urchins, is too afraid to leave her abusive boyfriend. That said, she does have feelings for Seymour, and secretly wishes to live a modest life in the suburbs and start a family with him ("Somewhere That's Green").

Meanwhile, Mushnik decides to renovate the shop using all the money they've made from Audrey II being displayed in the window, and asks Seymour to help him. Audrey arrives late again, her injuries still remaining. Mushnik angrily demands to know who she's been dating, and in the next scene, we get the answer: Orin Scrivello, a shameless sadist who rides around on a Harley, gets off on bringing pain and suffering to those around him, and has a job as a dentist ("Dentist!"). His mere presence intimidates anyone who sees him, including Seymour, who calls him "a disgrace to the oral care industry. And the motorcycle industry." Orin, while respectful of Audrey II's success, tells Seymour to take the plant and get out of Skid Row, explaining that Seymour could "go big on Wall Street" with a plant like Audrey II. Mushnik then realizes that the plant (and Seymour) is the sole reason why his shop has been doing good business, and offers to adopt him as his "son" and have him as his business partner. Seymour happily accepts ("Mushnik and Son"). Alone in the shop, Seymour reflects on his newfound fame, and thanks the plant for helping him ("Sudden Changes"). As he leaves, however, the plant starts dying again, and as Seymour tells it that he needs to heal his finger, he hears cries of, "Feed me!" Audrey II reveals itself to be able to talk, and resists Seymour's offer of buying him some sirloin to eat, insisting it must be fed blood. The plant promises Seymour everything he's dreamed of, including fame, fortune, and the love of Audrey, if he continues to feed it ("Feed Me (Git It)"). Seymour refuses, fearing he may have to start killing people and feeding them to the plant to keep it healthy, and showing clear disgust at the idea that anyone could deserve such a fate. Audrey II directs his attention to Orin, who continues to berate and abuse Audrey outside. This is the last straw for Seymour, who declares that Orin has more than enough blood for the plant.

After Orin finishes with a masochistic patient named Arthur Denton, who wishes for "a long, slow root canal", Seymour barges through the door, armed with a chainsaw owned by Mushnik. This terrifies Orin, who tries to reason with Seymour and demands he drop the tool, and even promises to quit his job and leave Skid Row, never to return. Seymour menacingly retorts, "Oh, I know you'll never come back," before grinding the screaming dentist into chunks. Outside, a woman witnesses Seymour committing the murder and runs to phone the police.

Cast
Mark Hamill as Audrey II (voice)

Josh Gad as Seymour Krelborn

Celine Dion as Audrey

Danny DeVito as Mr. Mushnik

Jim Carrey as Dr. Orin Scrivello, D.D.S.

Beyonce Knowles-Carter as Crystal

Michelle Williams as Ronette

Kelly Rowland as Chiffon

Steve Buscemi as Patrick Martin

Jack Black as Wink Wilkinson

Bill Hader as Arthur Denton

Pam Ferris as Mrs. Luce

Adam Sandler as First Customer

Andy Samberg as Skip Snip

Kevin James as Bernstein

Ellen Greene as Murder Witness

Jet Li as Chinese Florist

Bonnie Hunt as Supermarket Clerk

Lee Wilkof as Newspaper Salesman

Al Roker as Television News Reporter

Morgan Freeman as Narrator

Audrey II Puppeteers: Martin P. Robinson, Anthony Asbury, David Rudman, Karen Prell, Kevin Clash, Bill Barretta, Matt Vogel, Peter Linz, Noel MacNeal, Eric Jacobson, Tyler Bunch, Ryan Dillon

Additional Puppeteers: Brad Abrell, Pam Arciero, Heather Asch, Grant Baciocco, Greg Ballora, David Barclay, Billy Barkhurst, Jennifer Barnhart, Tau Bennett, Carol Binion, Ronald Binion, Tim Blaney, Cheryl Blaylock, Rickey Boyd, Warrick Brownlow-Pike, Lisa Buckley, Julianne Buescher, Kevin Carlson, Raymond Carr, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Kristin Charney, Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo, Ceili Clemens, Bruce Connelly, Frankie Cordero, Melissa Creighton, John Criswell, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Nathan Danforth, Dorien Davies, Bill Diamond, Alice Dinnean, Jamie Donmoyer, Jodi Eichelberger, Nameer El-Kadi, Artie Esposito, Darci Lynne Farmer, David Matthew Feldman, Olga Felgemacher-Marin, Roberto Ferreira, Tom Fisher, Mark Gale, Aymee Garcia, Rob Gardner, Cameron Garrity, James Godwin, Jerome Green, BJ Guyer, Terri Hardin, Christopher Thomas Hayes, Andy Hayward, Rachel Herrick, Dave Hulteen Jr., Haley Jenkins, Patrick Johnson, Scott Johnson, Sean Johnson, Avery Lee Jones, Francis Kane, James Kemp, Vicki Kenderes-Eibner, John Kennedy, Kathleen Kim, Donna Kimball, Joe Kovacs, Adam Kreutinger, Jim Kroupa, Tim Lagasse, Scott Land, Bruce Lanoil, Michael Latini, Jayden Libran, Spencer Lott, Paul Louis, Rick Lyon, Lara MacLean, Amanda Maddock, Greg Manion, Alexander Mantia, Jim Martin, Drew Massey, Ed May, Paul McGinnis, Jess McKay, Alison Mork, James Murray, Michael Oosterom, Brett O'Quinn, Carmen Osbahr, Anney Fresh Ozar, Christine Papalexis, Annie Peterle, Marc Petrosino, David Quesal, Mike Quinn, Tim Rose, Rob Saunders, Michael Schupbach, Michelan Sisti, David Skelly, Colleen Smith, Kenny Stevenson, Andy Stone, John Tartaglia, Norman Tempia, Leif Tilden, Allan Trautman, Gabriel Velez, Russ Walko, Robin Walsh, James Wojtal, Victor Yerrid, Bryant Young, Paul Zaloom

Puppeteer Assistants: Catherine Adell, Christian Anderson, Rachel Appelbaum, Steve Axtell, Lawrence Basgall, Jake Bazel, Nate Begle, Mary Brehmer, Patrick Bristow, Matt Brooks, Lee Bryan, Brian Carson, Brian Clark, Josh Cohen, Spencer Cohen, Austin Michael Costello, Carole D'Agostino, Ben Durocher, Peggy Etra, Genevieve Flati, Galen Fott, Thom Fountain, Dan Garza, Noah Ginex, Stacey Gordon, Alex U. Griffin, Art Grueneberger, Tanya Haden, Sam Koji Hale, Zach Haumesser, Chris Heady, Lynn Hippen, Joshua Holden, Patrick Holmes, David Hosay, Brian Jones, David Jordan, Liz Joyce, Jonathan Kidder, Mary Robinette Kowal, Erik Kuska, Tiffany Lange, Matthew Lavin, Len Levitt, Michael Lisa, Weston Chandler Long, Pons Maar, Boitumelo Betty Maretele, Karen Maruyama, Cathy McCullough, Ted Michaels, Tracie Mick-Shoemaker, Jason Murphy, Jim Napolitano, Russell Nauman, Eric Novak, Sarah Oh, Adam Pagdon, Chris Palmieri, Tim Parati, Ian Petrella, Tony Sabin Prince, Casey Pyke, Jared Ramirez, Bill Remington, Steven Ritz-Barr, Julio Robles, Andy Rocco Kraft, Abby Roderick, Melissa Roja, Misty Rosas, Joey Rudman, Carla Rudy, Paul Rugg, Nicolette Santino, Benjamin Schrader, Michael Schwabe, Tomas Seidita, Joe Selph, Pam Severns, Chad Ethan Shohet, Benjamin Siemon, James Silson, Scott Silson, James Sloane, Jeff Speetjens, Thom Stanley, David Stephens, David Strassman, Lisa Sturz, Ian Sweetman, Jack Tate, Blair Thomas, Zachariah Tolchinsky, Star Townshend, Steve Troop, Basil Twist, Art Vega, Jack Venturo, Alex Villa, Jack Vogel, Cynthia Von Orthal, Justin Walters, April Warren, Daniel Weissbrodt, Vanessa Whitney, Steven Widerman, Susan Widerman, Mark Bryan Wilson, Scott Woodard, Chase Woolner, Eric Wright, Evy Wright, Matt Yates, Emre Yilmaz, Teddy Yudain, Michelle Zamora

Crew
Directed by Greg Berlanti

Screenplay by Jordan Peele

Based on the musical of the same name by Howard Ashman, which was based on the film "The Little Shop of Horrors" directed by Roger Corman and written by Charles Byron Griffith

Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Executive Producers: Tim Burton, David Geffen, Tim Rice

Director of Photography: Guillermo del Toro

Edited by Gregory Plotkin

Music by Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer

Songs from the play: music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman

Production Designer: Bo Welch

Costume Designer: Tom Broecker

Choreographer: Susan Stroman

"Audrey II" built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop based on original puppet designs by Martin P. Robinson

Special Effects Supervisor: Rick Lazzarini

Stunt Coordinator: Walter Garcia

Stunts: Dan Bell, Patty Chong, Tom McComas, Michael Munoz

Audrey Performance Consultant: Ellen Greene

Supervising Puppeteers: Brian Henson, Kathryn Mullen, Louise Gold, Joey Mazzarino

Puppeteer Consultants: Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire