When you are growing up, you see many films. Some of them amuse you,
some of them don't. And some of them get lodged somewhere in your
subconscience in a place that you can't quite scratch. Those are the
ones that inform what you come to expect from a film.
Those are the ones that inform what your opinion will be of all films
thereafter, for better or worse.
I must admit, when I was younger, I didn't get this movie. I loved
the scene with Steve Martin as the demented dentist, but the rest
of the film didn't quite do it for me.
But with age comes wisdom and now, well, I have never seen a musical
more wonderful, more delightful, more amazing and more flat-out entertaining
than "Little Shop of Horrors".
"Little Shop of Horrors" is the story of a poor sap by the
name of Seymour. Seymour works in a little, rundown flower shop in
the poorest section of town imaginable. He is verbally abused by the
owner of the flower shop and, also, is in love with a woman named
Audrey.
Audrey is a sweet girl with a squeaky voice and extremely low self-esteem.
She is dating a sadistic, motorcycle-riding dentist who beats her.
Why? Because she doesn't feel that she's worthy of anyone better.
Seymour suffers from low self-esteem too. His whole life has been
lived in the basement of Mushnik's (Vincent Gardenia, who makes the
most of his role) shop and is continually told how worthless he is.
With that hanging over him, how could he possibly have anything but
low self-esteem?
Enter the plant. One day, while shopping in the wholesale flower district,
Seymour finds a rare plant that he has never seen before. Soon, he
discovers that the plant only grows if he feeds it blood. The plant
gets bigger and suddenly, the store's business is booming. Then, one
day, the plant begins to talk, even to sing (since this is a musical).
Complications then ensue.
The puppet work in this movie is great. I never gave it much thought
before, but look at those vines. The plant has lots of small vines,
and each of them moves and acts like fingers. Now how the hell did
they accomplish that? Not only that, but the plant itself ceases to
be a puppet for you the second it opens its mouth. The plant has a
very definite personality and a very distinct way of moving. It becomes
very easy to believe in it as a living thing rather than a hunk of
rubber and felt. The plant seems to be up to something, even when
it is just sitting there in the background of the action.
Plus, I think it is truly inspired of them to have taken an old low-budget
horror film about an evil plant and make a musical out of it. That
is ingenius. The singing plant is just a delightful touch of madness.
But the main thing I love about this movie is the surprisingly tender
love story. It is so touching to see these two people who don't believe
that they are good enough to deserve anyone good slowly realize that
they are perfect for one another. It is sad and beautiful, not to
mention realistic. I had never seen these characters in a movie before,
and that is their charm. I fell in love with these characters right
as they fell in love with each other. They lend an inherent sweetness
to the proceedings which even the multiple murders cannot shake.
The music is a vital part of any musical, of course, and the songs
here are marvelous. I could not help it, I kept finding myself singing
along with every song and enjoying the hell out of it. I have always
loved the "Dentist" song, and the way it is performed by
Steve Martin with incredible gusto. It is truly a show-stopping moment.
But I also love the more tender songs, like "Suddenly Seymour".
I also love the three ladies who sing the background most of the time,
unnoticed by the other characters. They are a cross between a Greek
chorus and the Supremes, a thoroughly charming narrative device.
In short, I have never had so much fun watching a musical and that
is why I am rewarding it so highly. Sure, "Singin' in the Rain"
is good, and I really enjoy "My Fair Lady", but there is
a soft spot in my heart for this movie that simply cannot be denied.
