Little Shop of Horrors - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Little Shop of Horrors



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
While most people think of Little Shop of Horrors as a decidedly 80s film, the origins of the story come from the 1960s where David Geffen produced a Roger Corman schlock film that gave him the idea for a musical. While a Roger Corman B film wasn’t one of the most obvious ideas for a musical, Geffen and the late Howard Ashton collaborated to create a bizarre creation that poked fun at the 1950s, B movies in general, and had fun with a storybook romance between a dim witted shop clerk and a sort of “rube” in the form of a Jewish coworker named Seymour. And somehow this all came together in 1982 (my birth year) for an off Broadway musical that literally took the Broadway world by storm, cramming people in seats so fast and for so long that it made every bean counter’s head spin with ecstasy.

And being that the play was killing it (pun intended), the movie was created shortly after. In 4 scant years it was a mega hit for Warner Brother’s, but also was a bit of a controversy for hard core fans of the play, as Frank Oz decided to sanitize the ending a bit, and take away the bleak ending of the play. But luckily the home theater release gave us the Director’s cut, with not only added on 9 minutes of footage, but also restored the ending that mimicked the Broadway play a lot more. And being that I’m a fan of both the play AND the movie, I really have a hard time choosing which version to watch. On one hand, the director’s cut is distinctly more faithful to the source play, but I enjoy the up beat ending of the theatrical cut more than I should. So every time I pop my discs in, I have to decide what variation of the film I want to watch at that given moment.

The movie follows a mousy florist clerk by the name of Seymour (Rick Moranis) who is head over heels in loved with his coworker Audrey (Ellen Greene), and very fearful of his boss, Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia). In hopes of currying favor with Mr. Mushnik, Seymour has been working at creating new and inventive plants to stick in the shop window and attract business in. And while his attempts have mostly failed, the goofy rube found his meal ticket I the form of a little plant that he picked up in Chinatown. Turns out this plant is odd enough to start bringing in business, and soon the whole town wants a peak at “Audrey II” (brilliantly named after his crush I tell you….sarcasm intended).

But it turns out the plant is more than just a curiosity piece. It grows larger and larger, and soon starts to talk to Seymour. And Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs) has a few oddities that make things even creepier. It wants human blood and flesh to survive, and now it is promising Seymour the world if he can bring it some “food”. At first Seymour is adamant about not taking a human life his plant, but after watching Audrey’s boyfriend (Steven Martin) abuse her for the last time, he decides that maybe it is in his capabilities to give his plant “friend” what it wants.

Little Shop of Horrors is a bizarre film, and an even more bizarre play. But it’s a stage musical at heart, giving us catchy 80s tunes, poking fun at the 1950s (Steven Martin plays his character like he’s an Elvis impersonator), and of course a cynical look at the end of the world view point that was so prevalent during the cold war era. But it’s fun, cheeky and doesn’t seen “too” horror-ish for the genre. There’s a couple of fun kills, but the use of practical Jim Henson style puppets (Frank Oz probably had a large hand in that) give the film an airy vibe. Again the ending you choose will heavily depend on whether you light the more hopefully and “fluffy” ending of the theatrical cut, or whether you want the somber and grim feel of the stage play. Both films have their place, and both are enjoyable in their own right.

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Rating: Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including comic horror violence, substance abuse, language and sex references




4K Video: Video:
It’s been YEARS since I’ve seen the Blu-ray, but the new 4K restoration of the film looks amazing on my 85 inch Sony. Using a fresh scan of the OCN, Warner has gone back and done a meticulous job at cleaning the film up, and giving it back its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, instead of the SLIGHTLY cropped 1.78:1 that the Blu-ray was. That minor win aside, the results speak for themselves. The grain is tight and clear, and doesn’t look overly processed. While the black levels are deep and inky. Colors are a bit mahogany tinged as per the 80s color grading, but skin tones are natural and the colors on the trio of female singers (with one of them being 18 year old Tish Campbell’s feature film debut) blue dresses really pops, as does the reds and greens of Audrey II as she evolves. The HDR and Dolby Vision is subtle, but it adds pop where necessary, and adds a silkiness to the black levels. It’s not perfect, but REALLY stinking close.


Audio:
Unlike the Blu-ray which gave us 5.1 mixes for both cuts of the film, the 4K UHD separates things a bit by giving us a Dolby Atmos remix for the Director’s Cut, and the 2.0 Stereo theatrical mix in DTS-HD MA for….well...the theatrical cut. The 2.0 mix is of course a scaled back mix with a front end only mixing, but it is very much a clone of the theatrical experience by every contact I’ve been able to talk to.

That being said, the Dolby Atmos mix is actually quite dynamic and fun despite not exactly being the original audio experience. It’s got a fairly wide sound stage, with a lot of the crazier antics of Audrey II and the musical numbers swelling up to some impressive range. Dialog is rendered cleanly and clearly, and I noticed that this mixing feels VERY similar to the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track found on Warner’s old Blu-ray disc. From what I could read in articles and interviews, this AND the 5.1 track were both based off the old Six track 70mm audio from back in the day, and Warner simply expanded the 5.1 mix a bit into Atmos. This results in some soft overheads (except near the end) and a bit more focus on the surrounds and rears. Bass response is nice, but never overly crazy, and I feel that the 2.0 mix feels more natural, but this Atmos track adds some much needed punch to the songs.


Extras:
• THEATRICAL VERSION AND DIRECTOR'S CUT OF THE FILM
• NEW To Feed or Not to Feed: For the Love of the Little Shop - Explore why the film remains an enduring classic 40 years on
• NEW Mean Green Mother: Creating Audrey II - Join the puppeteering masterminds behind the man-eating plant
• Audio commentary on the Theatrical Version by Frank Oz
• Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
• Director's Cut Ending with Audio Commentary by Frank Oz

Final Score: ​

Frank Oz’s bizarre film is still great 40 years later (uggh, I’m getting old), blending elements of 80s satire with the biting brutality of Sweeney Todd (just not AS gory), though I feel some of the luster has worn off. I hate to be the debbie downer who gives this a less than 5 star rating, but I used to LOVE this film beyond belief, but as I’ve aged I sort of feel that it wasn’t as good as I thought it was. The same could be said for Sweeney Todd, which I adored just as much, but found in my 4K viewing that my tastes had changed. Fans of the film will love the 4K upgrades, and the addition of the theatrical mix for the theatrical cut is a bit win for film purists everywhere. Again, it may not be perfect, but Little Shop of Horrors is a fun bit of 80s satire that still works almost half a century later.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin
Directed by: Frank Oz
Written by: Howard Ashman, Roger Corman, Charles B. Griffith
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 2.0 (theatrical) French, Spanish DD 2.0 (theatrical cut)
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner Bro's
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 94 Minutes (Theatrical Cut) / 103 Minutes (Director's cut)
Blu-ray Release Date: Septempter 6th, 2026

Recommendation: Must Own