The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1960
Running Times: 70 mins
Format: black and white     16mm / 35mm blow-up
Ratio: 1.37:1     1.66:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Allied Artists Television Corp / Filmgroup / Santa Clara Productions
Producer: Roger Corman

SCRIPT
Script: Charles Griffith

DIRECTION
Director: Roger Corman
Assistant Director: Richard Dixon

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Archie Dalzell

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Marshall Neilan Jr

MUSIC
Music: Fred Katz

SOUND
Sound: Philip Mitchell

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Harry Thomas

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Daniel Haller
Property Master: Carl Brainard

LOCATIONS
Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA
Studio: Chaplin Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

CAST
Jonathan Haze (Seymour Kreilboind)
Jackie Joseph (Audrey Fulquard)
Mel Welles (Gravis Mushnik)
Dick Miller (Burson Fouch)
Myrtle Vail (Winifred Kreilboind)
Tammy Windsor (teenage girl)
Toby Michaels (teenage girl)
Leola Wendorff (Siddie Shiva)
Lynn Storey (Mrs Hortense Feuchtwanger)
Wally Campo (Detective Sergeant Joe Fink / narrator)
Jack Warford (Detective Frank Stoolie)
Merri Welles (Leonora Clyde)
John Shaner (Dr Phoebus)
Jack Nicholson (Wilbur Force)
Dodie Drake (waitress)
Bobbie Coogan (tramp - uncredited)
Charles B. Griffith (Kloy / drunk at dentist / screaming patient / voice of Audrey Junior (uncredited)
Jack Griffith (Drunk (uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

Seymour Kreilboind works as a downtrodden clerk in a florists. In his spare time, he breeds a carnivorous plant that develops a personality of its own. Named Audrey Jr after a girl that Seymour is in love with, the plant constantly demands food - and Seymour must kill to provide the human blood that Audrey Jr needs to survive.

This much loved B movie classic has stood the test of time relatively well, adding a veneer of kitsch nostalgia value to an already pretty strange and likeable film. Infamously shot in just two days, it was a quickie never intended to live much past its initial theatrical run - that it inspired an off-Broadway musical and a big-budget musical remake is testament to the cult following it's enjoyed. Proof positive that sometimes determination, a sense of fun and some great performances are all you need to make a great movie.

Brazil
Video Distributors: VTI Home Vídeo

USA
Theatrical Distributors: The Filmgroup Inc
Television Distributors: Allied Artists Television Corp
Video Distributors: LS Video; Sinister Cinema; Something Weird Video; Video Yesteryear
DVD Distributors: Master Movies (5513); GoodTimes Home Video (0581180)

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Argentina
Rating: 16

UK
Rating: PG

USA
Rating: unrated

TIMELINE

1959
December
28: USA - filming begins
29: USA - filming ends

1960
September
14: USA - theatrical release

1997
November
14: USA - DVD release (Master Movies (5513))

2001
June
26: USA - DVD release (GoodTimes Home Video (0581180))

2002
February
12: UK - television broadcast (on Film Four)

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Kleiner Laden voller Schrecken - West German title
A Loja dos Horrores - Brazilian title
The Passionate People Eater - working title
A Pequena Loja dos Horrores - Brazilian television title
La piccola bottega degli orrori - Italian title
Il piccolo negozio degli orrori - Italian title
Pieni kauhukauppa - Finnish title
Rémségek kicsiny boltja - Hungarian title
La tienda de los horrores - Spanish title
La tiendita del horror - Argentinian title

REMAKES
Please Don't Eat My Mother (1972)
Little Shop (1991)
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Horrible Horror (1986)
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)

SEE ALSO
Alien Dead (1980)
Blood Work (2002)
Chopping Mall (1986)
Dr Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
Ghosts'n Goblins (1986)
Microwave Massacre (1983)
Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Waxwork (1988)

MAGAZINES

Fangoria no 58 (1986) pp.14-17, 68
illustrated interview with Mel Welles (The Original Mushnick by Tom Weaver)

Monthly Film Bulletin no.471 (April 1973)
review

Video the Magazine August 1987 p.21
review

BOOKS

Cult Movies: A Hundred Ways to Find the Reel Thing by Danny Peary (London: Vermilion (1982))
article

Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird and the Wonderful by Danny Peary (New York: Dell Publishing Company (1981))
article

The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide by Stephen Jones p.53
credits, review

blood, dentists, dismemberment, flowers, killer plants, plants

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009