Roger Corman deserves mad love, but I think you’d have to be crazy not to give it up to the remake. Turning Audrey II into a soul singer with sexy-ass lips in the 1986 version of The Little Shop of Horrors makes the exotic plant all the more irresistible, giving Seymour stranger, more unconcious reasons to be drawn into fulfilling Audrey II’s murderous demands.
Seeing this movie as a kid taught me everything I needed to know about black comedy. Killing people is funny! Even if Seymour is a little conflicted about it—the killer plant is charming! I want to hang out with it, and if it takes a little murder to keep it happy… eh. Plus you could sing along with it. I would’ve been a freakin’ ROADIE for Audrey II if it ever decided to take that show on tour.
Final thought: Is it creepy that I thought that the lacy sling on the regular Audrey’s arm was kinda hot?
4 comments:
It is only creepy if you object to having the same proclivities as Orin Scrivello, DDS.
I love this movie.
I love the musical Little Shop of Horrors, not least of all because of Levi Stubbs's awesome vocal performance as Audrey II, but I can never help missing the quirkier jokes in Charles B. Griffith's original screenplay, such as the name "Krelboin" and calling the plant "Audrey Jr." rather than "Audrey II".
Neil:
Have you read the interview with Charles B. Griffith at More than Meets the Mogwai? It's a freaking brilliant document of his thoughts on every project in his career up to that point. In it, he says the remake of LITTLE SHOP "ruined everything" for the original--it had been making more money every year and then it was totally wiped out by the remake, which he says has never made its money back.
Also, I've always thought the use of the name "Krelboin" in MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE was a nod to Griffith.
I did read that interview, which is highly entertaining and informative. It was good to see that Griffith's passing brought at least some small measure of celebration of his involvement in his work, as I've been making a point to celebrate it for years.
And I've certainly always believed and told anyone who would listen that the "Krelboin" reference in "Malcolm in the Middle" was to exactly that.
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