The first version of The Little Shop of Horrors, long before the Broadway musical and Frank Oz's musical/horror/comedy, is one of the primary examples of shoe-string movie-making. Shoe-string, of course, refers mostly to the budget, and this possibly ranks above others like Clerks, Slacker, Night of the Living Dead and Blair Witch in order to put it together so quickly. And yet for all of its little slip-ups and deranged moments of comedy, it does work for what its worth. Not that it doesn't show that the film was made in two days, but on those terms of extremely low-budget, go-for-broke B-movie-making, Roger Corman as a director has quite a nifty effort here. The story is similar to a fairy-tale (a darkly comic one to be sure, like one of the Fractures Fairy tales from the old Rocky & Bullwinkle show), in how Seymour (Jonathan Haze, perfect as an awkward, easily shockable little guy) tries to nurture a plant to earn the affections of Audrey (Jackie Joseph). But then the plant turns into a meat-eater, to put it that way, and from there Charles Griffith's script goes into wild comic turns where he now has to figure out how to take care of the plant before it 'takes care' of him. Some scenes are less notable than others, and sometimes the cheesiness of it all (just look at the plant itself for proof enough) can be wearisome. But Corman keeps the atmosphere with a giddy amount of late 50s 'shlock', and some scenes stand the test of time as the best of their B-movie status. Tops go to the 2nd film appearance from Nicholson as the most psychotic of the bunch, as a 'chipper' fetishist who gets off on getting his wretched teeth worked on- it's a masterpiece of a scene with cartoonish action, innuendo and crazy looks from a 23 year old Nicholson. Worth checking out, maybe more than once, and you're likely to find it (appropriately) in the cheapest lot of DVDs and videos at your local store.

The picture concerns upon a geeky employee (Jonathan Haze) working in a florist shop called Mushnick (Mel Welles) who brings a carnivorous and ferocious plant developing a bloodthirsty hunger and is forced to murder for human eating .

Horror comedy blending black humor , parody , tongue-in-cheek and horror . The comedy is absurd and cheesy but gets its moments here and there . Incredible cheap but effective visual effects . This is a well known terror-comedy , it's a quickie but was shot for two days and is deemed one of Corman's best and funniest movies ever made although with lack budget . The principal actors and technicians will repeat along with Corman in various films ,in fact, the picture belongs to horror-black comedy sub-genre as ¨A bucket of blood¨ and ¨Creature from the haunted sea¨, both of them written by Charles B. Griffith (who is the voice of ¨Audrie the plant¨ and besides plays the thief) . In the film appears the Corman's ordinary actors as Mel Welles, Dick Miller, Haze and a young newcomer Jack Nicholson in a comic interpretation as a sadomasochistic who receives a especial dental intervention . The picture is remade (1986) as an amused musical comedy by Frank Oz with Steve Martin and Rick Moranis . The flick will appeal to classic and cult movies fans.

Gravis Mushnick is a cheapskate flower shop owner in a poor neighborhood. Seymour Krelboyne is a clumsy worker. Mushnick wants to fire him but he claims to have a new kind of flower that could be a good money maker. Seymour's mother is a bed ridden drunk. He names the plant Audrey junior after his beautiful co-worker Audrey Fulquard. Then late one night, he discovers that Audrey junior loves blood. The plant becomes healthier overnight.

This is one of the great contributions of schlock filmmaker Roger Corman. This is a completely weirdly original story. It is insanely quirky and odd. I wouldn't say it's laugh out loud funny. However it's quite watchable even though the quality of production is very low. For such a great original, I am willing to add one to my rating. Also watch out for a young Jack Nicholson as masochistic patient Wilbur Force.