The Little Shop of Horrors (1960): watch the full film free, legally

A failing florist and an unusual plant

Roger Corman directed and produced The Little Shop of Horrors, a 1960 American comedy horror film written by Charles B. Griffith. Originally produced under the title The Passionate People Eater, it follows the fortunes of a florist’s assistant whose strange new plant feeds on human blood. Its humor combines dark comedy, farce, Jewish humor and spoof elements.

The story is set in Gravis Mushnick’s rundown skid-row flower shop, where business is scarce. Mushnick employs Seymour Krelborn and Audrey Fulquard. After Seymour ruins a floral arrangement intended for dentist Dr. Phoebus Farb, Mushnick fires him. Seymour tries to win his job back by showing Mushnick a plant grown from seeds given to him by a “Japanese gardener over on Central Avenue.” He calls it Audrey Jr., pleasing Audrey but initially failing to impress Mushnick.

Seymour argues that the plant’s oddity could draw customers, and Mushnick gives him a week to revive it. Ordinary plant food has no effect. When Seymour accidentally pricks his finger, Audrey Jr. responds to his blood. The plant grows after being fed, and customers begin entering the shop to see it. Business improves enough for Mushnick to give Seymour a raise and tell him to call him “Dad.”

Audrey Jr. demands more food

Audrey Jr. soon speaks and demands food. Seymour, already anemic, faces an escalating problem. After a drunken man is struck by a train, Seymour struggles to conceal the body and, burdened by guilt, feeds its remains to the plant. Mushnick secretly sees him do so. He considers going to the police, but hesitates when a crowd forms outside the suddenly prosperous shop.

Seymour later develops a toothache, and Mushnick sends him to Dr. Farb, who is angry over the spoiled flowers and wants to kill him. Seymour kills Farb while defending himself, then feeds the dentist’s body to Audrey Jr. The two disappearances bring Sergeant Joe Fink and Officer Frank Stoolie to the shop’s orbit. Audrey Jr. grows several feet tall and begins to form buds.

A representative of the Society of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California announces that Seymour will receive a trophy, and plans to return when the buds open. While Seymour and Audrey go on a date, Mushnick remains at the shop. A robber named Kloy Haddock arrives, having mistaken the crowds for evidence that the shop holds large sums of money. Mushnick directs Haddock toward Audrey Jr. Seymour later confronts the plant and resolves to stop obeying it, but Audrey Jr. hypnotizes him and orders him to bring more food. Fink and Stoolie attend a planned sunset celebration, where Seymour is due to receive the trophy and the plant’s buds are expected to bloom.

A two-day interior shoot

The film had a reported budget of $28,000. Its interiors were made in two days on sets left standing from Corman’s earlier A Bucket of Blood. The production involved three days of cast rehearsals, followed by two days and one night of principal photography. Corman had temporary use of the sets before they were torn down, prompting him to make a new film in the remaining time.

Griffith had first written Cardula, about a vampire music critic, before developing Gluttony, whose restaurant chef cooked customers. He proposed a man-eating plant after that idea could not be made because of the code at the time. Jackie Joseph recalled being told at first that the project was a detective movie, then believing that a new horror-oriented film was written over a weekend. An earlier version had different character names, including Oriole Plove for the character who became Audrey.

Jonathan Haze plays Seymour, Jackie Joseph plays Audrey, Mel Welles plays Mushnick, and Dick Miller plays Burson Fouch. Jack Nicholson appears as Wilbur Force. Griffith provides the voice of Audrey Jr. and also plays the uncredited Kloy Haddock. Myrtle Vail, Griffith’s grandmother, plays Seymour’s hypochondriac mother. Fred Katz wrote the score, which had originally been written for A Bucket of Blood.

Release and later musical adaptations

Filmgroup released The Little Shop of Horrors in October 1960 as a double feature with Last Woman on Earth. It later gained a cult following through word of mouth when paired as a B movie with Mario Bava’s Black Sunday. Local television broadcasts increased its popularity, as did attention to Nicholson’s small role.

The film became the basis for the Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors. That musical was adapted into a 1986 feature film, received a Broadway debut in 2003, and had an off-Broadway revival in 2019.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “The Little Shop of Horrors”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.