A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed. (from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

With it being October and full-on "spooky season," it seems natural for Warner Bros. to give the horror-musical-comedy classic Little Shop of Horrors its long-awaited 4K debut for its 40th anniversary. This was one I hadn't seen for many, many years, and it wasn't till about 6 years ago that I finally decided to just sit down and watch it. Missing it sooner was most likely a mix of it being inappropriate for me as a kid when it released, and then assuming the dark, horror aspect of it may just be too much for me. But, decades later, it remains a quirky and entertaining film that is worth revisiting.

Little Shop of Horrors, the film, is based on a broadway play from 1982, but its origins go as far back as being inspired by an H.G. Wells short story from 1894! Since then, it took shape in different forms and iterations before becoming the 1960 B-movie, The Passionate People Eater, and eventually morphing into the 1982 play. Then, Frank Oz (also known for his voice work as Yoda and Miss Piggy) turned the play into this musical film in 1986, but changed the bleak original ending to a happier one after negative test-audience reactions. This dark ending is what is now known as "The Director's Cut" and has been fully restored and completed as an alternate version of the film. If you like dark, macabre stories, the Director's Cut is the version of Little Shop of Horrors you'll want to see, but for the rest of us, it's understandable why the movie was changed for its more charming Theatrical release.

The movie itself is a bizarre one. It starts off as a musical about a struggling little flower shop in the impoverished Skid Row, with a meek shop employee named Seymour having a love for unique plants -- and his coworker Audrey. When he discovers a strange, unknown plant after a total eclipse, he names it Audrey II, and the little shop starts garnering massive attention as soon as the small plant finds its way into the shop window. But soon, Seymour discovers that the plant's only source of food is more sinister than he could have imagined: human blood. And the plant starts to grow at an alarming rate as it continues to feed on drops of Seymour's own blood. But when its hunger outgrows simple drops, things get way more serious for Seymour and his friends.

There are several surprisingly dark things about Little Shop of Horrors. One of them is the fact that the object of Seymour's affection, Audrey, is stuck in an abusive relationship with a dentist named Orin. If Steve Martin wasn't so brilliant at absolutely hamming it up as this character, it'd be even darker, but his performance makes it all work. His character is also funny, which makes you question whether you should be laughing at all. But one of the best (albeit weirdest) scenes is when Bill Murray shows up in a cameo as a masochistic patient who loves Orin's brand of torture. It's dark humor at its best, but Murray is clearly having the time of his life in the role. Still, Orin's abuse of Audrey is downright unsettling -- even if it isn't really depicted on screen more than a slap seen in silhouette -- but it's all done to make Orin an acceptable victim of Audrey II. And that's also where the dark just keeps getting darker.

I suppose that takes us to the content of the film. There is some mild profanity used throughout, with a surprising amount of blasphemy (mostly from Orin), and then 3 uses of the "S" word from when the plant grows to a massive size and adopts the voice of Levi Stubbs of The Four Topps. There is no sexual content shown, but a song about Skid Row references "wh*res" and torn slips, and later there's a suggestive remark from Audrey that Orin used handcuffs on her, and he even calls her a "sl*t" in one scene. Audrey also usually wears a dress that accentuates her cleavage, which kind of suggests a looser lifestyle for her (although we only ever hear about her being with Orin). There is some blood shown when Seymour accidentally pricks his finger on a rose thorn and the camera focuses on blood bubbling up from his finger's surface. This causes Audrey II to ask for it and we see him squeezing his finger and blood dripping into the plant's open mouth. The most disturbing sequence, however, is when we see Seymour looking at a dead man's clothed legs in a back alley, and then see him raising an ax above his head. We then see his shadow on the side of a building as he repeatedly brings the ax down to chop up the dead body (which we don't see). The next scene shows an oil drum with one of the booted legs sticking out from it and newspaper around it. There is just a tiny bit of blood on the newspaper, and we never see anything graphic as he feeds Audrey II. Still, the idea that he's feeding chopped-up human parts to the plant is still unsettling. A few other moments show the plant clamping its jaws down on people and then taking them into its mouth, but it's neither bloody or gory. The Director's Cut shows more of this, as well as massive city-wide kaiju-style destruction.

The 4K transfer is very good for the film, but I was surprised that the color wasn't punchier. It's a 1986 movie, so it still looks dated for the 80's, but it's still the crispest we've ever seen this film. Is it an impressive transfer? Not particularly, but it's still an improvement over older presentations of the film. Plus, The Director's Cut is totally finished (instead of presented in rough, unfinished footage), and it looks good in 4K.

Little Shop of Horrors is a pretty good mix of comedy, horror and even music, making it clear why it's endured for 40 years. If you're into watching "spooky" movies during the October / autumn season, the Frank Oz classic is a nice option. It's a lighter choice amongst so many grisly, and spiritually compromised, options these days. Still, it's got some language, dark moments, and edgier content that warrants taking a careful look first.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 10/10/26)

BONUS FEATURES ON 4K ULTRA HD & DIGITAL:

• To Feed or Not to Feed: For the Love of Little Shop (NEW)

Director Frank Oz and star Ellen Greene share behind-the-scenes memories from the making of the film and explore what has kept it a beloved classic for 40 years. 

• Mean Green Mother – Creating Audrey II (NEW)

Director Frank Oz, special visual effects artist Bran Ferren, model supervisor Richard Conway, and star  Ellen Greene share memories and stories about the world’s most famous man-eating plant: Audrey II. 

• Original Theatrical Commentary by Frank Oz

• Frank Oz and Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut

• A Story of Little Shop of Horrors 

• Outtakes and Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary 

• Director’s Cut Ending with Optional Commentary by Frank Oz