Product Details

• Actors: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Tichina Arnold
• Directors: Frank Oz
• Writers: Charles B. Griffith, Howard Ashman
• Producers: David Geffen, David W. Orton, Denis Holt, William S. Gilmore
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1992
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (250 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301016866
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,212 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The off-Broadway comedy-horror-musical hit that ran for years makes a successful transfer to film with a bevy of big-name cameos and two perfectly cast leads. Rick Moranis is the nebbish Seymour, who pines for flower-girl Audrey (Ellen Greene) while living in the basement of florist Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia). Things start turning around for Seymour, though, after he buys a little plant during a solar eclipse, christens it Audrey II, and discovers that it likes to drink blood. Soon enough, though, Seymour finds out that Audrey II, now grown to epic proportions, is in actuality a "mean green mother from outer space" that is hell-bent on world domination. Based on the 1960 Roger Corman cheapie that featured a young Jack Nicholson, Little Shop boasts a hilarious, amazing score by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who would go on to revitalize Disney's animation arm with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Greene, the lone holdover from the original cast, is a ravishing, goofy Audrey, whose awkward demeanor belies a voice that could knock Ethel Merman off her feet. She's ably matched by Moranis, whose lack of a singing voice is perfectly in sync with Seymour's nerdiness. And Levi Stubbs Jr. of the Four Tops provides the lowdown, nasty-minded voice of Audrey II; his rendition of the Oscar-nominated "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" is a showstopper. As for those celebrity cameos, Steve Martin's sadistic dentist is a masterful creation, as is Bill Murray's masochistic patient; John Candy, James Belushi, and Christopher Guest also pop up. And there was never a lovelier and funkier Greek chorus than the three Motown-fueled girls (Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Campbell) who appear throughout the film. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE version to have (so why is it not available?), May 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Little Shop of Horrors (Special Edition with Alternate Ending) (1986) (DVD)

Recently checked this out over the weekend, prepared to merely re-watch an old favorite-but boy, is there a lot of cool "add ons" in this version made for DVD! First of all, the film comes letterboxed-only (some people like having the choice, but if you've seen this in a movie theater, you notice a LOT of stuff cut off at the edges by "blowing it up" to full screen), a walk through commentary by legendary puppeteer (voice of ms. piggy/grover) turned director-Frank Oz that lends a humourous and insightful (if sometimes technical)overview from the one guy most qualified to talk about its behind the scenes trials and tribualations. You'll be surprised at just how much work and planning really went into it. And, best of all-the legendary original ending! Yes, it's true, the off-broadway musical (and even the Corman B-movie original) had a VERY different ending. This is where Oz's comments come in particularly handy as first hand guide to the very tough decisions a filmaker has to make regarding his work if the people paying for it ultimately call the shots. So why is it not available? Well, turns out the lost ending footage is owned by producer David Geffen, who did not clear or approve its inclusion on the disc. Could be because presented with another choice, fans of this movie may agree with Oz (and screenwriter Howard Ashman, who died in 1991) on the original ending having a much greater impact. So if you can find this disc, by all means check it out!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars definite must-have for a real fan, August 9, 2008

By 

David W. Sinclair (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Special Edition with Alternate Ending (DVD)

This dvd was released around March of 1998. (Which makes it rare to begin with, since dvd's really didn't even catch on until 2000.) Warner Bros. released this dvd, and about 1 or 2 days later, all the copies were recalled. Apparently, The alternate ending (which has the audrey II spawning, and creating more plants, and then using this plant army to dominate the entire world!!) was left on the cutting room floor, because, according to the commentary, when they screened this ending with a test audience, they were horrified... so it was relpaced with the happy ending. (The plant dies, everyone lives, yay!!!) However, when they released the dvd, they added this alternate ending in the special features, apparently without the permission of Frank Oz, the director. So he filed a lawsuit against warner bros., forcing them to recall all the unsold copies of the film. (The dvd was later re-released, without the alternate ending......)

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People, It's the Original Ending to Little Shop!, August 5, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Little Shop of Horrors [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Alright. If you saw Little Shop, you saw this ending;
Seymour electrocutes Audrey 2 and Audrey and Seymour escape.
This is how is really ends;
Audrey 2 tries to eat Audrey but Seymour pulled her out. They go outside, but it was too late. Before Audrey dies, she sings a reprise of Somewhere That's Green that will tear your heart out. She sings it so Seymour can understand that as soon as she dies she wants to be in the plant. So he'll understand that they'll always be together. As soon as she's done singing she sadly dies.
Lyrics to Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)
You'll wash my tender leaves,
You'll smell my sweet perfume,
You'll water me and care for me,
You'll see my bud and bloom,
I'm feeling strangely happy now,
Contented and serene,
Don't you see...
I'll finally be...
Somewhere That's Green...
Seymour feeds her to the plant, runs to the top of a building and tries to commit suicide, but a man named Patrick Martin, tells him that he took one of Audrey 2's cuttings and made hundreds of Audrey 2s. Seymour walks back in. Audrey 2 sings Mean Green Mother (as he did in the present version)
but swallows Seymour whole. It turns out,when people buy Audrey 2, they all are talked into feeding it blood. It all comesto world destruction and a song,Finale (Don't Feed the Plants).
Audrey 2 had won.
The script is on [...]