Underplayed Gems

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

The Little Shop of Horrors poster
Directed by
Roger Corman
Genre
comedy film, horror film, independent film, science fiction film, monster film, black comedy film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 10m
Rated
NR
Rating
6.3 of 10 from 471 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A florist assistant in a small shop grows a strange plant that has a taste for human blood. He must keep feeding it as the plant grows bigger and more demanding.

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What happens

The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Charles B. Griffith. The film is a farce about a florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. It stars Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, and Dick Miller, who had all worked for Corman on previous films. Produced under the title The Passionate People Eater, the film employs an original style of humor, combining dark comedy with farce and incorporating Jewish humor and elements of spoof. The Little Shop of Horrors was shot on a budget of $28,000 (equivalent to $305,000 in 2025). Interiors were shot in two days, by utilizing sets that had been left standing from A Bucket of Blood. The film was released in October 1960 by Filmgroup as a double feature with Filmgroup's Last Woman on Earth (1960). The film slowly gained a cult following through word of mouth when it was later distributed as the B movie in a double feature with Mario Bava's Black Sunday (1960). The film's popularity increased with local television broadcasts, and the presence of a young Jack Nicholson, whose small role in the film has been prominently promoted on its home video releases. The film was the basis for an Off-Broadway musical, Little Shop of Horrors, which in turn was adapted into a 1986 feature film. The musical enjoyed a 2003 Broadway debut and a 2019 off-Broadway revival, among other productions. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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