10 Horror Movie Musicals You Simply Have To See

3. Little Shop Of Horrors

Anna and the Apocalypse
Warner Bros.

The stage musical that this film is based upon is legendary, and so to create a movie of Little Shop of Horrors was always going to be risky. However, there is a case to be made that the film is even better.

This 60s-set love letter to monster movies stars Rick Moranis as Seymour. Seymour works at a plant shop, pines for his colleague Audrey and is constantly belittled by everyone around him. However, things start to change when a mysterious little plant starts drawing in customers. The plant turns out to be from another planet and has some unusual dietary requirements. It requires human blood to survive. And it sings, because of course it does. Things escalate as the plant gets bigger, more carnivorous, more demanding, and sings more.

Directed by Frank Oz, who used his mastery of puppeteering seen in The Dark Crystal and The Muppets Take Manhattan to great effect, the plant (named Audrey II) is the star of the show. Armed with massive gnashers and the dulcet tones of Levi Stubbs, Audrey II is a force to be reckoned with. Watching it eat people should not be as entertaining as it is, and you can’t help but cheer it on. In fact, the original ending of the film saw Audrey II take over planet Earth, but test audiences thought this was too dark.

Of course, a special mention must be granted to Steve Martin’s demented Dentist who plays off the masochistic Bill Murray in a scene that eclipses the 1960s earlier film.

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