The Little Shop of Horrors
1960 American comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about The Little Shop of Horrors (1960 film)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about a florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The film's concept may have been inspired by "Green Thoughts", a 1932 story by John Collier about a man-eating plant.[6] Hollywood writer Dennis McDougal suggests that Griffith may have been influenced by Arthur C. Clarke's 1956 science fiction short story "The Reluctant Orchid"[7] (which was in turn inspired by the 1894 H. G. Wells story "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid").
The Little Shop of Horrors | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roger Corman |
Screenplay by | Charles B. Griffith |
Produced by | Roger Corman |
Starring | |
Narrated by | Wally Campo |
Cinematography | Archie R. Dalzell |
Edited by | Marshall Neilan Jr. |
Music by |
|
Production companies | |
Distributed by | The Filmgroup American International Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 72 minutes[2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $28,000–34,000[3][4] |
Box office | 25,066 admissions (France)[5] |
The film 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,[8][9] the film employs an original style of humor, combining dark comedy with farce[10] and incorporating Jewish humor and elements of spoof.[11] The Little Shop of Horrors was shot on a budget of $28,000 (about $240,000 in 2019). [12] Interiors were shot in two days, by utilizing sets that had been left standing from A Bucket of Blood.[13][14][15][16]
The film slowly gained a cult following through word of mouth when it was distributed as the B movie in a double feature with Mario Bava's Black Sunday[13][17] and later with Last Woman on Earth.[13] The film's popularity increased with local television broadcasts,[18] and the presence of a young Jack Nicholson, whose small role in the film has been prominently promoted on home video releases of the film.[19] 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, amongst other productions.