The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) – Fred Katz

There was a time in the early nineties – after I’d gotten hold of the film encyclopedia Cult Movie Stars by Danny Peary – when I visited nearly every video rental store in Antwerp in search of Roger Corman VHS copies. I managed to see about 20 Corman related films in that period of which The Intruder with William Shatner I still find the most rewarding.

A couple of months ago I viewed Bucket of Blood for the first time and now I am in the middle of re-viewing Little Shop of Horrors (1960).

What immediately struck me about Little Shop was the score for this cult black comedy, written by Fred Katz, an American composer working in the space age pop idiom, although this particular score is rather more jazzy than space age. It complements the film marvelously, giving it a very ‘arty’ feel which contrasts nicely with its subject matter. Fred Katz also scored Corman films Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), The Wasp Woman (1960), Battle of Blood Island (1960), Ski Troop Attack (1960), Beast from Haunted Cave (1959) and A Bucket of Blood (1959).

The story of The Little Shop of Horrors is about a clumsy young man who nurtures a plant and discovers that it’s a bloodthirsty plant, forcing him to kill to feed it. It was written by Charles B. Griffith who collaborated with Corman on more than 20 films from 1956 to 1967.

It is one of the funniest combinations of comedy and horror since Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) but also manages to be quite eerie at times. The idea of a plant which hypnotizes its owner to go out in the streets in order to kill is quite uncanny. The final scene is particularly unsettling: when finally the last buds of the plant open they reveal the faces of the people it has eaten.

The story has been remade several times but I suggest to stick with the 1960 Corman version.

Wikipedia (which features an extensive write up on the film) says:

The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 black comedy film directed by Roger Corman. The film is famous for having been shot in two days. The film tells the story of a nerdy young florist’s assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. The film is also noteworthy for featuring a young Jack Nicholson in a small role as Wilbur Force, the dentist’s masochistic patient. —http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Shop_of_Horrors [Sept 2006]

See also: http://www.spaceagepop.com/katz.htm [Sept 2006]

See also: The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)