⭐⭐⭐ 72min Classic horror comedy directed by Roger Corman with an early appearance of Jack Nicholson
Recap
Seymour is the hapless employee of a flower shop who is nursing a beautiful plant that he calls Audrey Junior after the colleague he is simping for. The shop isn’t doing so well until Audrey Junior becomes its attraction. Trouble is that that she is a carnivorous and dominant plant, bullying Seymour into being her butcher.
This is one of those horror movies that use comedy to make up for their lack of skill, budget and effort. This is not bad in itself, many okay and even good movies do this, and as usual the comedy indeed improves the quality of this one. However I watched the 1986 remake first, which had been diligently crafted by the man who had put his hand in the colon of Luke Skywalker’s jedi instructor. This remake today is a classic of timeless elegance, one of the 100 best movies ever made, so in comparison it makes the original look old, not vintage old, but geriatric.
So apart from being remade by Frank Oz, this has only two things going for it:
There is a legend that Roger Corman made this to win a bet. He had claimed that he could make a movie within only two days, and indeed it was made within two days in the studio plus some nightly outdoor shooting.
Also, in this one there is a very early appearance of a ridiculously young Jack Nicholson.
So I must say that this movie is barely okay. Especially for its historical value it is quite fit for nerds, but it just really didn’t age well.
A good way to quickly compare both movies is to compare the dentist scenes of the original with Jack Nicholson (Bonus 1) and the remake with Steve Martin and Bill Murray (Bonus 2)
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