092: Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - A Surprisingly Low Frequency of Plant Puns

A Matter of Taste

Sometimes, when people set out to make nightmare fuel...they absolutely succeed.
SPOILERS FOR LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS & THE HUNGER GAMES.
In this episode:

• The first episode in our Summer Musical Series!
• We discuss the classic Alan Menken/Howard Ashman musical Little Shop of Horrors and its movie adaptation, including the original black-and-white movie, the stage musical, and the many strong points and flaws of the 1986 Frank Oz movie.
• We get a bit into the broad tonal inconsistency that shows up in the film.
• We talk a bit about the prevalence of improvisation, specifically in the comedy genre, and the sort of slapdash energy that the movie has.
• Little Shop of Horrors as an oddly indelible part of the cultural landscape
• The dutch angles and other interesting film choices in the case of Little Shop
• Also the unique monster design of Audrey II, something you don’t see a lot of in horror films, though that could just be due to a lack of really cool plant monsters.
• The danger of breaking the dream is much greater in the world of musicals than it is in other narratives.
• The interesting stylistic choice of putting the general tone of the lyrics at odds with more traditional 50s musical styles.
• Our actually interesting and worthwhile discussion of story vs presentation
• That wasn’t sarcasm, by the way, I actually really dig this conversation. - Fio
• Here's our official schedule for the Summer Musical Series:
• Little Shop of Horrors: June 9th
• Repo! The Genetic Opera: June 23rd
• Evil Dead: The Musical: July 7th
• Sweeney Todd: July 21st
• Rocky Horror Picture Show: August 4th
  

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• We initially had some issues getting the episode uploaded, so keep an eye on our social media (Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook) for podcast updates in case there's a delay or rescheduling.
• Also, Ian's going to try to livetweet his rewatches of each musical movie, so keep an eye on those same places and his personal twitter (@idoherty451) to find out when that will be!
• I'm just realizing that maybe the reason I (Ian) like "Suppertime" so much is because it sounds particularly Pink Floyd-y.
• Notes from Fio:
• The use of the doo-wop singers as a greek chorus is an interesting choice
• Man, weird last-minute Hunger Games aside out of nowhere

Music:

• "This is My Design" - Ian Doherty | SoundCloud | Bandcamp |
• "Prologue (Little Shop of Horrors)" - Little Shop Of Horrors (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | YouTube | Amazon |
• "Suppertime" - Little Shop Of Horrors (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | YouTube | Amazon |

http://archive.org/download/AMOT092/AMOT092.mp3