Director: Frank Oz
Cast: Levi Stubbs, Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Tisha Campbell
Have I Seen It Before: It’s weird. I can’t point to a time when I definitely watched the film from start to finish, but between unending cable airings and knowing a few theater kids who expelled forth with a chorus of “Suddenly Seymour” by way of clearing ones throat, there’s little in the film that feels unfamiliar.
Did I Like It: So much so that I can’t quite conceive of any review of the film without taking a look at the ending. The vast majority of the film is almost perfect in its tone, puppetry, casting, and music. It is one of those films that if you’re not fond of it on any level, you’re liable to be distrusted by large swaths of your community.
And yet, there’s that ending.
The original final reel has Audrey (Greene*) dying and insisting Seymour (Moranis**) feed her to Audrey II (voiced by Stubbs, and puppeteered by a small army of anyone who had been even tangentially associated with the Muppet machine up until that point). After which, the alien plant grows beyond the bounds of skid row, taking over the Statue of Liberty and eventually breaking through the screen, ready to eat we the audience.
The ending we do have, with Moranis at the last moment electrocuting Audrey II into oblivion, and everyone living happily ever after, aside for one little sapling who appears to have survived would probably be the least enjoyable part of the movie, even if we didn’t know that some other ending sits out there, waiting decades to be remastered and released.
Then again, we might have gotten a very different middle act of Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), and final act of Ghostbusters II (1989) if this film had gotten there first. At least one of those would have been pretty heartbreaking.
*Why the hell we haven’t seen more of her over the years, I’ll never know.
**Never before and never again until Patrick Stewart in X-Men (2000) has there been an established actor more uniquely suited for a role.