The picture concerns upon a geeky employee (Jonathan Haze) working in a florist shop called Mushnick (Mel Welles) who brings a carnivorous and ferocious plant developing a bloodthirsty hunger and is forced to murder for human eating .

Horror comedy blending black humor , parody , tongue-in-cheek and horror . The comedy is absurd and cheesy but gets its moments here and there . Incredible cheap but effective visual effects . This is a well known terror-comedy , it's a quickie but was shot for two days and is deemed one of Corman's best and funniest movies ever made although with lack budget . The principal actors and technicians will repeat along with Corman in various films ,in fact, the picture belongs to horror-black comedy sub-genre as ¨A bucket of blood¨ and ¨Creature from the haunted sea¨, both of them written by Charles B. Griffith (who is the voice of ¨Audrie the plant¨ and besides plays the thief) . In the film appears the Corman's ordinary actors as Mel Welles, Dick Miller, Haze and a young newcomer Jack Nicholson in a comic interpretation as a sadomasochistic who receives a especial dental intervention . The picture is remade (1986) as an amused musical comedy by Frank Oz with Steve Martin and Rick Moranis . The flick will appeal to classic and cult movies fans.

This Roger Corman film is great cheesy fun--mostly because it never takes itself seriously and has a deliciously dark sense of humor. Quite often, the jokes are corny, the acting way over the top and the sight gags are silly as can be--resulting in a very charming movie that is sure to please everyone except stick in the muds and people too sophisticated to give an American International film a look.

The plot is beyond weird, as Seymour Krelboyne is a pitiful loser living in the worst neighborhood and working a nowhere job for Mr. Mushnick. However, this loser gains instant fame in the neighborhood when he cultivates a plant he names "Audrey, Jr.". The only problem is, this weird new wonder begins to die until Seymour discovers the secret to making it grow--human blood. At first, he gives it some of his own, then through some hilarious accidents, he begins feeding it entire people! And, the more he feeds it, the bigger it grows and the more it begins to demand more food--in a very loud and silly voice! It's all very silly and very reminiscent of another dark Corman comedy, BUCKET OF BLOOD--which, incidentally, stars Dick Miller who is also a supporting player in this film.

What also makes the film wonderfully entertaining is the use of weird characters with weird names--such as Mr. Mushnick, Seymour's psychosomatic mother and the mad performance in a small part by Jack Nicholson as a masochist!! Murder, pain and excess--this film is like Roger Corman meets John Waters. A great film for anyone wanting a good laugh plus it's not too dark to let the kids see it as well.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is another one of the Roger Corman quickies made on the cheap. This one was shot in just two days and it shows. It's got a one-trick storyline, takes place for the most part in a single set, and with a small group of actors involved, many of whom were Corman regulars. It could have been a load of old rubbish but it works and the major reason for that is down to the interesting, original storyline. Griffith's idea is about a sort-of Venus flytrap plant that feeds on human blood rather than flies; in essence this is a vampire story, but with a plant rather than a human. There were lots of 'killer plant' type stories being churned out in the pulp age of weird fiction and this is just like one of them. Corman chooses to play things for laughs and the result is a quirky comedy with lots of surreal humour involved.

Many of the laughs come from the bizarre characters in the film. Jonathan Haze is very good as the dim-witted Seymour and Jackie Joseph shines as the beautiful object of his obsession, Audrey. Mel Welles has fun as the larger-than-life flower shop owner and there are great, minor roles for Corman regulars Jack Nicholson (hilarious as a sado-masochist) and Dick Miller (as a guy who loves eating flowers). The special effects of the killer plant are VERY limited but the ending, with the faces of the victims appearing in the blossoms, is imaginative and slightly disturbing. It's not a film that you'll want to watch more than once, and the musical remake vastly outclassed it in terms of budget and technical proficiency, but the skewed, off-kilter comedy and bizarre storyline make it worth a watch.