Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

There aren’t many musicals that I enjoy, as it’s not a genre that usually speaks to me, but this is one of the few that I can always make time for. Unsurprisingly, musicals live or die on the quality of their songs, and one bland number can ruin the whole experience and take you right out of it, but Little Shop of Horrors is filled with great tunes, and there isn’t a damp squib in the whole movie. If I know every word to every song in your musical, you must be doing something right.

Every one of the performers – from wide-eyed leading man Rick Moranis in his romantic pursuit of Ellen Greene; right down to her boyfriend, the abusive and sadistic dentist played by Steve Martin, and the great cameo by Bill Murray as the dental patient who loves getting the drill – plays up to the complete inanity of the plot by playing their parts straight down the middle at all times.

Little Shop of Horrors never takes itself seriously, and let’s be honest, it would be difficult for it to do so: after all, it’s about a talking, man-eating plant, with a penchant for singing sixties soul… speaking of which, here’s one of the best songs from the movie, which not only showcases the great music, but also the fantastic puppeteering skills on display throughout, which in my opinion, looks far more realistic than any CGI that could have been used in its place.