Little Shop of Horrors – 1986
This was a strange movie to be getting an Oscar nomination, but I think it really deserved it. Still, aside from a few lightning-like electricity effects, the film’s only real special effect was the plant, and as far as that went, it was incredible. Today, it would be easy to accomplish with CGI effects, but in 1986, it was all done with practical effects. Don’t get me wrong. Modern CGI effects would have looked phenomenal. But because the monster plant was a practical effect, it had a solidity about it that CGI sometimes lacks. Filmmakers are getting better at tricking our eyes into believing that the CGI effects are as solid as real objects, but they aren’t always successful. Not yet, anyway.
Audrey II, the evil space alien plant, bent on conquering the Earth, was a marvelous combination of animatronics and complex puppetry, but it looked as real and true as reality. It moved as smoothly and as naturally as a live actor. I was amazed at how this incredibly naturalistic motion was accomplished. It wasn’t stop-motion or go-motion. It was slow-motion. They created several puppet plants to use in its varying stages of growth, from hand-sized to room-sized, each with the ability to move and form complex word shapes with its mouth. They filmed everything, including the live actors, in slow motion. Thus, they were able to control the puppetry of the plant with remarkable precision. Then, they sped the film up making Audrey II appear to move as naturally as the live actors. It must have been an arduous task to film in such a way, but the result was cinematic magic.
The range of movement in the puppet was amazing, allowing it to display a wide range of emotion. The varied expressions that were displayed were perfectly crafted and easily readable. I also loved the way the plant devoured one character and nearly swallowed another. Just as an interesting note, in the stage play on which the film is based, Audrey II successfully eats both Audrey and Seymour.
One of the things that must have made it even more difficult to create the illusion was the fact that the whole movie was a musical. So filming everything in slow-motion had to be precisely timed to match the rhythm of the music in regular speed. The music was very energetic and fast-paced. But Director, Frank Oz and his team of puppeteers did their jobs perfectly. Everything matched exactly as it was supposed to. Well done everybody!
In keeping with the idea of the plant winning, an alternate ending was filmed for the movie, in which the plant and its offspring win, and the earth is conquered. In this ending, there were a number of miniature models of cities crafted, which are destroyed by gigantic versions of the plants. This ending is included on the DVD, but I’m glad that the theatrical release kept the happy ending. The miniature city models looked a bit too fake. It was interesting to note that this unused ending had more special effects than the rest of the film. As the giant plants topple buildings, the military is called in to fight them, ultimately losing to the aliens.