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Little Shop of Horrors
Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Gerald Nachman
    100
    Little Shop of Horrors is consistently amusing and churns with non-stop musical momentum, plus a few old-time Disney touches. This time, it's easy being green. [19 Dec 1986, p.79]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    100
    The Little Shop of Horrors is a thoroughly original adaptation, if that's possible. With its toe-tapping cadences, its class cast and its king-sized cabbage, it's destined to become a classic of camp comedy. It's vege-magic.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    90
    A lot of this horrific Little Shop is not only sweet, melodic, funny and oddly idealistic, it's even, well, tasty. [19 Dec 1986, p.1]
    All this critic's reviews
  4. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Julie Salamon
    90
    This musical about a plant that craves blood has a smart and snappy score -- and Steve Martin in a hilarious bit as a dentist who gives himself laughing gas as he treats his unanesthetized patients. [23 Dec 1986, p.1]
    All this critic's reviews
  5. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    This is the kind of movie that cults are made of, and after Little Shop finishes its first run, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it develop into a successor to "Rocky Horror Show," as one of those movies that fans want to include in their lives.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Gene Siskel
    88
    The songs are joyful, and the plant is a foul-mouthed wonder when it begins to talk. Director Frank Oz deserves credit for staging a musical in classic form, creating nothing less than one of the year's most entertaining films. [19 Dec 1986, p.A]
    All this critic's reviews
  7. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    88
    This is the kind of charming motion picture that can be viewed repeatedly without ever wearing out its welcome. With several triumphant musical numbers, an original villain, a smart and witty script, a cute romance, and a new, upbeat ending, this Little Shop of Horrors offers countless delights during its 94-minute running time.
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Paul Attanasio
    80
    The pleasures of Little Shop carry you past its dull stretches -- you enjoy its quick-witted wordplay, inventive sketch comedy and the Broadway- and Motown-influenced music (by Alan Menken). And most of all, you enjoy watching a story told through song, as the Hollywood musical, with its glitz and sass, is reborn.
  9. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Pat Graham
    80
    Rick Moranis is properly nerdish as the flower-shop attendant who keeps his carnivorous charge supplied with a steady stream of human plasma, and Ellen Greene makes a good scatterbrained innocent in the ersatz Broadway mold, but the best moments in this 1987 release belong to Dr. Steve Martin as a dentist with a professional yen for pain.
  10. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    75
    Although an impressive technical achievement, the film itself is a rather overblown and overhyped affair--which, for all its expensive excess, fails to recapture the spirit of the original.
  11. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Janet Maslin
    70
    Little Shop of Horrors isn't uniformly entertaining, nor is its score always entirely audible; the musical dubbing is at times very awkward. But its best moments are delightful enough to make the slow stretches unimportant.
  12. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    70
    You can try not liking this adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical hit -- it has no polish and a pushy way with a gag -- but the movie sneaks up on you. [29 Dec 1986, p.71]
    All this critic's reviews
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    70
    Little Shop of Horrors is a fractured, funny production transported rather reluctantly from the stage to the screen.
  14. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Michael Blowen
    63
    Obviously, it wasn't the plot that has given Little Shop such a long life. In the case of this film, it's the music, the sets and the comic sketches that make this remake mostly successful. [19 Dec 1986, p.77]
    All this publication's reviews
  15. Empire
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    40
    Some of the slower tunes tend to grind but the sort of musical/ retro irony is still amusing in places. Not if you don't like dentists though.
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