The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) – Film Review

Posted on July 21, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Roger Corman

Starring: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles and Jack Nicholson

Rating: ★★★½

Before the musical in 1986, The Little Shop of Horrors was a low budget comedy-horror b-movie released in 1960 and directed by the now legendary director Roger Croman, a pioneer of independent cinema. The Little Shop of Horrors was one of four films that Corman directed in 1960 alone.

The first thing you’ll notice about The Little Shop of Horrors is that you can feel the low-budget. The picture looks dated, even for 1960 (4 years after The Blob another low-budget b-movie) and the sound is crackly at points, even with recent remasters. None of that really matters, because the second thing you’ll notice is that the film is great. From the first scene it’s funny, with lively characters and humour that still stands up today.

Gravis Mushnick, played by Mel Welles (The She Beast, Panic Button) is a florist shop owner, the latest in a long line of floral experts, the only difference being that unlike his ancestors Gravis doesn’t like flowers. One of his employees, Seymour, may not be very good at the job, but he possess a new and exciting plant. After a customer (who only shops there to eat the flowers) tells Mushnick that people will travel to see a unique and different plant, Seymour is given once last change to keep his job. He must make the plant, which he has named after his co-worker Audrey, thrive. While staying up nurturing Audrey Jr, Seymour discovers that there is only one thing that will sustain it.

This film is filled with great characters. Every single one that appears is unique and feels fleshed out with a unique personality and trait. From the man who eats plants, to Seymour’s mum who eats almost exclusively medicine, to a patient at the dentist who loves pain. That patient is also a very early screen appearance of Jack Nicholson, in one of the most memorable and funny scenes in the whole film. Almost every joke lands and are delivered perfectly, especially Welles’ performance as Gravis Mushnick.

At 72 minutes The Little Shop of Horrors flies past without a dull moment. It’s easy to get over the obvious budget constraints with the humour, originally and personality that’s presented throughout. That’s without even mentioning the final act of the film, which does ramp up the suspense with the unsettling conclusion to the story.

The musical may be more widely known, but it’s the original film that started it all. The Little Shop of Horrors is a cult classic, and deserves that title. It’s still funny, still feels fresh and really should be spoken about more and not just because Nicholson appears in it.

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Mid-July and Fitness Update

Posted on July 21, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

God it’s been hot in the UK for the last couple of days. It’s our week of summer and I don’t deal with it very well. I’m boiling, sweating and generally irritable.

There’s been a change of plans. I’ve been told by the NHS to self-isolate as I have come into contact with someone who has tested positive. I don’t know where or when, but I will assume it was at the cinema last weekend. This means that I can’t see The Croods tonight and the cinema plans for the weekend have been scrapped. I can’t leave the house again until Tuesday at the earliest. Yay.

If all goes well, I can see Old and The Croods 2 on Tuesday. In the meantime I’m going to be working through what I’ve got piled up at home. My granddad, on my mum’s side, recommended me Once Upon a Time in America, which I’ve had on my shelf for along time. It’s just the 4 hour run time that’s put me off. That’s my Thursday morning plan. He also recommended Cutter’s Way from 1981. I’ve added that to my list on Cinema Paradiso, so maybe they will send that soon.

Other than that I’ve been writing still. My short story, The Teeth Faries, has been delayed until next month. It’s longer than I thought it would be and I started writing something else. The new piece is going to be shorter and should be ready for the end of July. This one, which is untitled at the moment is a sci-fi horror and could be the start of a series of short stories following the same character. I have an idea for a second one at the very least.

I mentioned last week that I was trying to loose weight. I’m still focused on that. It’s too hot to move at the moment so exorcise isn’t an option. I did do 2 half hour sessions on my exorcise bike before the heat soared up and plan on getting back on it as soon as I can. Over the last couple of years I’ve turned our conservatory into a makeshift home-gym. It’s brilliant except being a conservatory turns into an oven in the heat.

Last week after writing the post I was 16 stone and 4 pounds. (About 104Kg) I’m aiming to be below 13 stone by the end of the year. My heaviest was back in 2016/17. I stopped weighing myself when I hit 17 and a half stone. So I don’t know how high I got up to, but got myself down to 12.7 by the end of 2018. At the moment I weigh 16 stone and 2 pound (102.5KG). I’m happy with the result and it’s a step in the right direction.

I’ll be back next Wednesday with another update on writing and fitness. In the meantime, the daily reviews will continue with one for The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) later this evening. I’ve also got John Wick – Franchise Catch Up coming tomorrow morning and part 3 of my top 50 films on Friday morning.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

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The Score – Film Review

Posted on July 20, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Frank Oz

Starring: Robert De Niro, Ed Norton, Angela Bassett and Marlon Brando

Rating: ★★★

The Score recently celebrated it’s twentieth anniversary on the 13th July, and yet no one really talks about it. Despite its stellar cast, it’s been fairly forgotten. The reason for that boils down to how bland it is. The Score is a heist film, that follows every plot point and trope that a heist film has. Even though it is well made, with great performances, this is still a blueprint heist film.

Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part 2, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver) stars as Nick Wells. By day he is a jazz bar owner, by night he is an international thief and safe-cracker. After almost being caught he decides it’s time to retire and focus on his bar. His partner in crime Max, played by Marlon Brando (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, On the Waterfront), offers him one last job with a big pay-day. Reluctantly Nick agrees and ends up working with Jack Teller, played by Ed Norton (Fight Club), to arrange the heist.

The best thing about The Score is the cast. All three give great performances and it’s a treat to watch three of the greatest actors of all time plan a heist together. The Score is also noteworthy for being Brando’s last role and the only time he shared the screen with De Niro, despite both playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather. Ed Norton is also fantastic, playing the unhinged Jack Teller, who can switch between his sweet personality, that he uses to get on the inside of Customs House (where the heist will take place), and his more sinister criminal side. Angela Bassett also stars in The Score, but her role feels like it’s just there to tick another box. She plays De Niro’s love interest, who wants him to retire.

There is some controversy about Brando, as always, clashing with director Frank Oz (The Dark Crystal, Bowfinger). They disagreed with the way the character was being presented. Unlike some of his other films, there is no sign of this in The Score. Brando is on form and it’s a good performance for his final role. 

Other than that though there isn’t much to say about the film. It’s a very well made film. The plot moves along nicely, it doesn’t ever drag. It’s just you’ve seen it before and there are better heist movies. Watching this twenty years after release, when we’ve had the Ocean’s films and Logan Lucky to name a couple, it just makes The Score feel very formulaic. It is in no way a bad film, but it doesn’t do anything different. The story has been done before and since in every which way. For a heist film to stand out, it really needs to be different and this just isn’t.

The performances are great, everything else is decent. If this is your first heist film, you’re going to have a good time. If you’re a fan of the genre it’s still a decent film, but you aren’t going to remember it for long after the credits. It’s surprising that a film with a cast like this isn’t more fondly remembered, and that says everything. 

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In Search of Darkness

Posted on July 20, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
The second one has a limited edition backer cover and then a slipcase as well

I’m a pretty big fan of horror films. When I found out last year that there was a documentary being crowd funded about 1980s horror I had to back it. I only found out about it because James Rolfe from Cinemassacre shared it online, he’s also featured in the documentary. I’m a big fan of Rolfe, especially his videos about horror films from the early German silent films to now. If he was involved I knew this was going to be good.

I backed it, going for the blu ray bundle, I just prefer having the actual disc rather than a download. The covers are also pretty nice. Both part 1 and 2 are over 4 hours long each and take a detailed look at 1980s horror films. I slowly watched them, a little at a time most nights before bed. There were nights when I actually went to bed early to watch a little more.

They are great documentaries featuring interviews from directors and actors from the period, from John Carpenter to Robert Englund as well as fans of the genre like Corey Taylor. There’s stories about how films were made, how certain scenes were shot and how effects were created. It’s a pure celebration of horror and its history.

I found a whole ton of new films from watching these, including some absolute classics like Road Games and Night of the Comet. Some not very good. The Stuff wasn’t a good film, but there is a dog scene in it which made me laugh. I wouldn’t have known about any of them without this documentary.

They are specifically for die hard horror fans. The well known classics are spoken about, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, but an equal amount of time is spent on Italian horror films and critically panned films that have achieved a cult following. Overall it’s 9ish hours of information and celebration of horror films. If you love horror films then I can’t recommend this enough.

There is a new documentary from the same team coming soon. This one about 1980s sci-fi and called In Search of Tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it and hope to find some more forgotten classics.

Had to take a picture of my name in the backer credits

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Upcoming Watch List

Posted on July 19, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

It’s Monday again and I wanted to write another update on what I plan on watching this week. Some of the stuff I wanted to watch last week have been delayed. I didn’t get around to Miracle in Cell No. 7, but hopefully this week I will.

The DVDs rentals I had coming from Cinema Paradiso also got lost in the mail, so I didn’t get The Suicide Club or April Fool’s Day. They ended up getting replaced by the 1960s Little Shop of Horrors and The Score, reviews for both coming soon. I reported the missing discs, so hopefully I will get new copies sent out soon.

I’ve been binge watching the John Wick films, with one more to go tomorrow. I’m writing a Franchise Catch Up post for Thursday about them. Tomorrow I also plan on watching the musical version of Little Shop of Horrors.

One of the films I wanted to see in the cinema last week was The Croods 2. Due to heat and a lack of air con, I couldn’t take 2 films, so threw in the towel after Space Jam. I felt like I was melting in my seat and couldn’t face another 90 minutes. I’ve rearranged that for Wednesday evening after work at Rushden Lakes, they always seem to have air con in their screens so that will be nice.

Old by M. Night Shyamalan comes out this week and the trailer looks interesting. I’ve already got my tickets booked for Friday afternoon. This time last year I hadn’t seen any of Shyamalan’s work, being put off by the negative reviews and opinions and knowing the end of the Sixth Sense. Every so often I go out of my way to watch a few classics that I know I should have already seen so I watched The Sixth Sense and loved it. This put me on a Shyamalan marathon. I haven’t seen everything, but I’ve enjoyed what I have seen and plan on watching more.

There are 2 more films coming to my local cinema this weekend, Off the Rails (which looked poor from the trailer) and The World to Come (which I’d never heard of before the listing went up and don’t know anything about). I will be seeing both, because it’s free and I have this weekend off, due to it originally being booked off for London Film and Comic Con, as that’s been moved to November I didn’t cancel the holiday.

I’m not sure what else I’ll end up watching, if you have any recommendations let me know.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

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