Audrey II Eats New York...on Blu-Ray! Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut Is a Must-Own for Musical Fans

It's the oldest story in the Hollywood book: Movie audiences demanded a happy ending. And so the original bloody finale of the cult musical Little Shop of Horrors was reshot for director Frank Oz's movie version, which became a rare 1980s musical box office draw during the 1986 holiday season. Gone were [SPOILER ALERT!] the tragic deaths of Audrey and Seymour at the hands of monster alien plant Audrey II and the musical finale "Don't Feed the Plants," which famously ended onstage with vines dropping on the audience, indicating that the mean green mother from outer space has eaten the theater. But patience has paid off for the countless fans of the musical as a brand-new Blu-Ray Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut lands in stores today, with both the theatrical and gloriously restored original endings. And the director's version is a stunner with lots to love: The touching demise of Ellen Greene's quintessential Audrey (including the lost reprise of "Somewhere That's Green"!), the wild wide shot of Rick Moranis being lifted into the mouth of Audrey II, the urchins singing "Don't Feed the Plants" in front of a shimmering American flag and the actual main event, scenes of enormous pod plants eating New York City landmarks. Although we loved seeing the vision of creators Howard Ashman and Alan Menken finally come to life, we're not sure that test audiences, who turned on the film once its heroes died, were wrong. As we learned from the overblown 2003 Broadway version, bigger isn't necessarily better for the sweet little story of Little Shop. In this case, the tongue-in-cheek message of the script is overpowered by Oz's exhilarating yet slightly exhausting nod to 1950s B-movie horror films. Still, the movie itself is a marvel in both forms, and Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut is a must-have for musical theater fans. Maybe our favorite thing about this new disc is that it finally puts the power in the hands of the fans... which ending is the favorite in your home is up to you!