Little Shop of Horrors

This week’s movie is the 1960 version of the dark comedy Little Shop of Horrors, thought to be based on the short story “Green Thoughts” written by John Collier in 1932. The film was directed by Roger Corman, and written by Charles B. Griffith. A very young Jack Nicholson plays the role of the masochistic dental patient.

The story takes place on skid row in Los Angeles, primarily in the run down and struggling Mushnick Flower Shop. People are disappearing in the neighborhood, and the authorities are investigating. One of the flower shop employees is Seymour Krelboyne, who is an aspiring botanist. He crossbreeds a Venus Flytrap and butterwort to produce a hybrid named Audrey Jr. (in honor of his love interest, Audrey, who also works at the flower shop). Seymour soon discovers that his hybrid only eats human flesh. With each meal, the plant grows bigger and smarter, and is able to speak, demanding more and more food. To watch the movie: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi713660441/.

Both Venus Flytrap and butterwort are carnivorous plants. The Venus fly trap (Dionaea spp) is in the Droseraceae family. They grow in nitrogen- and phosphorous-poor soil, and are native to North and South Carolina in the United States. They trap beetles, spiders, and arthropods, and during digestion extract the nutrients they need to create protein. Butterworts (Pinguicula spp) are in the Lentibulariaceae family. They also grow in nutrient-poor soil, and are native to Europe, the Americas, and Northern Asia. Their sticky, glandular leaves lure and trap insects, and extract nutrients during digestion. Good to know they are more interested in insects than human flesh!