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#little shop of horrors (1986)

horroredits · 11 months

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Does this look inanimate to you, punk? If I can talk, and I can move, whose to say I can’t anything I want? LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986) dir. Frank Oz

#horroredit #filmedit #80sedit #little shop of horrors #frank oz #*#by kumi #gif #1980s #little shop of horrors 1986 #userteri #userbrittany #userscary

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calliemity · 3 months

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Orin Scrivello's Lost Head Prop: A Masterpost

Written and researched by Calliope Avery

Content Warning: Very very mild and low quality special effects gore, implied violence, uncanny valley stuff(?), Orin Scrivello's face.

Little Shop of Horrors (1986) has an unfortunate reputation of leaving a lot of really cool things on the cutting room floor. The most infamous would be the movie's original ending, a beautiful and impressive sequence of puppetry that ended up completely scrapped. However, today we're talking about a prop that never made it into the final movie in any form:

Orin Scrivello's Decapitated Head!!!

Pictured above are the only 2 photos of the prop in its original state that I can find at the moment. The left photo was taken for promotion and advertising purposes, and the right image is actually a Topps trading card! (Which I have a physical copy of, hehe!)

To put it bluntly, I am slightly (very) obsessed with this prop head. There's so much mystery around it, and everything I've managed to dig up both fascinates me and makes me very upset. So much thought and hard creative work was put into the creation of this thing, and it was left completely left out and forgotten! I desperately want more people to be aware of this, so here is my big and (hopefully) well organized masterpost on everything for your learning pleasure. Alright, let's talk about some heads!!!!!!!!!

Forming a Timeline

The earliest mention of the head can be found in an early draft of the movie script, dated February 14th, 1985. There's plenty of concepts in this script that never seemed to get past this draft, but the severed head concept was not one of them. Here, take a look!

source

This section, found on page 66 of the script, not only established the existence of the head, but also establishes the facial expression it will later take on! Clearly, this concept was good enough to be held onto once actual production started, which is good for us! If it wasn't, then this post would be a lot shorter.

Early production of the prop began after the actors were cast, as face molds of Steve Martin were created as bases for the head.

source for the left image - source for the right image

Oooo, check these guys out!!! The left one is made of plaster, and the right one is made of rubber. The website sourcing these images included a quote from Steve Martin about the casting process. Here's the full provided quote:

"These molds were taken of my head for Little Shop of Horrors. It was cast on the lot at Pinewood Studios outside of London, and I got exceedingly claustrophobic during the casting. My entire head was covered with plaster and two straws were placed in my nose for breathing. Argh." - Steve Martin

I unfortunately don't have much information about the crafting process of the prop. I'm currently trying to track down anyone who could've worked on it, but the few people I've managed to contact haven't responded to me yet. So I can't say anything concrete about who worked on it and what went into creating it. The only thing I can assume somewhat confidently is that the creation of the prop happened around the same time as filming for Orin's scenes. It would allow them to make the face molds and also match up Martin's post-mortem Orin face with the facial expression of the prop.

Here's where it starts going downhill. From what I've found, the prop was never filmed with its face toward the camera. In the workprint that I accessed from the Internet Archive, the prop appears for 2 shots, and both of them only show the back of the head. Take a look:

source - timestamp: 1:02:59

[Video description: a low quality, slightly green tinted video depicting a deleted scene from Little Shop of Horrors (1986) where Seymour is feeding the decapitated head of the dentist, Orin Scrivello, to the plant. The video starts with a man in glasses reaching into a garbage can and pulling out a dark-haired decapitated head, holding it upside-down by the fabric on its neck. The head is faced away from the camera, so only the back of its hair is visible. There are vines flailing in the foreground of the shot. The video cuts to a shot of the plant puppet laughing silently. The video cuts again to a shot of the man slowly shuffling forward while dangling the head in front and away from himself. The plant is seen on the left side, still laughing and flailing its vines. Throughout the video, there are brief flashes of light that resemble lightning. The video's audio only consists of thunder noises and an unidentifiable sound that resembles chewing noises. End ID.]

My best guess for this choice is maybe it isn't as convincing when filmed? In the photos it looks really well made and realistic, but perhaps it didn't come across that way during shots. Regardless, the head was still in the film at this point, so that counts for something!

But as you and I both know, those 2 shots were left on the cutting room floor, completely removed from the final product. The prop was left completely unused and unspoken of... except for one instance.

Remember the trading card I mentioned at the beginning? It's a part of a full set of trading cards that were made and distributed by the brand Topps. Back when the movie first came out, you could buy a pack of 5 mystery Little Shop of Horrors themed trading cards, along with a stick of bubblegum. This 44-card set is notable for featuring a lot, and I mean a LOT of images from cut movie scenes. There's photos of the original ending, there's photos from the cut sequence The Meek Shall Inhereit, and of course there's also the card featuring the prop head! However, those 2 sequences would later be rediscovered, cleaned up, and then added into the Director's Cut rerelease of the movie. The prop head wouldn't get this treatment, staying obscured, unknown, and unmentioned.

Fast forward about 30 years. A certain unused movie prop would be offered in an auction, allowing us to not only see high-quality photos of said prop in its current state, but also to allow us to know the exact materials it was made of! Without further ado, I present Orin Scrivello's decapitated head, circa 2018:

source

This absolute freak of a guy was up for auction at the "Profiles in History: Icons and Legends of Hollywood" auction on June 5th, 2018. No one ended up buying it (I would. I need to buy it actually. Please sell it to me.), but the auction gives us some absolutely divine information about the prop, such as what it's made of and its dimensions! Here's a quote from the auction website describing its materials:

"Vintage original hollow cast resin character head painted in realistic flesh tones with brown eyebrows and eyes. The 13 x 8 x 9 in. head has been polyfoam filled for stability. Exhibiting cracks to the crown, which is brittle and with other wear and age. A striking likeness of Steve Martin. In vintage good condition."

How neat! The high-resolution images allow us to see the detailed sculpting of the prop, which is still evident and impressive with its age and missing parts! The creases on the forehead, and around the mouth and eyes, the realistically colored teeth, this was clearly sculpted with a lot of attention to detail. I would've loved to have an image like this back in the prop's prime, back when it still had hair and a fresh coat of paint.

Why was it Scrapped?

This is entirely just me theorizing, but I have a feeling it's for the same reason the original ending got snubbed.

If you take the time to watch the archived workprint, you'll find a lot of cuts and changes were made that changed the tone of the whole finished project. Orin's death and dismemberment scenes got edited down a lot. Shots of him struggling and knocking things down as he falls to the ground got cut, the voiceline where he begs Seymour for help is gone. The shot where Orin's legs jolt when Seymour brings down the axe is gone too.

It's not just Orin-related scenes either! Mushnik no longer cries out for Seymour when being killed and eaten, and that's ignoring how different the scene happens in the stage musical. And obviously, the entire ending got changed so that Audrey and Seymour survive, leading to the cut of the magnificent ending sequence where all the Audrey II's destroy New York. In a way, the film got murdered and gutted of any of its real horror, with attempts to cover up any of the blood they couldn't scrub out.

In the movie's later quest to rebrand as a softer version of itself, it only makes sense that 2 shots of a decapitated head wouldn't make it. The appearance of the dismembered leg made it through, probably because it's less gruesome, but a head is... different. I obviously think it should've been kept it in, along with almost everything they trimmed from the workprint, but alas.

Tldr, they cut the head off of the movie because it wasn't funny enough.

Conclusion

This is where the information I have ends, unfortunately. I do have more research routes I would like to take, but one of them involves desperately contacting random people who I suspect could've been involved (I've tried this, I've gotten no responses from those who I've managed to find an email for), and the other route involves taking a road trip to the actual goddamn Library of Congress, which is not something I can do right now or even in the near future. So this is probably as far as I'm getting!

However! If I find anything new, this post will be updated and/or remade again, depending on how big or little the info is. For now, I think this is good enough to share, and maybe letting people know will encourage others to research this prop as well! It'll probably be easier if it's not just me, y'know.

I'll finish by saying that I think research and preservation of art like this is very important. While it's common for cool artistic things to end up cut from movies, I think preserving that those cool things existed in the first place is something worth doing. Even though this prop head was a very small part of the movie, it's clear a lot went into creating it! I feel bad that I'm not able to credit any person or people for their work, but I hope getting the word out about it will do some justice.

If you've read this whole thing, thank you so much! I appreciate your interest and I thank you for taking the time to read all this. I hope you found it as interesting and fascinating as I do!

Oh, by the way, if this post looks familiar at all, you've probably seen the original version of this post I made awhile ago. I wasn't happy with the formatting of that post, and I ended up making too many discoveries to just continue updating it. I'll keep the original up to preserve it, but reblogs will be off for it, as I want this version to be the one to go around. Thanks!

#i dont usually do this but reblogs are So appreciated #i worked on this for way too long lmao #little shop of horrors #lsoh #little shop of horrors 1986 #orin lsoh #orin scrivello #lsoh orin #orin scrivello dds #steve martin

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sea-side-spectre · 1 year

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Then Suddenly there was this

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN!

Close Ups + Full Unedited

Progress Checks!

Acrylic on Canvas [3|6|23]

#PLEASE #TUMBLR LET ME POST #WEEEHHHH #Little Shop of Horrors #Little Shop of Horrors 1986 #LSOH #Seymour Krelborn #Audrey II #stuff #dez draws

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cressida-jayoungr · 6 months

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One Dress a Day Challenge

Black and White October

Little Shop of Horrors / Ellen Greene as Audrey

The patterning on this dress made me think of The 101 Dalmatians, which came out around the same time as the original, non-musical Little Shop of Horrors. Actually, it came out one year later--Little Shop was in 1960, and Dalmations was in 1961--but it's fun to think that it might be a reference.

She accessorizes with white pumps and white gloves in proper early-1960s style. The black net scarf is a bit unusual, but it looks good with the dress. (ETA: I have been reminded that it's actually a sling for her injured arm. In which case, props to her for finding a way to make an "evening wear" sling!)

#little shop of horrors #black and white october #ellen greene #one dress a day challenge #one dress a week challenge #movie costumes #musical costumes #1986 movies #1986 films #20th century costumes #1960s fashion #1960s style #little shop of horrors 1986

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cut-me-and-call-me-yours · 6 months

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LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986)

I couldn't believe how ridiculous and fun this movie was. It totally threw me for a loop. I was expecting a low-budget film that was the usual plot line for any film of this Era. Boy, was I wrong. Not only is this a musical with super catchy songs, but it throws the usual "protagonist saves the day" trope right out the window. In fact, none of the cast saves the day. The day is not saved at all. The plants take over, and we all die, and that is an ending that is so unusual, and I loved it so much. The was Audrey II moves was very life like to tye point I almost forgot she was just a puppet. The plot was super original, and there were so many funny moments. Not to mention, the 3 black ladies that sing killed it and every preformence and slayed while doing it. Seriously, who is their stylist? I need them in my personal life

#horror #horrormovies #bunnytalks #movie recommendation #80s horror #little shop of horrors #little shop of horrors 1986 #seymour krelborn #audrey ii #audrey little shop of horrors #lsoh #orin scrivello #mr mushnik #crystal ronette and chiffon

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tacobellabeanburrito · 16 days

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Found this strange and exotic plant outside during the eclipse… He looks kinda cute!

#little shop of horrors #not it trending on the day of the eclipse #eclipse #Solar eclipse #total eclipse of the sun #little shop of horrors musical #little shop of horrors 1986

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chaoscomeswithin · 3 months

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I've just watched Little Shop of Horrors (1986) for the first time, going completely blind and I've had the time of my life. The site I watched it in has the original ending, and I was fucking GAGGED to see everything happen.

10/10, Seymour did nothing wrong (everyone has a bad day), it's stupidly funny and the practical effects are amazing.

#little shop of horrors #little shop of horrors 1986 #lsoh #losh film #hyl rambles

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the-rockit · 23 days

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Orin x Arthur

Orin: Look buddy, I don't perform on sickos like *you* Arthur: But I need a *long* + *slow* root canal

LJBJKLNGBKJBN

ok..guess who watched little shop of horrors on Saturday!! i really liked it meself :>

anyways but about the picture in question..I think(?) this is the first time i've drawn from actors and not cartoon characters so it was definitely..an experience especially with bill Murray cuz I'm just like "I'm drawing a ghostbuster like *this*" LJKBFJKLBGJLBKG

idk the silliness is getting to me..enjoy this

(if you can't tell i am a litttttleeeee bit embarrassed to post this just because of it's..more suggestive(?) nature & shit yk? idk bjjkgnbgkj)

#orin x arthur #little plant shop of horrors #little shop of horrors 1986 #arthur denton #orin scrivello #btw idk how some ppl see them as comship because like yea ig orin likes to cause pain but arthur likes to receive it so?????#idk just my opinion!!#lucyartz

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somethingusefulfromflorida · 1 year

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I will marry the first person who'll sing along to Little Shop of Horrors with me. That is my relationship litmus test. We put on the movie, I'll be Seymour, you'll be Audrey, we can share the rest, but I want you to know I'll be giving it 110% and I'm gonna need you to match my energy.

#little shop of horrors #lsoh #little shop of horrors 1986 #musical #sing along #skid row #suddenly seymour #somewhere that's green #feed me #mean green mother from outer space #i'm a dentist

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calliemity · 2 months

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hey! did you know there were a few songs that were written as possible additions to the movie version of little shop of horrors? lets talk about them!!

first and foremost, im getting all this information from a wonderful book called "Attack of the Monster Musical: A Cultural History of Little Shop of Horrors" written by Adam Abraham. its the best book ever written ever, if youre interested in the details of lsoh's creation, from the early inspirations to the most recent revival, this is the book you wanna read! again, my source is this book, please check it out of you can!!

okay, so heres the list of songs written specifically for the movie, some of them you might know already! also im not counting the cut songs from the stage musical, maybe ill talk about those another time. ill include song/lyric links if applicable!

Thundercrash: this song was a prototype to Some Fun now, and was meant to replace "Ya Never Know" and "Closed for Renovation". the name comes from a lyric in the original version of both songs, Ya Never Know ("and with a thunder-crash"). i cant find anything else on this song aside from the book, which gives us only 1 verse: "Seymour, the shnook / His life was the worst / Oh what a bore dirt poor is / Now take a look / His luck has reversed"

Some Fun Now: this one is used in the movie! youre definitely familiar with it lmao

Bad: first version of a final villain song for audrey II. this one's probably the most well-known, since it was featured on the 2003 broadway cast album as part of the cut songs. it's the only one included that wasnt cut from the orignal show!

Bad Like Me: the second version of a final villain song for audrey II. much less well known than Bad, this one includes musical motifs that ended up transferring over to the final version of the song! its also just a very neat song imo, probably my favorite out of these

Mean Green Mother From Outerspace: the final version of audrey II's villain song, which was obviously used! there's nothing to explain here, everyone knows this song lol

Your Day Begins Tonight: a song written for the final credits of the movie. sung by the urchins, its unclear if this song came before or after the other end credit song. not much is known aside from lyrics, apparently!

Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon: another song considered for the final credits. this one actually got a howard ashman demo, and its also been covered by debbie gravitte and was performed by the cast of the recent off broadway revival! its gotten a good amount of attention!

this is all i have im pretty sure! hopefully you thought this was cool :] if i missed anything let me know!!!!!

#lsoh #little shop of horrors #audrey ii #little shop of horrors 1986

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sea-side-spectre · 11 months

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Anyway,

Here's a video i made immediately after that making fun of myself--

its just da funny little haha trend i wanted to do

Heres some of the Stills:

obvs not the GREATEST but it was for a funni video- nothing TOO elaborate

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flyingdumpsterfire · 7 months

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i love how my brain registered that it's spooky month so i immediately picked an OMORI theme

ngl when people say 'what's your favourite spooky media' my brain jumps straight to horror and goes 'OMORI, Ghost And Pals, The Owl House, Little Shop of Horrors, Heathers, Toilet Bound Hanako-kun, Alice in Borderland and Lake of Voices' and it shows

#omori #alice in borderland #tbhk #toh #little shop of horrors 1986 #heathers #ghost and pals #lake of voices

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nevinslibrary · 13 days

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Not A Book Friday

Wait, wait, it does have a connection to an eclipse, I swear. The whole thing starts when a plant appears during a solar eclipse. So.... if there were any new plants that appeared out of nowhere on Monday.... definitely do NOT feed them your blood and then red meat, and then eventually dentists bodies that you don’t like and stuff. That would be bad. Oh, and they sing about all this.

Seymour is a worker at a flower shop who is a bit meek and had a crush on Audrey, who is going out with the brutish and abusive Dentist Scrivello. So, when the plant starts talking to Seymour and prodding him to start feeding him something other than animal meat…

The movie is based on the 1982 stage musical of the same name (kudos to that puppeteer and all those high school puppeteers who have done it since then), and the stage play itself is based on a 1960 non-musical movie which, if you want to watch it, a warning, is seriously dark. This movie though, has been just a bit ‘disnified’ (although it was put out by WB).

And, related to that, there is one part I have to say that I don't love about this movie, it's the theatrical ending. That is not the ending of the musical, and, the musical ending is most definitely *chef’s kiss*. (Although, I had watched this movie quite awhile ago, maybe even pre-2000s and definitely pre-2010s, and come to find out that in 2012 there was a director’s cut put out. Don’t know how I missed that).

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

#notabookfriday #nmlRA #nevins memorial library #little shop of horrors 1986 #little shop of horrors movie #little shop of horrors #don't feed the plants!#also closed for renovations from the stage musical is the most fun song ever #and Crystal Ronette and Chiffon are underrated in the stage musical too

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waffle-bubbles · 11 months

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Why did they include the scene where this gay guy gets turned on by the dentist inflicting pain but NOT Mushnik and Son and Now (It’s Just The Gas)

#I will forever be mad about this #it’s such a weird scene too #did not age well #little shop of horrors 1986 #lsoh

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