Horror film reviewer Taylor Complains (@taylorcomplains) joins host Kt Baldassaro (@MovieRuntime) to dig into Frank Oz’s 1986 cult horror musical classic Little Shop of Horrors. Killer plants sing, Rick Moranis charms, and the bleak alternate ending is somehow more expensive than Aliens.
Kt and Taylor dive into what happens when a horror fan with zero patience for musicals meets one of the campiest cult classics of the 1980s. From killer plants to killer performances, they debate whether Little Shop of Horrors deserves its legacy, or if it’s all just Muppet-fueled madness.
We also dig into:
🎭 Frank Oz’s Muppet DNA and why his practical effects still hold up 40 years later
💀 That infamous alternate ending… the one test audiences couldn’t handle
🎥 Rick Moranis’s “lovable loser” energy and why it somehow works every time
🧵 Why horror and comedy blend perfectly, but musicals can drive even die-hard horror fans insane
🌆 The original 1960 version with Jack Nicholson, and how it evolved from B-movie to Broadway hit
😂 Taylor’s brutal honesty, his case for bleak endings, and why he rates this one a "2… maybe 2.5, but only because it eats everyone at the end.”
Whether you’re a Little Shop devotee or a proud musical hater, this episode delivers sharp film analysis, chaotic humor, and a surprisingly heartfelt appreciation for practical effects and bad decisions.
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Master Chronological List of all Films Mentioned in this Episode
Go Ask Alice (1973)
Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
The Dark Crystal (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Gremlins (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
The Fly (1986)
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Spaceballs (1987)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
Arachnophobia (1990)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Vampires (1998)
Ravenous (1999)
Magnolia (1999)
Boondock Saints (1999)
Rush Hour (1998)
Blade (1998)
The South Park Movie (Bigger, Longer & Uncut) (1999)
The Descent (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
[REC] (2007)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
Quarantine (2008)
Antichrist (2009)
Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Melancholia (2011)
Evil Dead (2013
The Voices (2014)
The Lure (2015)
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Him (2024)
Longlegs (2024)
Sinners (2024)
Chapters:
00:00 Intro & Guest Introduction
01:00 Why Horror Musicals Are Hard to Love
03:00 Anna and the Apocalypse vs. Little Shop
05:00 Theater Kids, Performance, and Authenticity
08:00 Taylor’s Horror Background & Top Films
13:00 Film Critique and Letting People Like What They Like
17:00 Nihilism, PTA, and Modern vs. Classic Horror
28:00 Why the Bleak Ending of Little Shop Works
31:00 Frank Oz, The Muppet Aesthetic, and Practical Effects
35:00 The Alternate Ending and Test Audiences
42:00 American Audiences’ Obsession with Happy Endings
44:00 Despair, Self-Indulgence, and What Makes Art Work
47:00 Puppetry, Performance, and the Magic of Lip Syncing
53:00 Character Voices, Archetypes, and Rick Moranis’ “Lovable Loser”
01:35:00 Final Thoughts: Why the Film Endures Despite Its Flaws
