Little Shop of Horrors1986

100/100 (Director's Cut) What can I even say? Cinema as a whole peaked here, and I will accept no criticisms to the contrary. This is pure, unadulterated peak in my opinion, both entertaining and meaningful. I should probably start with the message, seeing as how, while it's handled well, it's not too heavy. This is a great retelling of the Faust myth, serving as a critique of capitalism and how it can lead into "deals with the devil", and how in the end the only one these deals benefit is the system making them. Here, Seymour is shown a chance at success by Audrey II, at a seemingly small price relatively, but as his success grows, so do the sacrifices required, with him eventually being forced to abandon everything he loves, only to himself be ground up as part of the system. However, setting aside the message, the film is still highly entertaining. I love the film's characters, and if I had to list the good performances here, I'd keep going until I've listed the whole cast. Rick Moranis is great as Seymour and I love Ellen Greene as best girl Audrey. Even side characters like Vincent Gardenia as Mr. Mushnik or John Candy as Wink Wilkinson are great. The two best characters, however, are the two antagonists. I love Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., with his overblow, campy performance adding to the humour while still being menacing when needed. The same is true for Levi Stubbs as Audrey II, one of my favourite characters ever. Levi Stubbs is great as this singing, wisecracking plant, both charismatic and evil in a fun way. The film is also really funny. This is my fourth time watching and I still found myself laughing at most of the jokes. The best one for me was the scene with Bill Murray as a masochistic patient in contrast to Steve Martin, merely getting turned on by his painful procedures. I don't know why, it's just really funny. Overall, I don't think any movie'll ever top this one for me. It's the most fun I've had, and any criticisms are basically null and void to me in the face of this enjoyment. It's my absolute favourite movie of all time (very biased in this opinion) and one of my favourite pieces of media ever.