Little Shop of Horrors Takes a Bite Out of BD,DVD
Feed me!
by RL Shaffer
IGN, June 14, 2012
On
October 9, 2012, Warner Home Video will release the 1986 musical, Little Shop of Horrors, to Blu-ray and DVD. The film, directed by Frank Oz (Death at a Funeral), features an all-star cast including Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, James Belushi, John Candy, and Bill Murray. The film also features Four Tops member Levi Stubbs, who provides the voice for Audrey II, the monstrous creation who demands human flesh!
For those unaware, the motown rock musical is an adaptation of the 1960 camp classic from Roger Corman. It is written by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman.
Tech specs will include a 1080p digitally remastered high definition transfer for the Blu-ray, and an anamorphic widescreen transfer for the DVD. Audio will be mixed in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD for the BD and 5.1 Dolby Digital for the DVD.
Now for the best part -- this fresh home video release
will not only include the theatrical cut (on BD), but also a completely restored, never-before-seen Director's Cut of the film, featuring a drastically different, and much darker, 20-minute alternate ending.
Here's a note about the restoration direct from Warner, "The footage of the original ending was previously available only in black & white in the extra content of a limited number of copies of a DVD edition released in 1998.
Now, with the help of production notes from Frank Oz and others on the film’s creative team, WHV has meticulously restored and digitally remastered the ending, in full color, with the elaborate special effects in tact. Sound has also been rebuilt and mixed in Dolby 5.1. The theatrical version has also been re-mastered."
Extras will include the following (no word yet on which of these extras are exclusive to Blu-ray):
- Theatrical version of the film with optional commentary
- The Director’s Cut featuring the newly restored 20-minute alternate ending
- Digitally re-mastered picture and 5.1 sound on both versions
- "Frank Oz and Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut," an introduction by Frank Oz with Richard Conway
- "A Story of Little Shop of Horrors" (behind-the-scenes documentary)
- Outtakes and deleted scenes with optional commentary
- Two theatrical trailers
The Blu-ray will also include a 40-page Digibook with production notes, stills and rare insights. Suggested retail for the Blu-ray is $34.99, and $14.96 for the DVD. Amazon has the Blu-ray available for pre-order for $24.49. The DVD is up for pre-order for $10.47.
Be on the lookout for more news regarding this exciting release. Of all the songs in Little Shop of Horrors, which is your favorite?
R.L. Shaffer is a "Mean, Green Mutha, from outer space, and he's bad." Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and more!
