Movie Substrate · Film

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

★ 7.0 · 1,617 ratings on TMDB

A singing plant. A daring hero. A sweet girl. A demented dentist. It's the most outrageous musical comedy in years.

Little Shop of Horrors poster★ 7.0

Seymour Krelborn is a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's; a flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a crush on fellow co-worker, Audrey Fulquard, and is berated by Mr. Mushnik daily. One day, Seymour finds a very mysterious unidentified plant which he calls Audrey II. The plant seems to have a craving for blood and soon begins to sing for it’s supper.

DirectorFrank Oz
CastEllen Greene, Jim Belushi, John Candy, Levi Stubbs, Michelle Weeks, Rick Moranis
GenresComedy, Horror
The emergence reading

In Little Shop of Horrors, consciousness is carried by aliens — a plane of “carnivorous plant capitalism”. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing greed, ambition, exploitation, capitalism, fame.

↷ aliensUSgreedambitionexploitationcapitalismfame
⇄ Parameter shift — the dial this world turnsrigor: loose
E7bloodfeedingPlants can survive by consuming human blood, gaining rapid growth and sentience (biology · local)
Also inConsciousness hiding in aliensFilms that alter a rule of realityFilms that move consciousness off the human
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Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

Wonka (2023)E8 · capitalism, exploitationSing 2 (2021)E8/E9 · ambition, exploitationAce Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)E8/E9 · exploitation, greedTurbo (2013)E8/E9 · ambition, fameBolt (2008)E8/E9 · exploitation, fameShowgirls (1995)E8/E9 · ambition, exploitation

Also bends a rule of reality

Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.

Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (1990)alters at E7 · same rung · looseMoana (2016)alters at E7 · same rung · rigorousThe Day After Tomorrow (2004)alters at E7 · same rung · looseA Quiet Place (2018)alters at E7 · same rung · rigorousA Quiet Place Part II (2021)alters at E7 · same rung · rigorousMortal Engines (2018)alters at E7 · same rung · loose

Also hides consciousness here

Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.

Nope (2022)consciousness in aliens · spectacle horrorCowboys & Aliens (2011)consciousness in aliens · frontier alien invasionSupergirl (2026)consciousness in aliens · interstellar vigilante sagaDragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986)consciousness in aliens · dragon‑ball questCritters 3 (1991)consciousness in aliens · alien infestationMars Needs Moms (2011)consciousness in aliens · martian extraction

Same subject, different mask

The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)consciousness in monsters · ambition, exploitationAlvin and the Chipmunks (2007)consciousness in animals · exploitation, fameShark Tale (2004)consciousness in animals · ambition, fameVelvet Buzzsaw (2019)consciousness in the dead · exploitation, greedUgetsu (1953)consciousness in the dead · ambition, greedHumanoids from the Deep (1980)consciousness in monsters · exploitation, greed

Same people

Shared director or cast.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)dir. Frank OzBowfinger (1999)dir. Frank OzHousesitter (1992)dir. Frank OzSpaceballs (1987)John CandyPlanes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)John CandyParenthood (1989)Rick Moranis