The Little Shop of Horrors work. And they needed something to bridge that moment. They found in the editing room a nice shot of the moon, and they cut it in, and it worked. Twenty years go by. I'm at the studio one day. Chuck comes running up to me, says, 'You've got to see this!' It was a magazine article—eight pages on the symbolism of the moon in "Little Shop of Horrors"." According to Corman, the total budget for the production was $30,000. Other sources estimate the budget to be between $22,000 and $100,000. Corman had initial trouble finding distribution for the film, as
The Little Shop of Horrors the film entering the public domain. Because of this, the film is widely available in copies of varying quality. The film was originally screened theatrically in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, but has largely only been seen in open matte at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 since its original theatrical release. The film's critical reception was largely favorable, with modern review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a "Tomatometer" score of 91%. "Variety" wrote, "The acting is pleasantly preposterous. [...] Horticulturalists and vegetarians will love it." Jack Nicholson, recounting the reaction to a screening of the film, states that