The Little Shop of Horrors face of Seymour, which pitifully moans, "I didn't mean it!" before drooping over—apparently ending the life of Audrey Jr. "The Little Shop of Horrors" was developed when director Roger Corman was given temporary access to sets that had been left standing from his previous film, "A Bucket of Blood". Corman decided to use the sets in a film made in the last two days before the sets were torn down. Corman initially planned to develop a story involving a private investigator. In the initial version of the story, the character that eventually became Audrey would have been referred to 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