The Little Shop of Horrors some distributors, including American International Pictures (AIP), felt that the film would be interpreted as anti-Semitic, citing the characters of Gravis Mushnick and Siddie Shiva. Welles, who is Jewish, stated that he gave his character a Turkish Jewish accent and mannerisms, and that he saw the humor of the film as playful, and felt there was no intent to defame any ethnic group. The film was finally released by its production company, The Filmgroup, nine months after it had been completed. "The Little Shop of Horrors" was screened out of competition at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. A year later,
The Little Shop of Horrors was called upon to write music for Corman, Katz sold the same score as if it were new music. The score was used in a total of seven films, including "The Wasp Woman" and "Creature from the Haunted Sea". Katz explained that his music for the film was created by a music editor piecing together selections from other soundtracks that he had produced for Corman. Howard R. Cohen learned from Charles B. Griffith that when the film was being edited, "there was a point where two scenes would not cut together. It was just a visual jolt, and it didn't