Short Circuit (1986 film) nicely acted". The "Sun-Sentinel" gave a good review, saying, "Number Five is the real star of this energetic film. Sheedy, Guttenberg and company are just supporting players." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" rated it 1.5 out of 4 four stars and called it "too cute for its own good". "Short Circuit" debuted at No. 1 in the US box office. It grossed a total of $40,697,761, ranking it 21st for 1986 in the United States; it performed slightly better than other 1986 hits like "Pretty in Pink", "The Fly", "Three Amigos", "Little Shop Of Horrors" and "About Last Night".
The Little Shop of Horrors children five cents apiece to run out of a subway tunnel. They were also able to persuade winos to appear as extras for ten cents apiece. "The winos would get together, two or three of them, and buy pints of wine for themselves! We also had a couple of the winos act as ramrods—sort of like production assistants—and put them in charge of the other wino extras." Griffith and Welles also persuaded a funeral home to donate a hearse and coffin—with a real corpse inside—for the film shoot. Griffith and Welles were able to use the nearby Southern Pacific Transportation