Little Shop of Horrors 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Little Shop of Horrors 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Now you can Seymour details.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 3, 2026

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors has finally earned a welcome 4K upgrade courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Video, replacing their own solid 2012 Blu-ray edition and its many packaging variants released during the last decade. All previous HD releases have included both the Theatrical and Director's Cuts (whose main difference is the original "dark" ending) as well as plenty of great bonus features, and this UHD follows suit with newly-restored 4K masters for both versions, a new Dolby Atmos remix, and a pair of brand-new retrospective pieces featuring Oz as well as other members of the cast and crew. A Limited Edition Steelbook variant is also available for collectors to track down, but neither 4K option includes a Blu-ray copy of the film.

For an overview and appreciation of the film (which includes nods to the original 1960 cult classic as well as the 1982 off-off-Broadway musical which inspired this 1986 "remake"), please read Jeff Kauffman's Blu-ray review linked above. I fully agree with Jeff's take on Little Shop of Horrors and consider it to be a hugely entertaining musical with a great cast, memorable songs, and of course incredible effects work including "Audrey II", created and designed by the late, great Lyle Conway. Given Frank Oz's penchant for comedy and puppets, his direction is a perfect match.

Little Shop of Horrors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced from two new retrospective featurettes detailed below, which were unfortunately assembled before the recent 4K master was complete. Therefore, they should not be considered an accurate representation of the UHD's picture in terms of color, fine detail, or brightness levels.

Advertised simply as a "new 4K restoration of the film", it's extremely likely that Warner Bros.' 2160p/HDR10/Dolby Vision master of Little Shop of Horrors involved a fresh scan of the original negative ... because even considering the high rating given to their 2012 Blu-ray edition (which I firmly agree with), this new UHD presentation surpasses it in every single category. First, let's get the obvious out of the way: the film now plays in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and both cuts appear to be sourced from the same new restored master. Beyond that, we get similarly great news in every department as there's now renewed levels of clarity and stability where fine detail is concerned, the colors are perfectly represented and appear accurate to the source, and black levels are well-handled during the film's darkest moments. As for the HDR layer, it's subtle and supportive rather than showy, which really is a best-case scenario. The practical effects look better than ever, of course, and disc encoding is extremely solid on this triple-layered (100GB) disc which runs at a high bit rate no matter which cut of the film you're watching. It all adds up to a very faithful and impressive presentation that represents the film's best outing on home video to date by a notable margin.

Little Shop of Horrors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On the audio front, this 4K release separates itself more fully than the 2012 Blu-ray edition, which included a lossless 5.1 surround remix during both cuts. This time around we get two options, kind of: a brand-new Dolby Atmos remix (or Dolby TrueHD 7.1, if that's closer to your setup) for both cuts... or the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio stereo track from its theatrical wide release which is, appropriately enough only available on the theatrical version.. The latter is of course a more scaled-back but still impressive front-forward affair that hasn't been heard since... well, damned if I know, but it's been a long time. This is great news for purists, but it's too bad we can't have it on the Director's Cut as well.

As for the new Dolby Atmos remix, for most this this will be a hugely enjoyable audio experience that opens up the film's soundstage considerably. Word has it that, much like the earlier 5.1 remix, this new update was sourced from Little Shop's six-track 70mm theatrical audio described in the linked Blu-ray review; this means it shares overwhelming similarities with the Blu-ray*, albeit with additional room for the height channels and a more full-bodied presence. This is an extremely forceful and engaging track at times, and one that confidently conveys the considerable chaos during Little Shop's most surprising and over-the-top moments. The frequent song breaks are very highly prioritized, which is fine be me but others may find them a touch overpowering. Overall, though I've got a feeling that die-hard fans will like this option very much, but I'm still holding off on a truly perfect rating because of the 2.0 audio situation. Even porting over the Blu-ray's 5.1 track as a secondary option might've nudged this into 5/5 territory, but no such luck.

* - One of our members recently reported in this release's official thread that, on the Atmos remix only, several vocalizations are missing in a scene featuring Audrey II. Please follow the thread for more details.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and all extras listed below.

Little Shop of Horrors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a regular keepcase with pretty decent cover artwork, at least considering it's just a cast composite, but again Warner Bros. could have just used the original poster design. As for the extras, they largely mirror those found on previous releases including the 2012 Blu-ray and its many variants, but there are two new supplements and the theatrical teaser/trailer are sadly missing as usual. I've no clue why WB always dumps these.

• Audio Commentary - This legacy track with director Frank Oz is available during the Theatrical Cut only.

• NEW! To Feed or Not to Feed: For the Love of Little Shop (14:39) - This brand-new retrospective pays tribute to the film for its 40th anniversary with recently-recorded interviews featuring director Frank Oz and actor Ellen Green ("Audrey"), who appear separately and recount lots of stories regarding the filming and adaptation experience. Also included is a large number of candid on-set photos as well as behind-the-scenes footage, all of which makes this compact featurette worth a watch. It's great stuff, but too bad that Rick Moranis couldn't have taken a break from filming Spaceballs: The New One to speak for a few minutes.

• NEW! Mean Green Mother - Creating Audrey II (8:23) - This like-minded new featurette again features Frank Oz and Ellen Greene as well as special visual effects artist Bran Ferren and model unit supervisor Richard Conway, all of whom speak about the work of "Audrey II" creator and designer Lyle Conway.

• Frank Oz and Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut (10:40)

• A Story of Little Shop of Horrors (23:03)

• Outtakes and Deleted Scenes (8:41) - Available with or without director commentary.

• Director's Cut Ending (22:03) - The original "dark" ending on its own, again with optional Oz commentary.

Little Shop of Horrors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors still plays great 40 years later, standing as a hugely impressive adaptation of what could only be described as very peculiar source material: a musical horror-comedy hybrid about a man (and woman) eating plant. It wouldn't be rivaled in this rare sub-genre until Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and of course both can comfortably co-exist. Four decades on, Warner Bros.' new UHD edition celebrates Little Shop's anniversary in style with a new 4K restoration of both cuts, new Dolby Atmos audio, and even a pair of new extras for good measure. Whether you're a die-hard fan or newcomer, it's Highly Recommended.