Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

Little Shop of Horrors

By Joly Herman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Comic book creepiness, jazzy tunes, and fab cast.

Movie PG-13 1986 94 minutes
Little Shop of Horrors Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 11+

Based on 23 parent reviews

age 16+

Upsetting to watch

The domestic violence/sadism in the relationship between Audrey and the dentist is really upsetting, and definitely would be for children as well. The movie is aggressively sexist, with racist undertones. It aged terribly, but I don’t really know how they got away with a movie this violently sexist being so famous or being viewed as a comedy. Audrey is an extremely upsetting portrayal of a super submissive, gentle woman/basically a servant stuck in an abusive relationship, and an awful female role model. Kids have nothing to gain from watching this movie.

This title has:

Too much violence
11 people found this helpful.
age 12+

Upsetting moments

Watched this when I was a kid and our babysitter let us sit up to see it on TV. I must have been around 9. I remember loving it, but found certain scenes really disturbing and they really haunted me. It was actually particularly the dentist scenes, and the girl coming out of the room with a hideous structure screwed into her face. It really upset me, and made me afraid of dentists for a long time.

This title has:

Too much violence
3 people found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (23 ):
Kids say (65 ):

No it's not for the faint of heart, but LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is a classic. With Frank Oz of SESAME STREET and THE MUPPET MOVIES at the helm, the premise of a man-eating plant charming its way to stardom isn't too hard to imagine. The plot is campy sci-fi at its best, which works well with the do-wop soundtrack. The music is very good -- with Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops doing the plant's voice -- and the solos by Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene hit unexpected emotional notes. Cameos from Bill Murray, John Candy, Jim Belushi and Christopher Guest increase the star power of this talented ensemble.

Though it's thoroughly entertaining, there are some scary scenes in THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS that may not be appropriate for some viewers. All those misgivings about going to the dentist are played upon like a raw nerve. Some viewers might want to fast forward through the dentist scenes altogether -- which is why discerning parents should preview this DVD for themselves. Other viewers may not be fazed at all, but be warned nonetheless.

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate