***Followed by a panel discussion w/ - Walter Stearns, Executive Director of Mercury Theater, Director of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS + Andrew Stasiulis, Professor of Directing, Cinema Theory and Cinema Production at DePaul University + Peter Sobczynski, Film Critic, RogerEbert.com + Ron Falzone, Award Winning Screenwriter and Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at Columbia College Chicago***

Co-presented by Mercury Theater Chicago Seymour (Jonathan Haze) works in a skid row florist shop and pines for his co-worker Audrey (Jackie Joseph). He moonlights as an aspiring botanist and develops a new type of plant in hopes of making a name for himself as well as winning over Audrey. Unfortunately, his creation not only talks but cannot survive without consuming human flesh and blood! Hands tied, Seymour's forced to kill to feed Audrey Jr. Word spreads about this astonishing plant, which bolsters business and interest in Seymour. But things get sticky once bodies start to pile up & the local Fuzz takes notice, which brings this wild tale to a shocking & hysterically macabre conclusion the likes of which only no-budget master Roger Corman could bring! Look for a cameo appearance by a very young Jack Nicholson performing in his first feature film as the masochistic dental patient, plus a delightfully absurd, flower-eating shop rat played by the late Dick Miller.  **35mm print courtesy of Jon Davison, New Horizons Pictures, and the Academy Film Archive**