Blumen des Schreckens

Day of the Triffids is a delightful sci-fi horror movie from the sixties, and it will be a sure-fire hit with fans of this sort of cinema. The film stands halfway between a serious disaster movie (although it's definitely one that is much more ingenious than most actual disaster movies) and a silly B-movie complete with absolutely ridiculous monsters. Some viewers will most probably be deterred by the second side of the movie - but not me! I found the ridiculous monsters to be an absolute treat, and although the film is certainly messy; on the whole I think it came together rather well. Certainly no worse than you'd expect from this sort of movie. The film follows the story of a meteorite shower that beings down a new species of plant - the man-eating triffid! And, not only that, but the glare of the shower has blinded almost the entire population of the world; which is bound to lead only to trouble. Right from the word go, you know that you're in for a cool piece of kitsch as the voice-over introduces the new species of plant and the film keeps this atmosphere going throughout.

While many viewers will be put off by the silly special effects, the only thing that annoyed me about this is the pacing of the plot. The first fifty minutes at least are highly inventive and very involving so the running time just slips by as you lose yourself in the camp classic that you're watching. However, as we approach the hour mark, the plot slows down to walking pace, and although the inventiveness is still there; it never reaches the highs of the first half of the movie, which featured excellent flashes of brilliance as we see panic on an aeroplane as the pilot is blinded, trains crashing and the hapless, now blind, population of the UK trying to make their way through London station. Howard Keel makes a fine leading man, especially for a film like this. He has an almost cheesy aura surrounding him, and this helps the unintentional humour side of the movie when it's mixed with the rather awful and very corny script that the film works on. On the whole, while this movie won't do anything for fans of artistic and serious cinema, if you like to have fun with your film viewings; this one is recommended.

When an asteroid shower passes over the earth, most of London stops and watches the 'once in a lifetime' spectacle. However, London, as well as the vast majority of the world find themselves blinded and at the mercy of the triffids – a plant-like beast who arrived from space in the night and are feasting on the stumbling humans. One of the few people to still able to see is sailor Bill Masen, who had his eyes bandaged shut at the time due to an operation. As cities burn, survivors try to band together and those still able to see try to stop the spread of the triffids.

Despite being one of those things that is in popular culture and in all our minds, I have never read or seen Day of the Triffids until I decided to watch this film the other night. The gaudy title sequence immediately put this in the category of b-movie creature feature and I prepared myself for the genre, aware of its weaknesses. However, after the initial opening the film settled into a good portrayal of London falling into destruction – planes fall, governments fold and cities burn; I found this great fun and to have a real sense of terror to it – even if the people acting 'blind' were just sort of rocking and stumbling in a comical manner and not panicking quite as much as they would in real life! After this strong opening we settle into more traditional b-movie territory with the characters established and long scenes of dialogue (and sentiment) delivered in place of actual action.

When the film does move past the dialogue heavy establishment what we get is still more dialogue mixed with scenes of big rubbery plants with failing tentacles. As a creature feature it is OK but if you step outside of what is acceptable within the genre then you'd have to admit that it isn't much good! The creatures suffer from being seen and their appearance (and the dialogue heavy pace) robs the film of its early sense of doom. This is an unfair complaint maybe, because few monsters when revealed really retain their threat when unseen (even in the CGI age) but, even with the rubbery effects, the film could have kept them hidden for longer - kudos for a sea of them near the end though, up till this point they didn't seem that much of an immediate threat.

Although the plants look stiff and are made of wood, the cast give them a run for their money (obvious gag, apologies) in the firm tradition of the genre. Howard Keel is a mans' man for the period but he has come from the Steven Seagal school of acting – one expression on his face all the time regardless of whether he is fighting hoards of aliens with a flame thrower or looking after a little girl. Of course he isn't very good but what did you expect from him in a sci-fi b-movie? The rest of the cast are pretty poor too and are a load of genre clichés – sympathetic kids, boisterous men who get their comeuppance and the simpering love interest who need to be saved. The couple in the lighthouse are no better but they suffer from being away from the main story – even if they turn out to be important.

Overall this is not a great film but it is an enjoyable enough b-movie creature feature with all the weaknesses that that description implies (wooden acting, poor script, rubber monsters) but if you are content with this genre then you should find this an enjoyable film if hardly a brilliant one. It's just a shame that the tangible sense of doom that existed with the early scenes of a London falling to pieces was not continued through the whole film.

Another film-role immortalised in the line above, from the soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Show! Bit of a misnomer actually, SHE didn't fight the triffid, Kieron Moore did! All poor Janette did was to stand there shoving her hand in her mouth and screaming!

Well here's another sci-fi flick seems to have struck a sour note with many viewers. Yeah, there HAVE been many liberties taken with John Wyndham's original tale, doesn't mean though "Hey, three strikes you're out! Derided and laughed-at, much like RAISE THE TITANIC, many aspects of this film are clearly socially responsible and relevant today. How would YOU handle yourself in the situation Howard Keel finds himself in after the majority of the world's population is blinded by the light emanated from a meteor shower? The film was made for a 1960's outlook and acceptance, not new millennium desensitised and pseudo-enlightened audiences. Maybe the triffids WERE men in suits, they were damn good ones though. The fx where the triffids were seeking to gain entry to the lighthouse I thought were exceptionally good for their age. OK, so the film DOES also offer what is probably the WORST train pile up ever filmed (you never actually see it!) but give the makers a break. What did you EXPECT them to do? close Charing Cross station and have an eight coach steam train from Watford ram the buffers at 100 mph?

Many wonderful images from this film stick in the mind. That great scene where Mervyn Johns and Howard Keel stand on the edge of the quarry, watching the triffid spores becoming airborne. The triffid, as it lashes the back window of the Humber as Keel shepherds the little girl to safety. The stock-standard British stiff upper lip when the blinded crew of the airplane know they are doomed. The panorama of burning triffids when Keel rigs up the elctric fence then has to torch them before they break through. Even now so many years since I saw it, I can still hear that ice-cream truck as the triffids are led in pied-piper fashion away to their ultimate fate.

I can forgive 'Tommythek' his less than relevant comments. He at least admits to being "illiterate" and functioning at the lowest level. Others though are stupefyingly brittle and short-sighted. THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS is top sci-fi entertainment, not quite a fully-fledged classic I agree, but I'll watch it anyday before I ever sit through CAST AWAY again!

The film opens with a marvellously atmospheric sequence of a night security guard being stalked by an aggressive man-size killer plant in a huge greenhouse. Illuminated by a night sky full of falling comets, the use of darkness with splashes of technicolor makes this visually very rich and introduces the triffid as a terrifying menace. For a British-made sci-fi story, this is an ambitious attempt to follow action across three countries, show society in ruins and portray (not quite as successfully) a rampaging army of killer plants! The grim early scenes of blinded populous are quite upsetting, a plane falls out of the sky because the pilot cannot see but he knows he is running out of fuel, a train crashes into a terminus and its blinded passengers can't help themselves amongst the wreckage... The film follows an American sailor, who has not been blinded by the comets, as he tries to reach safety. This story is intercut with a couple stranded in a lighthouse surrounded by Triffids - these scenes were all added by the (uncredited) director Freddie Francis after the original cut of the movie came in way under its correct running time. The woman in the lighthouse scenes is played by Janette Scott, who has been immortalised in the lyrics of the title song of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW". If possible watch a widescreen version of this movie - it makes a lot more sense.

A meteorite shower lights up the sky and blinds all that watches it. Most of the world population must also deal with some rather weird plant life that can uproot itself and seek human nourishment.

Howard Keel plays a sailor recovering from an eye operation, thus not being blinded by the mysterious glowing display. He finds a young girl that slept through the starry shower. Together they seek out help and a solution to this very weird problem. A couple of marine biologist, stranded in a lighthouse, get a 'hands on' encounter with the rampaging stalks of terror.

An evenly paced movie considering the slow moving menace. This makes you ponder watering your plants. Very good movie.

Also in the cast are Janina Faye, Nicole Maurey and Janette Scott.