DanTheMan 2
I've never actually read John Wyndham's original novel so I've no idea how it stacks up against this film adaptation but taken on its own merits, The Day of the Triffids is a genuinely effective little British B-movie. Although let down by a poor script riddled with inconsistencies and irregularities, unintentionally funny moments and a horrendously slow pace even at 90 minutes that often gets bogged down by lengthy romantic interludes, the film has a killer atmosphere chocked full of mood and terror with the Triffids themselves contributing majorly with their fantastic design and well-realised effects work. The majority of the material was directed by Steve Sekely and he delivers some memorable moments throughout be it the dazzlingly colourful meteorite showers over the London skyline or the crowds of sightless people begging for help from those who can see making for a unique apocalyptic vision. It's a shame then that the lighthouse subplot added after the fact by an uncredited Freddie Francis kinda sticks out like a sore thumb and doesn't blend all that well with the main story, the musical score tends to do the heavy lifting. Howard Keel and Janina Faye are really the only actors in this that I can really point to as being competent, everyone else was just rather mundane or shallow although, to be fair, it's often the result of some truly laughable dialogue. Despite its frankly atrociously forced happy ending, I can't be too harsh on The Day of the Triffids as I enjoyed it immensely, terror comes to full bloom but falls decidedly short on awe-inspiring moments.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
11/20/24
Full Review
Leaburn O
It would be an understatement to say this is only loosely based n the brilliant novel. It is very disappointing, the plot changes only detract from the film. Acting terrible and special effects are from that rubbish original Dr Who period so leave a lot to be desired. Watched on Talking Pictures.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
07/15/24
Full Review
Matt R
"BEWARE THE TRIFFIDS ...they grow ...know ...walk ...talk ...stalk and KILL!"
I planted myself in front of the screen and watched THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1963). This classic British sci-fi flick really grew on me! Luckily, I didn't go blind.
The movie is based on a book of the same title by John Wyndham who also wrote another book that has made it to the big screen: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. It starts with colorful meteor showers in CinemaScope and Eastman Color that causes anyone who saw them to go blind. Bill Masen, a Navy man who is in the hospital with eyes covered, gets to see the chaos when he takes off his bandages. Masen is played by Howard Keel ( Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) who tries to help a young girl to safety. If a blind world wasn't bad enough, giant killer carnivorous plants came down from the sky to consume mankind. There is also a struggling couple of scientists stranded at a lighthouse trying to outlast the triffids too.
TRIFFIDS is a well-told tense story of survival during global crisis. The plants are impressive. The visuals are striking. Wally Veevers (2001: A Space Odyssey, Superman 1978) is credited with special effects photography. Co-director Freddie Francis won 2 Oscars for cinematography on SONS AND LOVERS (1960) and GLORY (1989). The cinematographer of TRIFFIDS also won an Academy Award later on for A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1967). TRIFFIDS is a film that deserves a full HD restoration.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/24
Full Review
Monsol E
"WOW! A brilliant cosmic event! Everyone!...and I do mean EVERYONE, go outside and stare at the sky, without any protective eyewear! You'll be a square if you don't see this LIFE-CHANGING event!"
...how has humanity survived so long, when it's so stupid?...
A meteor shower blinds the majority of earth, while also planting alien seeds, that quickly sprout into man-eating monsters. The story follows a navy man, recovering from eye surgery, and an aggressive drunk scientist, neither of whom could watch the meteors that night.
Navy-guy finds himself protecting a little girl, as they travel around trying to find any safe haven from the chaos, but only find more trouble at every stop.
Meanwhile, the drunk and his wife, trapped in their island facility, have to try and survive the monsters, while searching for a way to kill them.
This is a really good setup, and possibly one of the most apocalyptic monster movies I've seen. The Triffids themselves are weird and hard to look at, the sheer number of them in some scenes is really impressive. The story being split between two survivor groups was cool...but also underutilized.
Navy-guy didn't have any kind of real arc, other than "try to keep us alive".
The drunk had potential for a really good arc, rekindling passion for his work, and the love for his wife...but they sort of gave up on that before it went anywhere.
The biggest problem is the pacing, as this felt WAAAY longer than it was. It had too many scenes of irrelevant chaos, and not enough plot. [For example, the mansion being attacked by convicts, when everyone was going to be killed by the Triffids anyway]...and I was VERY ANNOYED that it took the scientist until the last moment of the movie to think of trying something that I, an ignoramus, thought of almost immediately...I know he's smashed, but how is he dumber than me?
^ That all may sound like a mixed bag, because it is. It feels like it takes forever, and has no good characters, but the global blindness is a cool angle, and the monsters are really neat.
You should check this out if you enjoy old monster movies...but one of the remakes may be better, I dunno.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
10/27/23
Full Review
SICKS6SIX S
how the pros scored this 78% is beyond me, the wooden acting is terrible, the script is lame, and even the sound is unbearable, it goes from hushed whispers and very low to very high screaming every five minutes, The TV sound controller is never out your hand, the special effects are so bad they're amusing, it was a fairly big film back in the day, how I don't know as I can't think of anything good to say about it, everyone seems to wander around in a state of dream-like nausia and they all come out with some bizarre one liners when they are not screaming the house down, it must be the film with the most screams in it ever made, directed by Steve Sekely. he has a lot to answer for with this film, The first time I saw it on TV I must have been about 7 or 8 and it didn't scare me then I just hated the shouting and screaming, it just seems worse 60 years later, watch it if you cant be bothered to look for anything better on youtube.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
10/18/23
Full Review
Josh G
Wanted to love this film about killer plants but here's the problem, too much talk not enough plant based violence. It has so much drama and far too many of the characters with nothing to add to the plot.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
