The Day of the Triffids starts with a brief narration that talks about carnivorous plants, the Venus Fly Trap in particular & that a new species has been discovered & named the Triffid. The planet Earth is experiencing a once in a lifetime event, it is being bombarded by a shower of meteorites that burn up before they reach the Earth surface but illuminate the night sky with bright flashes of light... However naval officer Bill Masen (Howard Keel) can't witness the spectacle as he has recently undergone an eye operation & the bandages need to stay on until the morning. The morning arrives & Bill takes the bandages off himself & finds Dr. Soames (Ewan Roberts) who says he is blind, as is everyone else who looked at the meteorite shower the previous night. Unfortunately that accounts for just about the entire population of Earth, if that wasn't enough to cope with the new Triffid plants uproot themselves & kill any living creature they can sting with their tendrils. Together with a young girl named Susan (Janina Faye) Bill sets out to find help & safety...
This classic British Sci-Fi/horror was directed by Steve Sekely (& apparently an uncredited Freddie Francis) & still holds up pretty well even today, over forty years after it's initial release. The script by executive producer Philip Yordan based on the novel by John Wyndham moves along at a nice pace, entertains & the basic story has a timeless quality about it. The fact that nearly the entire human race has been blinded & therefore make easy prey for the Triffids is quite a creepy one when you think about it. The character's are fairly likable if a little bland & forgettable. There are some good scenes in The Day of the Triffids particularly a fog enshrouded sequence in a forest where a car stuck in mud is menaced by a shadowy Triffid & the opening scene with the night watchman in the conservatory. The parts in the lighthouse with Karen (Janette Scott) & Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore) stick out like a sore thumb as they never interact with any of the other cast members, rumour has it these scenes were shot by Francis because the original length of the film was too short. The climax of the film felt rushed & both too convenient & happy. The special effects in The Day of the Triffids vary greatly, considering when it was made most of the optical effects are acceptable although the Triffids themselves are the biggest disappointment coming across very fake looking & distinctly unscary or unthreatening. You can't take some of the attack scenes seriously which lessens the films impact overall & even the opening shots of a fake Venus Fly Trap look terrible, couldn't the filmmakers find a real one? Technically apart from the dodgy effects The Day of the Triffids is OK with decent music, cinematography & solid production values. The acting is alright although Keel makes for a somewhat bland hero who it's difficult to root (!nice pun!) for. The Day of the Triffids is still definitely worth a watch if your a Sci-Fi fan but modern audiences may find it a bit too dated. The British TV station the BBC made The Day of the Triffids (1981) as a six part TV series which is meant to be even better than this.
This classic British Sci-Fi/horror was directed by Steve Sekely (& apparently an uncredited Freddie Francis) & still holds up pretty well even today, over forty years after it's initial release. The script by executive producer Philip Yordan based on the novel by John Wyndham moves along at a nice pace, entertains & the basic story has a timeless quality about it. The fact that nearly the entire human race has been blinded & therefore make easy prey for the Triffids is quite a creepy one when you think about it. The character's are fairly likable if a little bland & forgettable. There are some good scenes in The Day of the Triffids particularly a fog enshrouded sequence in a forest where a car stuck in mud is menaced by a shadowy Triffid & the opening scene with the night watchman in the conservatory. The parts in the lighthouse with Karen (Janette Scott) & Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore) stick out like a sore thumb as they never interact with any of the other cast members, rumour has it these scenes were shot by Francis because the original length of the film was too short. The climax of the film felt rushed & both too convenient & happy. The special effects in The Day of the Triffids vary greatly, considering when it was made most of the optical effects are acceptable although the Triffids themselves are the biggest disappointment coming across very fake looking & distinctly unscary or unthreatening. You can't take some of the attack scenes seriously which lessens the films impact overall & even the opening shots of a fake Venus Fly Trap look terrible, couldn't the filmmakers find a real one? Technically apart from the dodgy effects The Day of the Triffids is OK with decent music, cinematography & solid production values. The acting is alright although Keel makes for a somewhat bland hero who it's difficult to root (!nice pun!) for. The Day of the Triffids is still definitely worth a watch if your a Sci-Fi fan but modern audiences may find it a bit too dated. The British TV station the BBC made The Day of the Triffids (1981) as a six part TV series which is meant to be even better than this.