"The Day of The Triffids" review

This one will grow on you

I have loved nature documentaries since I was a child, and I eagerly devoured every one I could find.  But of all the different programs, my personal favorite has always been the string of superlative shows produced for the BBC and hosted by David Attenborough.  His enthusiasm is infectious, his naturalist knowledge is vast and this exhilarating combination makes every Attenborough documentary a full spectrum delight.

 “The Private Life of Plants”, which aired in 1995, is a visual marvel of time-lapse photography, and it also contains a fascinating examination of the mind-boggling variety of carnivorous plants that abound in every corner of our tiny blue planet.  Attenborough’s films have made it possible for audiences to vicariously travel to countless remote and forbidding places and goggle at the exotic sights that lay hidden in the foliage.

Theatrical science fiction cinema also offers similar journeys of astonishment, albeit ones typically focused less on the wonder of discovery and more on the dread of annihilation.  What makes the 1963 British film “The Day of the Triffids” so distinctive is that instead of flying saucers filled with bipedal, bug-eyed aliens armed with claws and laser guns, this time the murderous invaders are tri-stalked plants with flower-like heads that spit venom and grasping vines which entangle their victims.   

The Triffids arrive as spores via a spectacular meteor shower which the whole world watches to their lasting doom.  The exploding asteroids turn the night sky into a galactic fireworks display, but the next morning everyone wakes up to discover that they’ve been permanently blinded.  The seedling Triffids quickly grow, uproot themselves and begin roaming an urban landscape filled with easy prey.

While the special effects, story and characterizations in “The Day of The Triffids” may seem a bit dodgy by modern standards, the film has a special aura of creepiness due to the fact that the mortal threat from beyond the stars has an Earthly correlation.  Most people know that there are plants in the world that are carnivorous, the Venus Fly Trap being the most familiar for its lures that resemble red, gaping maws.

The ingenious methods that meat-eating plants have developed to attract and capture their prey is amazing and “The Day of The Triffids” becomes more than a little disturbing when one realizes that the scenario is far more realistic and plausible than most science fiction.  Thankfully, no plant has yet evolved that could capture, kill and digest a human being.  Not yet!

If you happen to be a botanophobe, then “The Day of The Triffids” may be for you what “The Exorcist” was for Catholics!

I would strongly recommend the Cheezy Flicks Entertainment DVD.  While it is not restored or remastered (crime!!), this disc at least offers a widescreen version of the film along with some delightful vintage trailers from the sixties!