Monday, December 7, 2020

The Day of the Triffids (1962)

A decent adaptation of the classic sci-fi novel by John Wyndham. The Earth is bathed in light from the heavens from a meteorite shower, everyone is watching the show except for poor sailor Bill (Howard Keel) who suffered an eye injury and is all bandaged up. However, the next day nearly everyone on Earth is completely blind and Bill wakes up to find the world in chaos (once he removed his bandages himself).

London is in chaos, including a train crashing into the buffers at the station. Here Bill finds another person who can see, schoolgirl Susan (Janina Faye). Together they cross to France to hopefully find help. They link up with the sighted Christine (Nicole Maurey) and continue onto Spain where the Royal Navy is looking to pick up survivors. If the situation wasn't serious enough there are also the triffids, bizarre plants from outer space that can move and have the taste for human flesh. They roam the countryside in huge packs looking for human survivors. However, they have a weakness for ice cream van music...

Meanwhile, on a lighthouse bickering couple Tom (Kieron Moore) and Karen (Janette Scott) are also besieged by the triffids. They finally stumble on a way to kill the plants (though it is that simple you wonder why no one else had thought of it already...)

A fast moving film full of sci-fi horror. The triffids look ridiculous though are scary. Some of the scenes of the film are harrowing, such as the train crash with the blind survivors desperately scrambling around. The plot doesn't make a huge amount of sense but it is an enjoyable sci-fi romp.