No 37. DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (Brit, colour, 1962)
This was the first adaptation of the 1951 classic novel by John Wyndham, and though it diverges quite substantially from the novel, it is still quite entertaining even today.
The basic premise, for the few who may not have read the book or seen one of the screen versions, has the Earth passing through an unusual and startlingly vivid meteor shower, that is lights up the sky and seen by most people enthusiastically as a once in a lifetime thrill around the World. Unfortunately it burns out the optic nerves and results in blindness. What is left of the sighted are those who slept through the event, were below ground or like the lead character Bill Masen (Howard Keel), were in hospital with their eyes bandaged. Masen, having only heard the excitement of the visual event the night before, awakes to near silence only broken by strange moanings down the hospital corridor and the chimes of Big Ben. He's forced to remove his bandages and finds a population of blind people, mainly hiding in their homes.
But the second element of the story is the large carnivorous plants called Triffids, developed for their oil, but able to actually walk about on three stumps. Their stingers kill their prey, after which they wait for putrification to set in to devour the flesh of the deceased creature. With humanity blind, they suddenly have a huge amount of flesh to harvest and procreate into huge numbers.
So we find Masen, and a few other sighted people, struggling to survive and find a community to protect them from the menacing plants.
The story diverges significantly with a side story of a couple, the man, a biologist, on a remote island inhabiting a lighthouse. The spores of the triffids, their means of procreating, arrive on the islet and commence an attack on the couple, while the scientist seeks a means of defeating them. His solution is actually contrary to the solution in the book, but if one sees this film in isolation, it remains entertaining.
The BBC produced a mini series in 1981, which has been the most accurate and well made of the various incarnations, and is better enjoyed by those familiar with the story. There is also another mini series produced only a few years ago and another film version is being considered.
The three versions are on DVD and all are worthy of a look.
This was the first adaptation of the 1951 classic novel by John Wyndham, and though it diverges quite substantially from the novel, it is still quite entertaining even today.
The basic premise, for the few who may not have read the book or seen one of the screen versions, has the Earth passing through an unusual and startlingly vivid meteor shower, that is lights up the sky and seen by most people enthusiastically as a once in a lifetime thrill around the World. Unfortunately it burns out the optic nerves and results in blindness. What is left of the sighted are those who slept through the event, were below ground or like the lead character Bill Masen (Howard Keel), were in hospital with their eyes bandaged. Masen, having only heard the excitement of the visual event the night before, awakes to near silence only broken by strange moanings down the hospital corridor and the chimes of Big Ben. He's forced to remove his bandages and finds a population of blind people, mainly hiding in their homes.
But the second element of the story is the large carnivorous plants called Triffids, developed for their oil, but able to actually walk about on three stumps. Their stingers kill their prey, after which they wait for putrification to set in to devour the flesh of the deceased creature. With humanity blind, they suddenly have a huge amount of flesh to harvest and procreate into huge numbers.
So we find Masen, and a few other sighted people, struggling to survive and find a community to protect them from the menacing plants.
The story diverges significantly with a side story of a couple, the man, a biologist, on a remote island inhabiting a lighthouse. The spores of the triffids, their means of procreating, arrive on the islet and commence an attack on the couple, while the scientist seeks a means of defeating them. His solution is actually contrary to the solution in the book, but if one sees this film in isolation, it remains entertaining.
The BBC produced a mini series in 1981, which has been the most accurate and well made of the various incarnations, and is better enjoyed by those familiar with the story. There is also another mini series produced only a few years ago and another film version is being considered.
The three versions are on DVD and all are worthy of a look.
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