azathothpwiggins THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS answers the question, "What sort of carnivorous plants could catch and consume a human being?". Well, an organized, mobile, extremely cunning army of them! After a freak meteor shower renders most of the world population blind, the sighted few remaining must find a way to survive against the alien threat of the title. Bill Masen (Howard Keel), a merchant marine recovering from eye surgery, is saved by his bandages, and seeks others w/ whom he can unite against the vicious vegetation. Simultaneously, an alcoholic scientist (Kieron Moore) and his long-suffering, biologist wife (Janette Scott) are holed up in a lighthouse, trying to figure out a way to defeat the menace. TRIFFIDS is a well-executed sci-fi horror film, taking what could easily have been a joke, and making a fantastic, suspenseful drama out of it. The scenes aboard an airplane in flight and a ship at sea are particularly effective in getting the point across: This is a global tragedy that could result in the extinction of the human race. Highly recommended...

bombersflyup The Day of the Triffids is a dull yet ludicrous creature/feature film.The triffids are so silly that it's impossible to take it seriously. They look terrible and move so slow and then somehow disappear quickly out of sight. I also could not get past the husband Tom in the lighthouse wanting to drink away the rest of his life, when he has the lovely Janette Scott by his side. That is an absurd notion, drinking is suppose to be a substitute, why drink when he has everything? Aargh! ... None of the acting really stood out, the dialogue weak, blind people stumbling around and slow silly moving plants, all in all a pretty dull film.

guylyons This film looks very very dated, but it has its moments. The beginning is none too bad, but there is an opportunity here . This film should be be remade, and with the right budget , stars, and special effects, it would be a roaring success.When i saw this film in 1962, i always felt something was not quite right, probably because the effects were so limited. The problem with cult films is that they tend to be low budget productions, and if they are old, they simply don't past the test of time.Students and makers of Science fiction work, should see this film, and see why i think like War of the Worlds, with Tom Cruise, which was a fine remake could be either equalled or bettered, if this story was retold.

Leofwine_draca Having read the intelligent and literate tale on which this film was based, I was a little disheartened to see that the film-makers had effectively "dumbed down" the scenario into a straightforward globe-trotting adventure yarn. Saddled with a budget hardly enough to do the Triffids justice and blighted with an overly-wordy script that seems to sap life from the very film itself, DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS is not a bad film but just a flawed and distinctly average one. The killer blow is that it is based on a fascinating work of science fiction (one which many people consider to be one of the very best) which makes the sheer mediocrity of the production hurt real bad.Ignoring the source novel for a moment, taken alone DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS is an amiable enough example of the genre film before all good science fiction went on to appear on television screens instead of the cinema. The budget, although low, takes in some good locations, and the Triffids themselves are immaculately designed even if their appearance is a little false (sometimes they look like nothing more than a man writhing under a rubber mat). I love these cheesy monsters personally, especially during the fascinating finale seems to have been inspired by the short story Leiningen vs. the Ants and definitely does the tale justice, even if it is just one such scene in the film.The film-makers attempt to work around the budget (or lack thereof) by depicting a train crash through sound effects alone and concentrating on implication rather than explicit views. The film is actually best at the beginning, when our hero traipses around an eerie and deserted London full of frightened blind people; a similarly feeling of unease and isolation is achieved in the recent British hit 28 DAYS LATER but to a much greater degree than is shown here. Unfortunately the music is rather lacking in menace and some of the supporting cast are not very good in their roles – especially the very bland little girl.Howard Keel makes for a solid hero, however, and there are some nice performances from the likes of Janette Scott (although she screams too much). Old favourite Mervyn Johns appears as an old butler and there are some over-the-top, drunken convicts to add to the fun. The tagged-on happy ending appears to be a little false, but at least the spectacular meteor shower which opens the film is impressive enough. Ironically the best scenes were later added to the film after it clocked in under time – these were directed by genre pro Freddie Francis and depict a couple of scientists trapped under siege in a remote lighthouse. A kind of prototype NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD if you will. DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS is not a particularly great film, but genre fans should definitely get a kick out of the fantastic premise and the Triffids themselves.