Invasion of the Triffids (1963)

After an unusual meteor shower leaves most of the human population blind, a merchant navy officer must find a way to conquer tall, aggressive plants which are feeding on people and animals.

Directors:

Steve Sekely, Freddie Francis (uncredited)

Writers:

Bernard Gordon (screenplay), Philip Yordan (front for Bernard Gordon)

Stars:

Howard Keel, Nicole Maurey, Janette Scott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Howard Keel	...	Bill Masen
Nicole Maurey	...	Christine Durrant
Janette Scott	...	Karen Goodwin
Kieron Moore	...	Tom Goodwin
Mervyn Johns	...	Mr. Coker
Ewan Roberts	...	Dr. Soames
Alison Leggatt	...	Miss Coker
Geoffrey Matthews	...	Luis de la Vega
Janina Faye	...	Susan
Gilgi Hauser	...	Teresa de la Vega
John Tate	...	Captain - SS Midland
Carole Ann Ford	...	Bettina (as Carol Ann Ford)
Arthur Gross	...	Flight 356 Radioman
Colette Wilde	...	Nurse Jamieson (as Collette Wilde)
Ian Wilson	...	Greenhouse Watchman

Storyline

A shower of meteorites produces a glow that blinds anyone that looks at it. As it was such a beautiful sight, most people were watching, and as a consequence, 99% of the population go blind. In the original novel, this chaos results in the escape of some Triffids: experimental plants that are capable of moving themselves around and attacking people. In the film version, however, the Triffids are not experimental plants. Instead they are space aliens whose spores have arrived in an earlier meteor shower.

---

Plot Keywords:

meteor shower | meteor | plant | flesh eating plant | attacked by a plant | 

---

Taglines:

The Triffids are coming to devour the human race! ... suddenly the hideous crawling things are everywhere... and no one can escape!

---

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Day of the Triffids

Filming Locations:

El Poble Espanyol, The Spanish Village, Barcelona, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Artists Pictures, Security Pictures Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Bill Masen and Mr. Coker are standing outside the house in France, they see an aircraft flying overhead that sounds like it has a sputtering engine. The aircraft shown flying is a silver De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk, a primary trainer monoplane. When the two hear the aircraft crash they go to the crash site and find the dismantled remains of a De Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth Reg. G-AJOA a primary trainer bi-plane with its top wing removed. Tiger Moth G- AJOA still exists but has not flown since 2003.

---

Goofs

When Bill counts the chimes of Big Ben (the iconic bell in the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster), he is in Moorfields Eye Hospital. This hospital is 2.5 miles from Big Ben and the chimes cannot be heard at that distance.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [narrating voice over] In nature's scheme of things, there are certain plants which are carnivorous, or eating plants. The Venus Fly Trap is one of the best known of these plants. A fly drawn to the plant by its sweet syrup, brushes against triggered bristles. Just how these plants digest their pray has yet to be explained. There is much still to learn about these fascinating eating plants. This is a newcomer: Triffidus Celestus, brought to earth on the meteorite during the Day of ...

---

Alternate Versions

On some video versions, Bernard Gordon's name has been inserted into the writing credits.

---

Connections

Referenced in Welcome to Eltingville (2002)

User Reviews

Brilliant and inventive sci-fi kitsch

Day of the Triffids is a delightful sci-fi horror movie from the sixties, and it will be a sure-fire hit with fans of this sort of cinema. The film stands halfway between a serious disaster movie (although it's definitely one that is much more ingenious than most actual disaster movies) and a silly B-movie complete with absolutely ridiculous monsters. Some viewers will most probably be deterred by the second side of the movie - but not me! I found the ridiculous monsters to be an absolute treat, and although the film is certainly messy; on the whole I think it came together rather well. Certainly no worse than you'd expect from this sort of movie. The film follows the story of a meteorite shower that beings down a new species of plant - the man-eating triffid! And, not only that, but the glare of the shower has blinded almost the entire population of the world; which is bound to lead only to trouble. Right from the word go, you know that you're in for a cool piece of kitsch as the voice-over introduces the new species of plant and the film keeps this atmosphere going throughout.

While many viewers will be put off by the silly special effects, the only thing that annoyed me about this is the pacing of the plot. The first fifty minutes at least are highly inventive and very involving so the running time just slips by as you lose yourself in the camp classic that you're watching. However, as we approach the hour mark, the plot slows down to walking pace, and although the inventiveness is still there; it never reaches the highs of the first half of the movie, which featured excellent flashes of brilliance as we see panic on an aeroplane as the pilot is blinded, trains crashing and the hapless, now blind, population of the UK trying to make their way through London station. Howard Keel makes a fine leading man, especially for a film like this. He has an almost cheesy aura surrounding him, and this helps the unintentional humour side of the movie when it's mixed with the rather awful and very corny script that the film works on. On the whole, while this movie won't do anything for fans of artistic and serious cinema, if you like to have fun with your film viewings; this one is recommended.