OMM2024 - Night 25: Day of the Triffids (1963)

I got to watch this movie during my platelet donation, I often find these older movies are generally good for watching in a louder environment. They're usually a bit more over-the-top and feature loud music stings to keep you in the mood. #OctoberMovieMarathon

Night 25

Day of the Triffids (1962)

7/10

After a once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower, most of the world is stricken blind. At the same time, large and mobile plants, the Triffids, start to hunt down people. We follow a scattered band of survivors as they try to navigate this apocalypse.

A surprisingly solid movie! At least in my experience, these older movies from the 60's are a bit hit or miss. But this one had a solid premise and didn't try to make everything into a moral or harp on a specific trope. I really enjoy how we follow 2 distinct groups: some people on the mainland (which lets us see how the world at large is getting on and "run away" from the Triffids) and a scientist duo who are trapped on an island (which gives us the "boarding up doors and try to figure out how to kill them" plotline). The plants themselves are a bit... silly looking, but there are some moments where they seem decently creepy or threatening.

 

There is a dearth of characterization for the women in the movie (unsurprising for this time), and a bit of blasé attitude towards the newly blind population. We're for sure supposed to be following the specific 5 main characters and not really caring all that much about anyone else. The tension was good throughout- I like that there's not a full explanation of how or why- we just have to deal with what's happening.

 

 If you're in the mood for a bit of an older style movie- this one is fun! There's also lots of opportunity for riffing on it if it needs a bit of extra oomph for your tastes :)

SPOILERS START BELOW THE POSTER!

SPOILERS START HERE!

This movie follows that classic "scary threat from ~someplace~ destroys humanity" feel, but it's surprisingly grounded. We get quite a lot of scenes where we visit with other people in peril and see how this sudden blindness is affecting them. A train station with people desperate to get to a taxi or call their family, a plane with the pilots desperately calling for help while trying to reassure the passengers that everything is fine, even a doctor at the start says "the optic nerve is gone" to explain why he can't see and then jumps out of a window. If the movie didn't move on so quickly from those scenes it would be incredibly dark.

As expected though, the women aren't treated with the same respect as the men. We get a lot of women screaming when they see the plant vs men just... getting eaten without much complaint (strong and silent I guess). The worst offender is probably the scientist duo, where the lady screams bloody murder at the sight of the Triffid, and the man fights it off only to then have to comfort her because she's not sobbing and terrified. Even though these plants are generally slow-moving and didn't actually get that close to her- it's the type of scene parodied in Austin Powers with the steam roller.

Two scenes that I did enjoy from a visual standpoint were when the Triffids are gathered en masse by the Spanish house- the sudden shot revealing So. Many. of them was shocking. It's like a forest of them! And a little later, when the Triffids are being burned we see their corpses, I guess? Which to me looked like 3 big vines with a skull in the middle. That might not have been intentional- but it was creepy to get to see what could almost be their faces. If true, it hints that they are not just plants but thinking sentient beings (cause what else would have a skull for a brain?). Or it's just a creepy looking corpse for a plant.

There's also a scene where a roving group of... escaped convicts? take over the house where our main guy and girl were staying and have trapped all the women in one room to make them dance for them. One girl is even half-dragged upstairs screaming before she is able to throw the guy down the stairs (good for her). But after our main guy sneaks in and is able to whisk the one lady who can see out of the room- we just... leave. Our main guy puts the girl and the lady in the truck and drives off as a bunch of plants slowly advance on the men- who are too drunk to realize what's happening. Leaving all the other blind women with them.

As I was watching this movie, I kept thinking- what if there was a reboot made where we get to follow some blind people? It makes sense that most of the population would suffer from panic at first, anyone would if you suddenly lost your vision. But there are people who are blind and would be able to navigate the world in the same way they were before. I think it could be a really cool film where suddenly the disabled population is the group who can handle everything and has to now care for and teach everyone else. We get a tiny bit of this at the end with the Spanish couple, but they don't really dwell on it. I'm no expert on disability representation- but it seems like an obvious choice to have people who are already blind lead the way in this new world as everyone else tries to adjust suddenly losing a sense.

There is a movie from the 80's as well as 2 TV series from the 80's and 2000's respectively. I don't know if they evolved the premise at all, but I'd be willing to give them a shot. This one is fun! Give it a watch- and if it's not quite good enough- you can probably riff on it enough to make it a really good time. :)