Review of Day of the Triffids, The

Introduction

As a kid, the John Wyndham novels were some of my favourite `under the covers until midnight` reads and to this day they still make excellent and compelling reading.

The Day of the Triffids was always one of my favourites, and I remember begging to stay up to watch the excellent BBC dramatisation from the 1980s. I never saw the original 1962 film, so I was looking forward to this one......

For those unfamiliar with the plot (the movie actually shares very little with the book), a meteor shower renders 95% of the world blind and also releases a deadly plant spore - the man-eating Triffidus Celestus. Luckily (?) Bill (Howerd Keel) is in hospital after an eye operation and misses the show and therefore retains his eyesight. Serious sci-fi buffs should look out for a young Carol Ann Ford, who a year later would be the first of Doctor Who`s many companions as the Doctor`s (William Hartnell), niece Susan Foreman.

Cue the expected chaos as blind people stumble around being chased by giant killer plants!

The novel is excellent and gets past the vaguely comic ideas above, as does the BBC series (which follows the original plot more closely). This movie however will reside amongst the great Sci-Fi `B` movies of our time!

Onwards.....

Video

It`s a B movie from 1962 so don`t expect miracles ;) In fact the transfer is good (widescreen) -especially considering the age, with no obviously intrusive digital artefacts and an acceptably small level of surface dust and scratches.

Great rubber plants too.

Audio

The feature is presented in stereo which is pretty good for 1962. A 21st Century remake in glorious surround with killer plants closing in from all around you it is not, but the dialogue is pretty good and the warbly 1960`s sci-fi soundtrack suitably atmospheric :)

Features

A trailer :)
Then again, you can`t expect all the extras you`d get with a modern release (Gladiator, The Matrix etc) when a movie is nearly 40 years old.

Conclusion

A great 1960`s B movie in a modern, long-lasting format - just what any buff would want.

At around 15.99 it`s not the cheapest out there but if you are a fan, you`ll not quibble I guess.

Me?

I`m waiting for the BBC series to come out but for now, this has stirred up those long repressed memories, being too scared of the spider plants on the staircase to walk downstairs to the loo until my parents woke up.........