by Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Long before M. Night Shyamalan turned plants into killer plants Eventand a few years before George Romero turned horror on its head Night of the Living Deada classic British sci-fi horror film that introduced the world to Triffids. Adaptation of the successful book of the same name, Day of the Triffidsperhaps about aliens rather than zombies, but it has had a lasting impression on zombie horror for 60 years. particularly, After 28 days and The walking dead They were heavily influenced by the 1963 film.
Humans are the real monster
Day of the Triffids The film begins with a strange meteor shower that blinds everyone in sight, leading to the rescue of Bill, a naval officer who was recovering in the hospital when it happened. The sequence of Bill walking out of the hospital and into the empty city streets is one of those scenes that you probably never realized was an homage or homage. Danny Boyle made sure to shoot Cillian Murphy Exactly the same way when made After 28 daysBut this is not the only scene the two films have in common.
“Humans are the real monster” has become the expected message in most horror films After 28 days This intersects with the third act, when the soldiers arrive at an abandoned house. It is similar to the same sequence in the 1951 novel, The Day of the Triffids, right down to the use of zombies/Triffids as a weapon. The film made major changes from the novel to changing the ending to something more upbeat, but between the two, you can see the DNA of the film. After 28 days.
While the movie version of Day of the Triffids It doesn't have much in common with the novel, and neither explains exactly where the Triffids came from. There's an implication in the novel that they're the result of Soviet experiments, but then the movie includes spores spread by the mysterious meteor shower, making them seem like invasive species. Alien Classify. What both versions include is a young girl named Susan, whom Bill befriends and defends as they wander the countryside in search of a safe haven.
After 60 years
Day of the Triffids It's not a traditional zombie movie, but it helped establish the template that the genre would follow. 1963 currently has a 78 percent fresh critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to a lackluster 51 percent audience rating, but that's with over 5,000 audience reviews for a 61-year-old film, and it still has a better rating than most. Science fiction films released in 2024. Later adaptations will be more faithful to the original novel, including the 2009 miniseries with Jason Priestley, Brian CoxVanessa Redgrave, and Eddie Izzard, but none of them had the long-lasting but underappreciated impact of the original.
George Romero Night of the Living Deadthe most influential zombie film of all time, debuted five years later Day of the Triffidsbut together the two films helped launch a subgenre of horror films that remains popular today. In the past 20 years, zombie films that deconstruct the genre and flip tropes sideways have risen in popularity, starting with Shaun of the Dead to The dead don't diewith mixed results. But through it all, the 1963 British sci-fi horror film has quietly had an influence on countless films and novels.
Before you watch again After 28 days To prepare for After 28 yearsDo yourself a favor and stream Day of the Triffids Free on tubes, Filoor popAnd see if you can spot the honorifics and references.
