Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published
Long before M. Night Shyamlan turned plants into killers What is happeningand a few years before George Romero turned fear on its head with Night of the Living Deadthe British sci-fi horror classic introduces the world to the Triffids. To fix a hit book with the same name, Day of the Triffidsmaybe about aliens instead of zombies, but it has had a lasting impact on zombie horror for 60 years. As for, 28 days later again The Walking Dead were heavily influenced by the 1963 film.
Humans Are A Real Monster
Day of the Triffids it begins with a strange meteor shower that blinds everyone in sight, save Bill, a Marine officer who was recovering in the hospital when it happened. The sequence of Bill walking out of the hospital into the empty streets of the city is one of those scenes that you may not have seen as a tribute. Danny Boyle made sure to shoot Cillian Murphy the same way he did 28 days laterbut that is not the only aspect that the two films have in common.
“Humans are the real beast” has become an expected message in many horror movies, too 28 days later finds this in the third act, the arrival of the soldiers stationed at the abandoned home. It’s a similar sequence to the 1951 novel, The Day of the Triffids, right down to using zombies/triffids as a weapon. The film makes significant changes from the novel to changing the ending to something more optimistic, but between the two, you can see the DNA 28 days later.
While the film version of Day of the Triffids has little in common with this novel, and makes it very clear where the Triffids came from. There is a sense in the novel that they are the result of a Soviet experiment, but the film includes the particles being spread by a mysterious meteor shower, making it appear that they are some kind of alien invasion. Both versions feature a young girl, Susan, whom Bill befriends and protects as they wander the countryside in search of safety.
After 60 years
Day of the Triffids it’s not a traditional zombie movie, but it nevertheless helped establish the template for the genre to follow. The 1963 film currently enjoys a 78 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to a lackluster 51 percent audience rating, but that’s over 5,000 audience reviews for a 61-year-old film, and still ranks better than most sci-fi films. -fi released in 2024. Later adaptations will be more faithful to the original novel, including the 2009 one. a mini-series with Jason Priestly, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, and Eddie Izzard, but none of which had a lasting but less impact than the original.
George Romero Night of the Living Deadthe most influential zombie film of all time, released five years later Day of the Triffidsbut together, the two films helped launch the horror subgenre that is still popular today. Over the past 20 years, zombie films that have removed the genre and turned tropes on their sides have grown in popularity, from Shaun of the Dead to The Dead Don’t Diewith mixed results. But all in all, the 1963 British sci-fi horror film has been quietly influencing countless films and novels.
Before you look again 28 days later getting ready After 28 yearsdo yourself a favor and spread the word Day of the Triffids for free on Tubi, Philo, or Crackle, and see if you can spot the honors and references.
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