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Long before M. Night Shyamalan turned plants into killers Happeningand a few years before George Romero turned horror on its head Night of the Living Deadthe British sci-fi horror classic introduced the world to triffids. Adaptation of the hit book of the same name, Day of the Triffidsmaybe about aliens instead of zombies, but it made a 60 year impression on zombie horror. Especially, 28 days later and The Walking Dead were heavily influenced by the 1963 film.
Humans are a real monster
Day of the Triffids begins with a strange meteor shower that blinds anyone who sees it, sparing Bill, a naval officer who was recovering in hospital when it occurred. The sequence of Bill wandering from the hospital to the empty city streets is one of those scenes that you probably never realized was an homage. Danny Boyle handled the shooting Cillian Murphy exactly the same way during production 28 days laterbut that’s not the only scene the two films have in common.
“Humans are the real monster” has become the expected message in most horror films 28 days later he gets it through the third act, the arrival of soldiers set up in an abandoned house. It is similar to the same sequence in the 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids, except for the use of zombies/triffids as weapons. The film made significant changes from the novel to changing the ending to something more hopeful, but you can see the DNA between them 28 days later.
While the film version Day of the Triffids has little to do with the novel, neither of which makes it clear where exactly the Triffids came from. In the novel it is implied that they are the result of Soviet experimentation, but then the film includes spores spread by a mysterious meteor shower, making it seem like an invasion. foreign species. Both versions involve a young girl, Susan, whom Bill befriends and defends as they wander the countryside in search of a safe haven.
60 years later
Day of the Triffids not a traditional zombie film, but it still helped set the template for the genre to follow. The 1963 film currently enjoys a 78% fresh critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes compared to a lackluster 51% audience rating, but that’s with over 5,000 audience reviews for a 61-year-old film, and it’s still a better rating than most of the others. science fiction films released in 2024. Later adaptations would be more faithful to the original novel, including a 2009 mini-series starring Jason Priestly, Brian CoxVanessa Redgrave and Eddie Izzard, but neither had the lasting but underrated 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 start the horror subgenre that is still popular today. In the last 20 years, zombie movies that deconstruct the genre and turn tropes aside have grown in popularity, from shaun of the dead on The dead don’t diewith mixed results. But through it all, the 1963 British sci-fi horror film quietly influenced countless films and novels.
Before you look again 28 days later prepare for 28 years laterdo yourself a favor and stream Day of the Triffids free on Tubing, Philor Cracklingand see if you can find the tributes and links.
