- After an unusual meteor shower leaves most of the human population blind, a merchant navy officer must find a way to conquer tall, aggressive plants which are feeding on people and animals.
- A shower of meteorites produces a glow that blinds anyone that looks at it. As it was such a beautiful sight, most people were watching, and as a consequence, 99% of the population go blind. In the original novel, this chaos results in the escape of some Triffids: experimental plants that are capable of moving themselves around and attacking people. In the film version, however, the Triffids are not experimental plants. Instead they are space aliens whose spores have arrived in an earlier meteor shower.—Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>, edited by Triffid Fan
- On a beautiful clear night, people around the world are treated to a spectacular meteor shower. In London, Bill Masen misses the show as he is in hospital with his eyes bandaged. The next morning he awakens to find no one answering his bell. He removes the bandages himself and soon realizes that he one of the few people with sight as everyone who observed the meteor shower is now blind. Society has broken down and Bill rescues a young sighted girl. Their challenge is not only to survive in this new world but to survive the onslaught of triffids, flesh eating plants that are now growing rapidly and consuming humans.—garykmcd
- Inspired by the 1951 novel by John Wyndham, the movie opens with a shot of an idyllic pond and botanical garden. A narrator tells us, "In nature's scheme of things there are certain plants which are carnivorous, or eating plants. The Venus Fly Trap is one of the best known of these plants. A fly, drawn to the plant by a sweet syrup, brushes against trigger bristles. Just how these plants digest their prey has yet to be explained. This is a new comer, triffidus celestus, brought to earth on the meteorites during The Day of the Triffids." Title and credits follow.
With Big Ben in the foreground, we see the night sky of London flashing brightly with meteors entering the atmosphere. At the Royal Botanic Gardens, a guard (Ian Wilson) enters a greenhouse on his evening rounds. With flashlight in hand, he examines the plants. In response to the meteoric flashes of light, the three triffid specimens begin a growth spurt. Satisfied all is in order, the watchman peers out through the greenhouse glass to enjoy the light show in the night sky. Dr. Soames (Ewan Roberts) and Nurse Jamieson (Colette Wilde) watch the evening sky before they return to their patient, Bill Masen (Howard Keel) who is in bed with his eyes covered in bandages. His surgery was nine days ago and Dr. Soames insists Bill wait the full ten days before the bandages be removed. Bill is annoyed that he is missing the meteor shower. At a lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall, we are introduced to a husband and wife team of marine researchers. Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore) and Karen Goodwin (Janette Scott) are experiencing a rough patch in their marriage. His fondness for alcohol makes him somewhat cynical and unpleasant company. Karen is trying to salvage their marriage, but it is not reciprocated. Karen decides it best to leave the island and their research when the boat returns to the lighthouse the next morning.
At the Botanic Garden the guard is settling down to his lunch. By this time the triffids have grown too large for their planter. The guard hears something and switches off his radio. He decides to go have a look, but only hears water dripping. One triffid goes for a stroll and flails at the guard with a whip like branch. It pulls the stunned man towards its mouth. Big Ben chimes nine a.m. At Moorfields Eye Hospital, Bill Masen counts the chime for each hour and is surprised. He was promised the bandages would be removed at 8 a.m. He calls out for the doctor and nurse. No one responds to his shouts or on the telephone. He walks out of his room and calls out but gets no reply. He stumbles back to bed and hears a woman scream. He quickly removes the bandages covering his eyes. At first his vision is blurry, but soon returns to normal focus. In the hallway outside his room things are scattered. The entire hospital looks like it's been ransacked. Dr. Soames meets Bill on the staircase and asks to be taken to his office. Bill shines a light in the doctor's eyes. Dr. Soames tells Bill, "The optic nerves are gone. The glare of the meteorites last night. You're probably one of the few people left in London who can still see this morning, Masen." Dr. Soames sends Bill out to his outer office to retrieve a bag. This is only a ruse to get Bill out of the exam room so the doctor can jump out of the window and plummet to his death below.
Tom Goodwin, binoculars in hand, scans the horizon for the supply ship he is expecting. Karen tells her husband there is nothing on the radio. She sarcastically quips, "I suppose you're losing valuable drinking time." Tom finally finds a news frequency and they learn that nearly everyone in England is blind from watching the meteor shower. The newscaster adds, "Urgent Warning. All of England appears to be infested with a strange new plant that can inflict a fatal sting. It is also rumored that this plant can uproot itself and move about. If you are blind, stay indoors." With his seabag tossed over his shoulder, Bill leaves the hospital. He is walking and trying to find transportation back to his ship. He encounters wrecked vehicles and blind people wandering the streets. In the London Underground station Bill is accosted by desperate blind people seeking assistance. A locomotive crashes and blind people are scattered. Susan (Janina Faye) exits the train. A desperate blind man grabs Susan, but Bill rescues her. Susan explains to Bill that she is an orphan and ran away from her boarding school. She hid out in the luggage car all night. Bill and Susan witness a triffid kill a dog. They find an abandoned car and take it to get to Bill's ship. Along the way their car gets stuck in some dirt or sand. They search the nearby woods for rocks. Susan is chased back to the car by a triffid. As the car moves, the triffid sprays a green slime on the rear windshield. Bill and Susan drive to the docks and board Bill's ship. Ships at sea and aircraft in the air add to the chaos.
Karen informs her husband that a triffid is growing outside. Armed with a hurricane lamp and a harpoon, the pair go outside to examine the plant, but it is gone. They decide to return to the lighthouse and discover it inside. Using the harpoon, Tom fights the creature and manages to lop its head off. Bill and Susan take a small launch across the channel and acquire a car in Paris. In the pouring rain, Bill and Susan are lost and examine a road map. They encounter a couple of women out on the street. Bill and Susan drive the pair back to their home. The woman, Christine Durrant (Nicole Maurey) can see, but the girl is blind. Mr. Coker (Mervyn Johns) meets the four in the courtyard. Coker can see as can his sister, Miss Coker (Alison Leggatt). The three have turned Miss Durrant's Chateau into a hostel for about forty blind people, Miss Durrant's neighbors. The Cokers and Christine met when they had an automobile accident. They were sedated and did not witness the light show. It is late and Susan is brought upstairs by Miss Coker to a dormitory area for the women. She is introduced to one of the blind guests, Bettina (Carole Ann Ford). Bill tries to impress upon his hostess that he is not optimistic about their chances at the Chateau and suggests going to Spain. There is an American military base there. Bill adds fuel to the auxiliary generator, so the Chateau now has electricity and lights.
At the lighthouse, Tom and Karen devote their time and intellect to dissection and study of the dead triffid. Tom's interest is practical, "If we can find out how this thing functions, we might figure out an easier way of killing it." Karen convinces her husband to get some sleep. Their "dead" specimen begins to move on the table. While the Goodwins sleep, the triffid reassembles itself. It quietly ascends the stairs to their bedroom level. Karen is awakened by a crash below and gets up to investigate. She sees it slithering up the stairs and screams. Her scream scares it off. Tom discovers the lab area is a shambles and the front door broken out. Tom repairs the door as Karen observes, "It's like being nailed in your own coffin." Bill refills the fuel tank on the generator. Bettina enters the utility room to talk. She wants to confirm the story of Bill leaving for Spain. Bill and Coker are in town picking up (or perhaps looting) provisions for the Chateau. They see a triffid scooting through a meadow. Bill puts two rounds through the plant with a shotgun. It has no effect at all. In a crater Coker and Bill discover hundreds of growing triffids and spores blowing about. They investigate a plane crash and find themselves surrounded by triffids. Coker gets sprayed by a triffid and dies. When Bill returns to the Chateau, he hears loud music. Susan explains that convicts have taken over the house. Bill takes Susan outside to a Van then returns to the house to confront the convicts. Bill manages to rescue Christine, but Bettina is killed by the triffids. As Bill drives off with Susan and Christine, the triffids invade the house. Bill drives all night and into the morning until they arrive in Toulon. All they find in the city is fire and destruction. Christine asks where they are going now, and Bill tells her about an American Naval Base near Cadiz.
Tom and Karen are back at work in their lab. After much testing they are no closer to discovering something that will affect the triffid tissue. Bill, Susan and Christine have made it into Spain, but have been reduced to a horse and cart. Bill and Christine are preparing a meal when they hear music coming from outside. Susan found a truck with a loudspeaker. The three drive the "Totor Circo" truck towards Cadiz. Along the dirt road they encounter a rope roadblock and a large, white stucco estate. They are met at the door by Luis de la Vega (Geoffrey Matthews). Next they meet his wife, Teresa de la Vega (Gilgi Hauser), a young pregnant woman very close to delivery time. Both are blind, although Teresa lost her sight years before. They agree to stay and help with the delivery. Luis explains to Bill that he heard a radio broadcast that the Naval Base at Cadiz was already evacuated by submarine. Bill agrees to look at the radio to see if he can repair same. While Susan helps Bill rig up an electric fence, Christine assists with the delivery of the de la Vega baby. Susan informs Bill and Christine of the approach of a forest of triffids. The electric fence has stopped them for the moment, but the current is weakening. Bill thinks fire might be the answer. The estate has a fuel truck, so Bill drives it close to the fence and using the hose like a flame thrower ignites the triffids. The plan works, but there are just too many triffids to burn. The next morning a new batch of plants are at the fence line. Susan speculates that perhaps the plants can hear and are attracted to sound. Shutting off the generator confirms their hypothesis. With everyone in the de la Vega car, except Bill, the plan is to meet up in Alacante near Gibraltar where a mass evacuation is being planned for the next day. Bill is going to use the truck and loudspeaker to attract the triffids. The plan works. The others arrive at the Naval Base and board a submarine. Bill is picked up by a raft near the shoreline.
Tom and Karen hear of the rescue at Gibraltar on the radio. The triffids, growing hungry and impatient, break into the lighthouse and chase the Goodwins up to the top floor. With a long drop to the rocks and ocean below, Tom and Karen have no options left. Tom decides to use the fire hose like a water canon against the plants. Tom discovers to his relief and surprise that the salt water acts like an acid on the plants. They steam, smoke and dissolve when drenched. Tom observes, "Seawater. Two-thirds of the Earth is covered with it. You hunt and you search and all the while the answer is right in front of you." We close with Bill, Christine, and Susan joining others walking up and into a cathedral.
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By what name was The Day of the Triffids (1963) officially released in India in English?
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