Forgotten Monsters: The Triffids

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

Monsters work best when they take the familiar and normal everyday things we feel comfortable around and twist them to tap into our primal fears. The Triffids are one such monster. Introduced to the masses in the John Wyndham novel Day of the Triffids, they would spawn a movie and several television adaptations despite the fact the Triffids themselves were peripheral to the novel’s original story.

We know there are flesh eating plants in the wild like the Venus Fly Trap but when we go to sleep at night, we aren’t expecting to find a seven foot one ready to eat us.

What makes the idea of the Triffids so scary is the fact most of the world has been blinded by a meteor shower. As they say the one eyed man is king in the land of the blind but here it is the only way to survive a Trifiid attack. The greatest terror is the one we never knew existed so when the escaped Triffids begin hunting down the blind human populace, the very idea is terrifying. Losing your sight is a terror none of us want to happen. It literally scares us to our very core. But if it did happen at least we have a support network and services to fall back on to cope with this new reality. Not so in the world left in Day of the Triffids. With millions now blind it is impossible to save any one. Stumbling around, blinded and alone, the chilling idea that a giant plant can simply take its time and kill you is something that does make us chill to the very soul.

The origins of the Triffids differ from version to version. In the book, they were genetically modified by the USSR. They escaped into the wild but they produce a high quality oil resulting in cultivation farms across the world. They are capable of moving and are extremely venomous striking their victims with a stinger that lashes from their open pod orifices similar to how lizards feed. Bill Masen is a biologist in the book who survives the being blinded ironically thaanks to a triffid. He is accidentally sprayed by venom in his face but his sight is saved. His eyes are bandaged when the meteors arrive. When he takes them off the following day, the world is in chaos, the worst qualities of man erupt and the Triffids have escaped their farms en masse. While they will eat anything, the devastated human populace is easy pickings for them.

In the movie Bill is a naval officer played by Dallas’ Howard Keel. The 1981 BBC adaptation by John Duttine and 2009 by Dougray Scott. The Triffid origins also changed as it was suggested in the 1981 version that the Triffids came as spores on the meteors and seeded themselves on Earth. In the 2009 version the Triffids retained their oil producing qualities having been discovered by and killed by Bill Masen’s mother. But across all three the Triffids retain their horror. In the movie they are almost like deformed plants, spiky and rotten like autimn trees that pull themselves along with an appendage. One man is stung in the face and seems to almost go into a trance as he is pulled into the Triffid. It’s not clear if they eat the meat directly or release digestive enzymes that dissolve their hapless victims. g.

They are almost silent predators uttering a slurping sound in the movie. The lighthouse battle is one of the most terrifying scenes as they appear resistance to everything and use their long appendages to slash at their prey. With a small space like a lighthouse, it makes the threat more intense. It’s interesting to note that the Triffid on the original movie poster puts me in mind of one of the forms of the Thing in John Carpenter’s remake. Maybe he was paying homage to this version but I digress. The Triffids are in no rush, they don’t speak and in the darkness they herd together. When Bill manages to keep them at bay with an electric fence, they use their intelligence to probe for weak spots in the fence so they can smash it down. When the fence does fall their invasion of the hosue, smashing through the French windows and doors is one of the most memorable sequences in the movie. What makes it so scary is the fact the sanctuary has been taken over by escaped prisoners who have taken the inhabitants and using them for their own base needs. Doctor Who star Carole Ann Ford who played Bettina in the movie is seen being dragged upstairs by a criminal who obviously intends to rape her. Bill is helpless and has to leave them all behind while the Triffids kill everyone in the house. Fire it seems is the only thing that can kill them resulting in a spectacular sight. However as we discover, salt water dissolves them.

In the 1981 television version, the Triffids are redesigned for a new audience. They are like giant flowers at first seemingly at home in hedges and gardens patiently waiting for some unsuspecting human or animal to come its way. Their stingers leave a multilined mark on the skin like they have been clawed causing the victim to fall paralysed where the plant consumes them at its convenience. These Triffids make a clicking sound which is ominous as it could be any animal or bird making the sound. Again the notion of their threat is not even something humanity in general can conceive of making them easy prey. Their bright yellow and orange appearance is to lure people in as they love bright flowers. The first thing we do as a species is sniff them. Only this time you get a stinger in the mouth for your trouble and absorbed.

In the 2009 version, computer generated effects had come into force allowing the development of the Triffids on screen. Now they had roots and tendrils that allowed them to move faster. Two scenes stand out for me. When they attack Bill in a fog shrouded night, they are a formidable foe using heir tendrils to fell prey before spitting venom on them. Joely Richardson’s character of Jo Playton is attacked in an office. The ferociousness of the monster as it rips apart the room to get to her is terrifying making this the most dangerous of all the versions. They can smash through glass to spit their venom like ravenous dogs gunting down their prey.

Maybe it’s time for another reinvention of the Day of the Triffids. Plant monsters are few and far between in sci fi but the Triffids stand out as one of the most terrifying even to this day. Not only are they intelligent, not held back by morals and are driven by hunger.They are not interested in domination. Nature has selected them perhaps to remind humanity that they are not at the top of the food chain and that hubris comes before a very big fall. So the next time you take a notion to sniff a pretty looking flower think twice. You never know.