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The Day of the Triffids

 The Day of the Triffids
type
TVTItem
 The Day of the Triffids
label
The Day of the Triffids
 The Day of the Triffids
page
TheDayOfTheTriffids
 The Day of the Triffids
comment
The Day of the Triffids is a 1962 British Sci-Fi Horror film loosely adapted from the classic novel of the same name by John Wyndham, directed by Steve Sekely and Freddie Fancis.A mysterious meteor shower blinds everyone who sees it, and also brings to Earth the spores of mobile and hostile Plant Aliens called triffids. Bill Masen (Howard Keel), who is in hospital with his eyes bandaged due to an eye injury, ironically thus becomes one of the few people in Britain with intact eyesight; the film follows his struggles to find safety in the ensuing chaos.In a subplot invented for the film, marine biologist Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore) and his wife Karen (Janette Scott), who are stationed on an island lighthouse and have also retained their sight, struggle to find a way to defeat the triffids. In the end, almost by chance, they discover that the triffids are dissolved by sea water, and the world is saved.
 The Day of the Triffids
fetched
2023-07-06T18:44:42Z
 The Day of the Triffids
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2023-07-06T18:44:42Z
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DBTropes
 The Day of the Triffids / int_113480b7
type
Canon Foreigner
 The Day of the Triffids / int_113480b7
comment
Canon Foreigner: Dr. Goodwin and his girlfriend, and their sub-plot, is entirely original to this adaptation.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_113480b7
 The Day of the Triffids / int_22cf536c
type
Chekhov's Gun
 The Day of the Triffids / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: The "SEA WATER — EXTREMELY CORROSIVE — FOR FIRES ONLY" water hose that is used by Goodwin to kill the triffids in the final act is shown very deliberately in an early scene.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_22cf536c
 The Day of the Triffids / int_23473ae7
type
Adaptation Expansion
 The Day of the Triffids / int_23473ae7
comment
Adaptation Expansion: Brutally shows the horror of those first few days in two scenes; one shows an ocean liner, helplessly adrift, and the second an aeroplane pilot begging for someone to talk him down, as the entire crew is blind. The plane crashes near Masen's ship, but we never find out what happened to the liner. Adds a subplot of American marine biologist Tom Goodwin and his wife Karen, who are trapped in a lighthouse because their relief ship didn't come as a result of the mass blindness, and are eventually besieged by triffids.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_23473ae7
 The Day of the Triffids / int_269e82c1
type
Death of a Child
 The Day of the Triffids / int_269e82c1
comment
Death of a Child: Kept mostly to off-screen insinuation, but the scene with the airliner that crashes because the crew is blind prominently has a kid as one of the passengers. (As the air hostess tries to reassure him he suddenly asks if the pilot is blind too, setting off a panic amongst the rest of the passengers, and is tossed aside as they all scramble to the front of the plane.)
 The Day of the Triffids / int_269e82c1
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The Day of the Triffids / int_269e82c1
 The Day of the Triffids / int_3133d1d7
type
Hollywood Acid
 The Day of the Triffids / int_3133d1d7
comment
Hollywood Acid: Although it's only used to dissolve the triffids and win the day, the big warning sign next to a hose saying "Sea water — extremely corrosive" suggests the writers believed sea water acts this way on everything.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_3133d1d7
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The Day of the Triffids / int_3133d1d7
 The Day of the Triffids / int_3f45f1e6
type
Adaptational Heroism
 The Day of the Triffids / int_3f45f1e6
comment
Adaptational Heroism: In the book, Coker kidnaps people to make them help refugees blinded by a meteor shower and Durrant is a religious fanatic who deliberately sends the protagonist on the wrong trail after his girlfriend. In the film, they're helping blind refugees in a purely selfless and peaceful way, without kidnapping or misleading anyone.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_3f45f1e6
 The Day of the Triffids / int_3fca462c
type
Deus ex Machina
 The Day of the Triffids / int_3fca462c
comment
Deus ex Machina: The Reveal that the Triffids are fatally vulnerable to salt water (of course, the film does not explains how Triffids arrived to the little island Goodwin and his wife are stranded in). The story goes all in with the narrator that introduced the Triffids before the credits praising how it's a miracle and Masen's group of survivors being part of a church's congregation.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_3fca462c
 The Day of the Triffids / int_48309ad4
type
Screaming Woman
 The Day of the Triffids / int_48309ad4
comment
Screaming Woman: Janette Scott as Karen Goodwin. And despite that famous line from "Science Fiction / Double Feature" in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, she doesn't actually do any fighting.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_48309ad4
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The Day of the Triffids / int_48309ad4
 The Day of the Triffids / int_4a5fcde
type
Adaptational Alternate Ending
 The Day of the Triffids / int_4a5fcde
comment
Adaptational Alternate Ending: The book ends with Masen and his friends holing up on an island off the British coast and resolving to keep fighting to take the world back from the triffids. The movie ends with Goodwin discovering a weakness by which the triffids can be easily defeated, essentially giving it a "God will provide" ending similar to George Pal's The War of the Worlds.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_4a5fcde
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The Day of the Triffids / int_4a5fcde
 The Day of the Triffids / int_4e4e98fa
type
Touch of the Monster
 The Day of the Triffids / int_4e4e98fa
comment
Touch of the Monster: The advertising poster shows a triffid carrying a blonde woman in a brief white dress.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_4e4e98fa
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The Day of the Triffids / int_4e4e98fa
 The Day of the Triffids / int_5313c266
type
Bookends
 The Day of the Triffids / int_5313c266
comment
Book Ends: Similar to George Pal's adaptation of War of the Worlds, a narrator introduces the Triffids in the prologue and praises the Deus ex Machina as a divine miracle that saved mankind in the epilogue.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_5313c266
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 The Day of the Triffids / int_5c6468d0
type
Abandoned Hospital Awakening
 The Day of the Triffids / int_5c6468d0
comment
Abandoned Hospital Awakening: Opens with the protagonist waking up in hospital following eye surgery, his eyes still bandaged, to find that nobody else is around.
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 The Day of the Triffids / int_6b496083
type
Sole Surviving Scientist
 The Day of the Triffids / int_6b496083
comment
Sole Surviving Scientist: Marine biologist Dr. Goodwin is the only known scientist who isn't blinded by the meteorites and vulnerable to the attacking triffids. He immediately starts trying to find their weaknesses to give humanity a fighting chance, and eventually succeeds.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_6b496083
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The Day of the Triffids / int_6b496083
 The Day of the Triffids / int_79a0e313
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Bolivian Army Ending
 The Day of the Triffids / int_79a0e313
comment
Bolivian Army Ending: The escaped convicts/rapists and their victims are last seen shooting at the triffids or running from them as a swarm advances.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_79a0e313
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The Day of the Triffids / int_79a0e313
 The Day of the Triffids / int_7eebe99c
type
The Alcoholic
 The Day of the Triffids / int_7eebe99c
comment
The Alcoholic: Tom Goodwin is hinted to be one of these, or at the very least a habitual drinker.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_7eebe99c
 The Day of the Triffids / int_8605f0c0
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Promoted to Love Interest
 The Day of the Triffids / int_8605f0c0
comment
Promoted to Love Interest: The film leaves out Josella Playton, the character who was Masen's love interest in the novel, and replaces her with Christine Durant.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_8605f0c0
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The Day of the Triffids / int_8605f0c0
 The Day of the Triffids / int_88141a44
type
Heartwarming Orphan
 The Day of the Triffids / int_88141a44
comment
Heartwarming Orphan: Susan retains her sight because she was hiding in the baggage car all night, stowing away to escape the boarding school for orphans she was sent to. After Bill saves her from a panicked blind man, he will do anything to protect her for the rest of the film.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_88141a44
 The Day of the Triffids / int_88a97dd4
type
Stiff Upper Lip
 The Day of the Triffids / int_88a97dd4
comment
Stiff Upper Lip: The airplane crew members are calm and professional despite their fear and grief as they run low on fuel (and notice this by feeling around where the needle is) without knowing where they can land.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_88a97dd4
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The Day of the Triffids / int_88a97dd4
 The Day of the Triffids / int_89434320
type
Protagonist-Centered Morality
 The Day of the Triffids / int_89434320
comment
Protagonist-Centered Morality: Masen returns to the chateau to find sighted convicts holding the blind women at gunpoint and sexually assaulting them. He gets Christine Durant and Susan into the truck and drives away, making no attempt to save the helpless women. Even Durant — who earlier had vowed not to abandon the others — never mentions the chateau incident again.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_89434320
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The Day of the Triffids / int_89434320
 The Day of the Triffids / int_95dec9d2
type
Plant Aliens
 The Day of the Triffids / int_95dec9d2
comment
Plant Aliens: The original novel didn't establish where they came from (casually speculating on aliens and Soviet Super Science); the movie version explicitly made them into aliens.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_95dec9d2
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The Day of the Triffids / int_95dec9d2
 The Day of the Triffids / int_99dd103c
type
Safe Zone Hope Spot
 The Day of the Triffids / int_99dd103c
comment
Safe Zone Hope Spot: The three safe zones Masen's group reach end up being attacked by Triffids or destroyed by human hubris (Masen's ship is apparently collateral damage to an airplane manned by blind people crashing nearby and the chateau is taken over by escaped prisoners). The last safe zone they reach (a submarine) is the one that sticks.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_99dd103c
 The Day of the Triffids / int_aa6c24ee
type
Slept Through the Apocalypse
 The Day of the Triffids / int_aa6c24ee
comment
Slept Through the Apocalypse: Masen, in hospital with his eyes bandaged, sleeps through the meteor shower and its immediate aftermath, and wakes to find the world greatly changed.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_aa6c24ee
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The Day of the Triffids / int_aa6c24ee
 The Day of the Triffids / int_ac711709
type
Easily Thwarted Alien Invasion
 The Day of the Triffids / int_ac711709
comment
Easily Thwarted Alien Invasion: The triffids have the advantage for most of the movie, but it's over for them quickly once Goodwin discovers their weakness to sea water.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_ac711709
 The Day of the Triffids / int_c09dbbbb
type
Weaksauce Weakness
 The Day of the Triffids / int_c09dbbbb
comment
Weaksauce Weakness: The movie ends with the discovery that the triffids can be easily destroyed with sea water.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_c09dbbbb
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The Day of the Triffids / int_c09dbbbb
 The Day of the Triffids / int_c515d358
type
America Saves the Day
 The Day of the Triffids / int_c515d358
comment
America Saves the Day: The American biologist Goodwin eventually fights off the triffids with the lighthouse's firehose out of sheer Last Stand desperation and thus discovers their the Weaksauce Weakness—sea water.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_c515d358
 The Day of the Triffids / int_dc65e3cb
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Saved by the Punishment
 The Day of the Triffids / int_dc65e3cb
comment
Saved by the Punishment: Most people were blinded by a meteor shower, but a group of prison convicts kept their eyesight because they were confined inside the prison.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_dc65e3cb
 The Day of the Triffids / int_e5d8460d
type
Unexplained Recovery
 The Day of the Triffids / int_e5d8460d
comment
Unexplained Recovery: Coker and the Durrant sisters were under sedation due to being injured in a car accident when the meteorites blinded most of the world, but when Bill and Susan meet the trio (and their wards), they're moving around fine without any sign of any accident injuries.
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The Day of the Triffids / int_e5d8460d
 The Day of the Triffids / int_e8bb3043
type
Kill It with Water
 The Day of the Triffids / int_e8bb3043
comment
Kill It with Water: The triffids' big weakness turns out to be sea water.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_e8bb3043
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The Day of the Triffids / int_e8bb3043
 The Day of the Triffids / int_ee05de54
type
Salt Solution
 The Day of the Triffids / int_ee05de54
comment
Salt Solution: Salt water turns out to be the most effective weapon against the triffids.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_ee05de54
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The Day of the Triffids / int_ee05de54
 The Day of the Triffids / int_f9c17447
type
The Remnant
 The Day of the Triffids / int_f9c17447
comment
The Remnant: The crews of several navy submarines avoid being blinded because they are submerged when everyone else loses their sight and broadcast radio messages to alert survivors that they're willing to ferry people to safety.
 The Day of the Triffids / int_f9c17447
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The Day of the Triffids / int_f9c17447
 The Day of the Triffids / int_feaf12e8
type
Survivor Guilt
 The Day of the Triffids / int_feaf12e8
comment
Survivor Guilt: Discussed by Bill and Christine after the chateau is overrun. Bill explains what she’s feeling as, “Why me? Why did I live and they didn’t?”
 The Day of the Triffids / int_feaf12e8
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 The Day of the Triffids / int_ff6ae1f6
type
Evil-Detecting Dog
 The Day of the Triffids / int_ff6ae1f6
comment
Evil-Detecting Dog: One of these starts barking at a triffid, only to be killed by it offscreen.
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The Day of the Triffids

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Day of the Triffids
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Abandoned Hospital Awakening / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Adaptational Alternate Ending / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Alien Works / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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America Saves the Day / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Easily Thwarted Alien Invasion / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Everybody's Dead, Dave / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Hollywood Acid / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Kill It with Water / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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/ int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Plant Aliens / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Promoted to Love Interest / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Salt Solution / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Saved by the Punishment / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Sci-Fi Horror / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Screaming Woman / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Slept Through the Apocalypse / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Sole Surviving Scientist / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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The Last Man Heard a Knock... / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Touch of the Monster / int_d2c93f02
 The Day of the Triffids
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Unspecified Apocalypse / int_d2c93f02