The Day of the Triffids

After a meteor shower blankets the world, most people wake to find their sight suddenly gone. Bill Masen, a merchant navy officer, survives the initial chaos and becomes part of a drifting group of survivors trying to make sense of a world ruled by the blind. Terrifying, mobile Triffids, tall venomous plants with a taste for human flesh, stalk cities and countryside alike, igniting fear and suspicion as civilization buckles. With scarce medical help and dwindling resources, Masen steers through clouds of panic, untrustworthy signals from authorities, and a growing sense that humanity itself is at risk from forces beyond ordinary danger. The story also emphasizes isolation, with neighborhoods sealing themselves behind doors and rumors heightening paranoia in the aftermath.

Directed by Steve Sekely, this 1963 adaptation draws on John Wyndham's story with Bernard Gordon credited for the screenplay. The production blended practical sets with early sci fi spectacle and a theatrical flair, delivering brisk, accessible thrills for broad audiences.

Even with a modest budget, the film leaves a lasting impression by showing a world undone by sudden blindness and a lethal plant threat. The Triffids' menace and the collapse of ordinary life echo in later science fiction and disaster storytelling across cinema and television and in popular culture too.

Critics noted its brisk pacing and practical effects for the era, while themes center on resilience, social breakdown, and trust under crisis. The film investigates how communities respond to a cataclysm that leaves people vulnerable and forces quick, sometimes grim, decisions, a warning that certainty can vanish in a heartbeat.