Oh to be 11 years old again, sitting in the Carolina Theater in Greenville SC in 1963 and looking up at the big screen, mesmerized by the meteor light show that opens THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS! The film was shot in Cinemascope so it literally filled that big screen making it an overwhelming experience…and then the movie proper begins with most of the world having gone blind and the triffids themselves moving about, making their unique clucking/cooing sound. It was a movie experience that was revisited on TV throughout the 1960s and then pushed back into the recesses of my mind while other things took precedence but it never quite went away.
When it first appeared on VHS I eagerly bought one but was stunned by the poor video quality. This was because the movie was in the public domain. This means that anyone trying to make a buck could copy a poor quality print, usually in the wrong aspect ratio, and put it out for people like me, who remembered the film fondly, to purchase. When DVD came along the situation was still not good. Better technology but the same crappy transfers with DVD clarity making them look even worse. Warner Brothers owns the American rights so maybe someday they’ll issue a quality version on their Archive series or on Blu-Ray.
If you’ve read many of the other reviews for this film you know the story and have probably noticed that 1) most people who saw it as children have a soft spot for it because of that and 2) like me they have been appalled by how bad some of the video transfers have been. Up until now the 2010 USA Cheezy Flicks edition was the best available until I discovered this new Screenbound release. I could tell by the UK comments that it was a cut above so I ordered it, watched it, and then decided to write this review. Sure it wasn’t my childhood theater experience but on my flatscreen TV it looked better than I could have imagined.
The print used isn’t perfect. It’s still the American Allied Artists release rather than the UK Rank Orginasation one and it isn’t in the original Cinemascope aspect ratio. However the colors do look better and the sound level is noticeably improved but it could still use subtitles. Overall this is probably going to be the best one out there until somebody decides to give it a proper restoration. So 1962 TRIFFID fans rejoice! Sit back and enjoy this British sci-fi classic. No, it’s not the 1981 BBC version and it isn’t the book but it’s still a really good B movie from that era of sober and intelligent sci-fi when story and character meant more than special effects.
The Capsule Critic 