La Révolte des Triffides

Poster tagline: BEWARE THE TRIFFIDS... they grow... know... walk... talk... stalk... and KILL!! To bemoan the fact that an old monster-horror film from the naive 'Golden Age of Science Fiction of the 50s and 60s' neutered John Wyndham's novel is like mocking Steven Seagal for never playing Hamlet. It's just completely pointless and counterproductive. Even in modest conditions, when they didn't have a rich studio like Universal behind them, the Brits managed to make a cheap horror film that looks more expensive than it really was, and even though some of the FX scenes have aged a lot (the plane crash), it's not a total bust. The triffids' costumes are quite fine for their time and the ending in the lighthouse tower builds up nicely. Perhaps the assistant directorial supervision of Hammer legend Freddie Francis, whose name did not appear in the credits, also contributed to the quite acceptable result. (09/12/2012)

A total trashing of a brilliant novel that mixes all its wonderful attributes (despair, ideas, action) into the form of a standard monster B-movie, of which there were plenty at the time. Nature's tricks are turned into aliens and the intelligent protagonist into a boring macho guy. I don’t like comparing the printed versions to their audiovisual counterparts, given my sympathies usually lie with the typewriters rather than the camera, and here the result is so barbaric and rapey compared to the book that I simply can't help but make the comparison. Also, if it wasn't for the cult-like nature of the book, no one would care about the film today. It’s paradoxical that it was imprinted in the subconscious of the audience... (02/09/2007)

Ne blâmons pas les effets spéciaux : d’après moi, l’apparence des Triffides dans ce film est impressionnante vu les trucages à disposition en 1963 et les plantes ambulantes n’ont pas du tout l’air ridicules. Ce qui à l’air ridicule, par contre, c’est l’intrigue. Tout d’abord, bon nombre de scènes sont terriblement naïves et indigestes. Ensuite, celle-ci est divisée en deux fils narratifs parallèles qui n’ont rien à voir entre eux. Tout le segment avec Kieron Moore et Janette Scott a été ajouté pour rendre le film plus long, ce qui nous éloigne totalement de la direction qu’avait le roman de John Wyndham et crée de toutes pièces une happy end complètement stupide. En ce qui concerne la fidélité de l’adaptation filmique au texte littéraire et la qualité en général, la minisérie britannique de 1981 fait nettement mieux. (16/02/2019)