The Day Of The Triffids – A Gig Theatre Adventure In Sound and Music

Searching for something different for the weekend, I glanced through the event listings at our local Arts Centre, The Lighthouse Poole. Scrolling down the page I spotted that fantastic word, Triffids!. It couldn’t be anything else could it? It had to be those pesky carnivorous human-eating plant-life! Excitedly I read the tagline…

“ATTENTION EARTH-PEOPLE Platform 4 Presents… A gig theatre adventure in sound and music. An inspired take on John Wyndham’s The Day Of The Triffids.”

Ladybug Ladybug (1963) Cold War Nuclear Missile Threat From Frank and Eleanor Perry

A nice quiet rural elementary school on the outskirts of the countryside was busy just having a normal day. At the back of the Principal’s sat a device. It featured four different alphabet codes. One had suddenly lit-up and started emitted a dreadful high-pitched tone. Soon the Principal is calmly trying to decipher the code. Three teachers look on. “What does the Y symbol mean Mr Calkins?” one asked as he skimmed through the manual. With a slight baffled break in his voice he calmly says “Nuclear missile attack in one hour!“.

The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) I’ll Take Some Noir Virus Over The Real Deal!

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Haha yes I’m still alive! What with all the crazy COVID-19 Coronavirus bubbling out of every orifice around the world it only seems apt to do a review about the Noir virus. I mean a virus within a Noir. Yes Smallpox gets the Film-Noir treatment and just check out that fantastically dramatic title, The Killer That Stalked New York!!!

The Delta Force (1986) Chuck Norris And Lee Marvin Elite Special Forces Take On The Real Life Bad Guys

Day 22 The Delta Force from 1986

Seven Days to Noon (1950) How Far Would You Go To Save Mankind?

Standing nervously in the dark of a small cheap bed and breakfast. A haven for now. He knew he wouldn’t have the appetite for the breakfast and he certainly wouldn’t sleep a wink. He paced the room. The streetlights casting shadows across the room. Dreadful images constantly twisted in his mind. Thoughts of what he planned to do consumed his soul. He wasn’t a bad man but he knew his name would go down in the history books as an evil harbinger of death!

Millennium (1989) Kris Kristofferson & The Cyberpunk Charlie’s Angel

Ex trucker Kris Kristofferson reminisces back to his old rig with a joyful smile. They were the days, stuck in a convoy traveling down the highway. Sat up high, blasting his horn and chatting to friends, Spider Mike and Widow Woman on his CB radio. Six years working on this new job as the chief investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board had taken its toll on poor Kris. Depressed, tired and desperate to get out, he’d promised himself a vacation. Maybe even quit all together.

Phase IV (1974) Saul Bass Intelligent Killer Ant Attack

What better film to follow up Them on a double bill than with another bunch of crazed, demented six legged psychopathic ant nut jobs, the 1974 film Phase IV. This feature is filled with visually luscious images and gorgeous landscape design, it’s quite the wonder to look at. But please be forewarned that you spend the runtime scratching like a shaggy dog. Oh my fur was twitching and an itching like crazy right through this creepy crawly movie. Even the eerie music gets under the skin. Essential item to have with you whilst watching is a personal back scratcher or two, down a bit, ooo to left a bit ooo that’s it, that’s the spot. A big thanks goes out to Lieutenant’s Nina Barry and Gay Ellis from UFO in helping me with my itching, you did a grand job….

The Night My Number Came Up (1955) Dreams, Omens & Final Destination

Opening with that distinct, recognisable voice of Paddington Bear, Commander Lindsay (Michael Hordern) worriedly confronts an air traffic control officer with news that a Dakota airplane has crashed landed at a certain point over Japan.  The control room officer is convinced that no distress warnings have come in or the fact that the Dakota isn’t even on that flight path. “How do you know this?” he asks, “I can’t say but if I did you wouldn’t believe me but please believe me I know something has happened!” replies the Commander.

Night of the Comet (1984) Usherette, Cheerleader & Commander Chakotay Fight The Cannibal Zombies

1984 was the year at school we read the John Wyndham novel called The Day Of The Triffids for English. You would of hoped it would be part of all educational learning, to be a forewarning at least for when a breathtaking and magnificent light show of comets appear in the sky. To be taught the first thing you do is bandage your eyes and hide in a windowless room. No matter how mind-blowing and eye-poppingly wonderous the visual light show is, The Triffids pre-warned us, it’s gonna get real bad, real quick!

The Satan Bug (1965) Viruses Of Mass Destruction

Head of security Agent Reagan (John Anderson) knows something ain’t just right, he can feel it in his bones. He’s suspicious by nature, the perfect man for the job. Giving everyone who enters the compound the lazy eye, like a wise old Eaglehawk searching down his prey. He can almost sense there’s been a security breach, then again it could be he’s imagining things…..