Halloween is a very popular time of year all over the world. Who doesn’t love to dress up as their favorite action hero, Disney character or scary movie characters? The US probably celebrates it the most with trick-or-treating in every town and great Halloween themed parties where dressing up is taking quite serious.
People go all-out to decorate their homes with beautifully scary carved out pumpkins, fake grave stones and scary props of witches and zombies. You can probably make just about anything scary even flowers and plants, it just depends on how they are portrayed.
There have been several movies that have scary and even carnivorous plants and flowers, which are great in honor of Halloween. Here are some of those movies counting down from number ten:
People killed: Those that died of too much laughter
Armoury: Chasing you
Movement: Fast! 20 mph
Weaknesses: Squashing them with your feet!
10. Killer Tomato
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
Scare Factor: 1/10
This movie is just great for a laugh but was very popular back then and was even turned into an animation series.
Now, I know what some of you might think, that it’s not a plant, but it is grown from a plant! It was so popular that they made a second one and even had France attacked. The main plot is that the people are “terrorised” by “killer” tomatoes!
The main thing that can be concluded from this, is that whoever came up with the idea must have really hated tomatoes! We can conclude that they are relatively non-scary as they cannot really do much harm and are easily killed. To be honest, the cartoon was probably scarier than the movie, if at all.
People killed: Err, none?
Armoury: Big teeth.
Movement: limited to pot range
Weaknesses: Eating over-sized dolls
9. Cleopatra
The Addams Family (Series 1998-1999)
Scare Factor: 1.5/10
A Halloween classic is the Adam’s family. Who doesn’t love dressing up as the elegant Morticia and the sleek Gomez? But who can forget “little precious” Cleopatra? The mini-me and eye-ball eating plant reminds much of the bigger version in “Little shops of horrors”, only less dangerous.
In addition to the occasional plant and flower grooming such as chopping rose heads of, Cleopatra is not just a plant but also Morticia’s little pet it seems.
It may not have to fear for your life with little Cleopatra seeing how it can’t move either, but being carnivorous is still a bit scary.
People killed: Almost 1 and possibly others
Armoury: Fly Trap mouth and strong roots
Movement: Its roots are far reaching
Weaknesses: Chopping head off
8. Giant Venus Fly Trap
Journey to the Centre of the Earth (2008)
Scare Factor: 2/10
This was a great kids’ movie, where a guy takes a boy on pretty dangerous mission to the center of the earth and are guided by a woman without major protective gear. All a bit unprepared really.
Once they have finally found the “centre” a giant Venus Fly Trap makes its debut by trying to eat the woman, but is then saved by handsome Brendan Fraser, who is one of the main characters in the movie.
Once a Venus Fly Trap is that bug and tries to eat you, it’s a whole new level and definitely changes your perspective on flowers and Venus Flytraps. This is not particularly scary, but if you’re alone and even if it can’t eat you alive, it can still choke you with its roots first and then probably nipple on you then.
But apart from that, it is easily killed by chopping the head off.
People killed: Chewed on at least 1
Armoury: Big strong mouth and vines
Movement: Dionaea can’t move but vines are far reaching
Weaknesses: Cutting and chopping
7. Poison Ivy’s Giant Dionaea and Vines
Batman and Robin (1997)
Scare Factor: 3/10
The mysterious superhero has been portrayed by many, but especially in this one George Clooney plays remarkably alongside Uma Thurman, who plays the eccentric and seductive Poison Ivy.
The once innocent botanist is poisoned by toxins making her highly poisoning with seductive powers. She has control over plants and flowers, but in the end she is captured by her own poison, a gigantic Dionaea.
If you do not go to close to it, you’re pretty save but once caught by it you’re in bad luck. Also, the vines are very strong and can easily keep you captive. They are pretty dangerous, but not that much as they are limited to one space.
People killed: None in this movie
Armoury: Strong roots and poisonous barbs
Movement: quick and strong, but limited in mobility
Weaknesses: chop with axe
6. Exotic Killing Flowers
Jumanji (1995)
Scare Factor: 4/10
One of the best “kids’” movies of all times probably. Who would expect that a harmless looking but mysterious and drum-banging-sounding game would ever suck you in for the next 20 years only to be released into more chaos and still being chased by that crazy hunter with the funny moustache? Happens all the time, right?
But more importantly, remember that evil big yellow flower that caught Peter with its long vine and tried to eat him? Or when a poisonous purple flower pod shoots Judy in the neck with a poisonous barb? Like the giant spiders weren’t enough.
They seem hard to avoid and to kill which is why they seem more dangerous than one giant Venus Fly Trap, several people trying to rescue one person versus one guy saving one girl. These plants are a whole lot more dangerous then all of the ones mentioned a forehand and kick any of them.
People killed: Bunch of tourists
Armoury: blood sucking flowers stems
Movement: Non-ninja moves and slow moving
Weaknesses: Fire always helps!
5. Vampiric Tree
Maneater of Hydra (1967)
Scare Factor: 5/10
This movie was originally titled “Island Of The Doomed” and is essentially about a vampiric tree that kills people on a baron’s island. At least the tree is not as horrific as the tree in Evil Dead.
Strangely enough the movie was directed by Mel Welles, who played the shop owner in the first version of “Little Shop of Horrors”. The killer plant came about through scientific experiments conducted by the baron living on the island, which causes everyone to die, as most catastrophic failed scientific experiments end.
This tree is quite scary and vicious as it sucks your blood by piercing a whole in your cheek, and possibly other parts of your face.
To be exact, its flowers can reach the person nearby, excels a long and slimy tube-thing that acts as a straw to suck the blood. It’s strong and a lot more difficult to kill than one single plant or flower, bringing it up on the scariness!
People killed: several people
Armoury: Big teeth and “head” with long reaching roots
Movement: limited to its pot but then far reaching with its vines and can move – 10 mph
Weaknesses: dies if you don’t feed it
4. Audrey
Little Shop of Horrors (1960 & 1986)
Scare Factor: 6/10
This musical adaptation classic is probably known by everybody. It is at the top of the list because of its wits and charm, and great performances by the actors. It’s a combination of a comedy horror musical and a human eating plant, does it get any weirder?
A lovely flower shop assistant is terrorised by gigantic, always hungry for blood plant that is a mix of a butterwort and Venus Fly Trap, called Audrey, and forced to feed him blood.
Despite Seymour resorting to killing people in order to feed his precious plant that did not exactly bring him the fame he wanted, it is a rather amusing movie.
Rest be assured, Audrey is stuck in a pot and so pretty restricted in mobility, at first anyway. However, Audrey and Audrey II’s do end up killing a lot of people, because the more it eats the bigger it grows.
People killed: 1m+
Armoury: Killer Lasher and Stinger
Movement: slow moving – 5mph
Weaknesses: Guns, Fire and especially (easily) killed by salt water
3. The Triffid
The Day of the Triffids (1962, 1981 &2009)
Scare Factor: 9/10
This movie has had several versions over the last 50 years. It is a lot higher on the fear factor, as it’s about fearsome walking plants with killer stings.
The only thing making it less scary, is the fact that they are slow, or at least in the first version they were quite slow.
However, after a meteor has made most of the world’s population blind, it’s quite an “all-you-can-eat human buffet” for the triffids.
The most recent adaptation is the BBC one in 2009 which seems a little more serious than the prevailing ones. Now these monster killing plants are scary and dangerous, because they are strong, have fast lashers and there are thousands of them! However, the reason they are not on top of the list is that you can see them coming and they are relatively easy to defeat.
People killed: Probably thousands over the last centuries
Armoury: Body- invading vines
Movement: very fast, so watch out!
Weaknesses: If there was one, they would have probably killed them by now!
2. Killer Mayan Vines
The Ruins (2008)
Scare Factor: 9.5/10
This has been classified as one of the best killer plants by many and is at the top due to its scare factor!
The story plays in Mexico where a couple of youngsters on holiday there are terrorised and trapped by a horrible man eating creeper plant.
The killer plant is a vine that can invade your body, drink your blood and even talk. It’s a smart killer plant! But it gets worse, this plant is protected by the Mayans living in the area for the past, oh forever! Why? Unfortunately we will never know.
The verdict is that once it’s inside you, you’re screwed. So be advised, this movie is a bit gory with some creepy body-horror moments, especially when an impromptu surgery is performed.
You definitely do not want to be faced with these vines, and certainly beats the triffids, because the triffids you can kill easier, the vines are strong and once they invade your body, well that’s it for you!
People killed: “Almost” everyone on this planet and others
Armoury: duplicates your body and erases your memory
Movement: unpredictable
Weaknesses: Unknown
1. Alien Pod Flowers
The Invasion of Body Snatchers (1956, 1978, 1993 & 2007)
Scare Factor: 10/10
This movie is widely known and has had several remakes and versions. The original appeared in 1956 in black and white and has been classified as one of the 100 best thrillers of all time. It is, however, probably the second version in 1978 with Donald Sutherland that is the more popular one.
The main idea in most of these versions is that the human race is taken over by plants. When you sleep the plant comes, snatches you up to produce an exact replica of yourself to the smallest detail and then you wake up as pod person that has no emotions. The pods take a person one by one and grow them in a pod, literally.
There aren’t many places to hide and you cannot trust anybody. Once you’re caught out by one of “them”, they let loose a loud and disturbing shriek to alarm the “others”.
So remember, they may look and act like us, but they are not us and they could be anyone! How is that for paranoia?
It seems the only way to defeat them is to not fall, which is inevitable though, or to probably kill them one by one by the usual means of weaponry possibly, but only if they haven’t caught you yet.