Living close to the base of the food pyramid, and now becoming the eco-friendly choice for sustainable satiety, veggies and plants are the sensible staple of a balanced diet. But, as is the wont of the horror genre, finding fear in the familiar is a sure recipe for a successful film - and in some horror films, that fear can be found lurking in the crisper drawer.
Plant-based creatures may seem like more mundane monsters than the traditional cinematic killers or villains. Yet there are many terrifying films where nature calls and nature kills. From flesh-eating vines to bloodthirsty tomatoes, these are salads one definitely doesn't make friends with.
The triffids – 'The Day of the Triffids' (1962)
Sentient, carnivorous plants were brought to earth by a meteor shower in The Day of the Triffids. They can grow to an astonishing size, can regenerate themselves, and are hell-bent on destroying all humankind.
The triffids are hideous, venomous creatures that gain scary points because they have several methods of killing: first they poison, then they constrict, then they eat their human prey. Coming to earth via a meteor shower that blinded anyone who saw it made the human populous sitting ducks for a triffid attack, another stealthy mode of terror employed by this frightening flora.
Audrey II – 'Little Shop of Horrors' (1986)
Audrey II is an all-singing, all-dancing plant creature that gets a taste for human blood. As Audrey II and its appetite grow, sacrifices need to be made. Namely, human sacrifices.
The scariest thing about Audrey II is its fast-talking sass - human sacrifice sounds like a sick game to Audrey, and one which warrants several musical numbers in the horror movie. In the original final sequence of Little Shop of Horrors, an army of Audries are propagated across America and proceed to uproot themselves and take over the world. The original ending was replaced when test audiences found it too dark, making the original Audrey II one of the scariest plant monsters because it was even too scary for a cinema-going public.
The grex – 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' (1978)
The grex is the plant featured in Invasion of the Body Snatchers - it is a hybrid creature, created when the spores of two plant species intermingle. This particular grex comes to earth from space, and has an agenda to reproduce at the expense of the entire human race.
The grex is terrifying for its ability to duplicate a human host - it latches on to a human, creates a duplicate "pod person", and the original human is disposed of as bin dust. The pod people have a drive to remove all remaining real humans, and as they take over the city it becomes impossible to tell the real people from their evil, plant-based doppelgängers.
The Little Joes – 'Little Joe' (2019)
Little Joe is a new strain of plant bred to produce a chemical precursor to oxytocin. It has an antidepressant effect that makes anyone who smells its flower feel happy, but Little Joe has a sinister side effect.
Without the natural ability to reproduce, it has evolved a capacity to psychologically change whoever smells it so that they protect the plant at all costs. Those who smell the flower become distant, withdrawn, and their only care in the world becomes Little Joe's safety - even to the point of committing murder.
The tomatoes – 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!' (1978)
Tomatoes are attacking and murdering people and pets in gardens, grocers and kitchens. BLT sandwiches are killing their consumers and nowhere is safe!
The killer tomatoes attack via land, sea and air, taking down helicopters and drowning ill-fated teens. There's only one way to fight back against the rotten tomatoes - and it involves the horrible song, Puberty Love. With so many methods of killing and only one method of defeat, the killer tomatoes are a frightening fruit, plotting disaster from the bottom of the fridge.
The vines – 'The Ruins' (2008)
A group of American college students (plus one German backpacker for good measure) are holidaying in Mexico. Visiting an 'off the map' Mayan temple despite obvious warnings from the locals of the area, The Ruins follows all the standard tropes of the genre, but with a petrifying, plant-based twist.
The vines growing on the ancient Mayan temple have a taste for human flesh. Once 'marked', the vines start to grow on and in their victims - as they grab and grow under the skin, hopes and limbs are lost. The flowers on the vines can also imitate sounds they hear, drawing their prey nearer to them. The vines' uncanny mimicry adds a psychological element to their torment, making them a particularly freaky flower.
Little Otik – 'Otesanek' (2000)
Based on a Czech fairytale, this surreal horror comedy takes a bizarre turn when a couple who are unable to conceive start raising a tree stump as their baby. Coming to life with an insatiable hunger, Little Otik develops an appetite for meat - family pets and postal workers, beware!
Taking full advantage of the depth of parental love, Little Otik has the perfect cover for his murderous tendencies. His parents are powerless to say 'no' to Little Otik, and his size and voracious appetite grow mysteriously at the same rate as the neighborhood shrinks.
Alec – 'Swamp Thing' (1982)
Swamp Thing, also known as Dr. Alec Holland, is the result of ingesting a solution intended to create a genus of life that can withstand inhospitable conditions. A mixture of plant and human DNA, the solution turned Dr. Holland into an algae-covered half man/half plant with super strength and healing powers.
Like the Rasputin of plant monsters, Swamp Thing was shot, burned, and drowned, yet still managed to come out fighting. When Swamp Thing lost an arm, he regenerated it with photosynthesis. However, don't be fooled: Swamp Thing has a heart of gold. Looking out for his lady love and going Rambo on all who invade his swamp with ill-intent, Swamp Thing is only scary to those on his bad side.
The Thing – 'The Thing From Another World' (1951)
Crashing to earth on a flying saucer, the titular thing from another world looks human but has the cellular structure of a vegetable. Unharmed by bullets and other weapons, and with super strength and intelligence, the thing needs blood to survive. It seems to experience no pain or pleasure but has a drive to feed and reproduce.
Terrorizing the camp base of a polar expedition, the thing is smart enough to cut the communication and oil lines, freezing out the camp and cutting off their contact with civilization. The thing can only be conquered if he is out-smarted, which is no mean feat given this monster's apparently advanced IQ.
The Tabanga – 'From Hell It Came' (1957)
The Tabanga is a tree monster that is borne of a curse in From Hell It Came. Sprouting from the ground over a grave when a moral misdeed is committed, the Tabanga is on a mission to exact revenge on whoever wronged the dead. Lumbering around with extreme strength, the Tabanga is able to survive the conventional methods of attack, such as being shot and thrown into a pit of fire.
The Tabanga looks anything but scary, at times straddling the line between comedy and horror to the modern viewer - yet the basis for the killer kindling, which is the cursed result of unfinished business and a need to exact vengeance, is a haunting concept.