The Best And Worst Killer Plant Movies | Part 3

#7. Man-Thing

In Man-Thing, a lawman is sent to a remote swamp to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances. As he digs deeper, he uncovers the presence of a monstrous, swamp-dwelling creature—Man-Thing—who was once human but is now a protector of the swamp, targeting those who threaten its balance.

Man-Thing, a Sci-Fi Channel movie based on Marvel’s swamp-dwelling creature, is a product of Marvel licensing its characters in the early 2000s to stave off bankruptcy. The film strays heavily from the original comic, completely changing Man-Thing’s origin and character.

While the creature’s practical design is impressive, the movie suffers from poor execution, including fast and shaky editing typical of the era, a lot of obvious ADR dialogue, and a lackluster plot. There’s some camp value, but overall, it’s a forgettable adaptation with a few decent practical effects.

#7. The Freakmaker

The Freakmaker (also known as The Mutations), a mad scientist kidnaps people and experiments on them, attempting to merge human and plant DNA to create a new species. Meanwhile, a group of circus sideshow performers, exploited and mistreated, become entangled in the doctor's twisted experiments, leading to horrific and tragic consequences.

The Freakmaker feels aimless, with little story progression. It is not a good sign when a film opens with 8 minutes of plant footage, although it does make it a prime candidate for this list.

The protagonists have no bearing on the story and are only there to be experimented on, leaving us with a plot that has no direction. For me, the highlight has got to be the man-plant hybrid that kills Donald Pleasance at the end. While the effects aren’t great, it’s a fun monster design. It just leaves you wishing there was more like it throughout the film. 

#5. The Revenge of Doctor X

In The Revenge of Doctor X, a NASA scientist, stressed from his job, retreats to a remote Japanese village where he becomes obsessed with creating a human-plant hybrid. His experiment goes horribly wrong, resulting in a monstrous plant creature that soon wreaks havoc, leading to a deadly confrontation.

The Revenge of Doctor X is a bizarre, low-budget film with an uncredited script from the infamous Ed Wood. The plot follows a NASA scientist, played with an over-the-top intensity, whose frequent monologues pad the runtime. While everything around him is subdued, his erratic rants dominate the film until the monster, a goofy man-in-suit plant hybrid, finally appears in the last 20 minutes. The creature’s design is laughable, and despite its Frankenstein-inspired premise, the film fails to deliver much action or horror until the very end.

#4. The Navy vs. the Night Monsters

In The Navy vs. the Night Monsters, a Navy crew stationed on a remote island accidentally receives a shipment of deadly alien plant creatures from Antarctica. As the plants begin to grow and attack, the crew must find a way to survive and stop the rapidly spreading menace before it consumes them all.

The Navy vs. the Night Monsters is a 1966 sci-fi horror film that unfortunately falls flat in almost every regard. The plot, is hampered by poor special effects, wooden acting, and a lack of tension. The film's pacing drags, and the low-budget visuals fail to deliver any real sense of menace. While there’s some campy charm, the movie doesn’t offer enough entertainment to make it worth watching. 

#3. From Hell It Came

From Hell It Came follows the story of a wrongfully executed tribal prince who is brought back to life as a vengeful, walking tree monster called Tabanga. Seeking revenge on those who betrayed him, the monster terrorizes an island, while a group of scientists tries to stop the creature and uncover its mysterious origins.

“And to hell it can go!” From Hell It Came is an infamously bad movie, born from the U.S. fascination with Polynesia in the 1950s. It is mostly remembered for the killer tree monster, Tabonga. The muddled plot combines 50s atomic fears with supernatural spirits as a way to try and explain this monster when using either one would have sufficed. 

The lumbering creature looks absolutely ridiculous on screen and you can tell how much the actor struggles to move inside the suit. Designed by legendary creature designer Paul Blaisdell, the final result was much better in concept then execution. Blaisdell creatures often featured unique and interesting designs, but would struggle to look good while moving on screen. This movie is the perfect example of those limitations.

#2. The Woman Eater

In The Woman Eater, a mad scientist discovers a man-eating plant deep in the jungle and brings it back to his laboratory. He begins feeding women to the plant, hoping to harness its powers for eternal life, but his experiments spiral out of control, leading to gruesome consequences.

The Woman Eater is a 1958 British horror film that awkwardly straddles the line between campy and unsettling. In the UK, it was given an X rating, yet oddly promoted as a children’s movie in the U.S. 

The film’s plot is outdated, and its pacing is painfully slow, with over-the-top performances. Misogynistic themes run throughout, as women are sacrificed to a carnivorous tree in the name of “science.” While the tree’s design adds a hint of silly charm, the movie’s lackluster execution leaves it a largely forgettable.

#1. The Happening

In The Happening, a mysterious environmental phenomenon causes mass suicides as people across the northeastern United States inexplicably start taking their own lives. A small group, led by a science teacher named Elliot, tries to survive while uncovering that nature itself, through airborne toxins released by plants, might be behind the sudden wave of deaths.

While easily the most competently made movie on this list, it really just makes the final product all that more baffling. This movie is so awkward that M. Night Shyamalan now retroactively claims that it was meant to be a comedy. While the movie is filled to the brim with laughable moments, it’s clear that was never the intention. 

The movie actually starts pretty decent with unsettling scenes of mass suicides. It does a completely 180 when we are introduced to our main character played by Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg’s acting mixed with Shyamalan’s stilted dialogue and weird direction resulted in one of the most bizarre performances in modern filmmaking. Mark Wahlberg timidly pleading to a plastic plant to not kill him has gone down in infamy.

Things get weirder when the cause of the suicides is revealed. Plants have had enough of humans and decided to teach them a lesson by suddenly producing airborne toxins that force humans to cause harm to themselves. This illogical and goofy revelation leads to even sillier scenes of our heroes outrunning the wind. Moments like this, the weird performances, and signature Shyamalan dialogue easily places this movie at the top of the list.

Congrats on surviving to the end of the list! We explored some truly horrible monsters and came out on top! Next week you'll get your Halloween treat as we look at the Top 7 killer plant movies and wrap up the final part of our list. See you then!