Plants are not scary…well most plants aren’t scary. I guess if they’re from outer space or mystical. Most of these movies have great practical effects and have more of a thinking man’s feel to the story. There are a lot of classics on this list and hard-to-find films for viewing.
Little Shop of Horrors (1960 & 1986)
An alien plant from outer space lands on Earth. A quirky but weak florist finds the plant and tends to it only to find out that the plant eats people. There are two versions of this story: the 1950’s version with Seymour being more of a villain and the 1980’s version which is based more on the musical that came after the black and white version. The 1980’s version has two distinctive endings (original cut and a well-known alternative ending.)
Creepshow (1982)
There is a funny segment that was plant-focused in the story. An intergalactic moss attacks a dimwitted farmer and his farm. This segment stars Stephen King. Alien moss is the reason why it’s on this particular list, it takes over everything.
The Guardian (1990)
A couple with a newborn needs a nanny to babysit their child. They hire a nanny that after her arrival mysterious otherworldly things start to happen. This is a strange movie about a tree witch coming after the young for eternal youth. It does have a brief scene with a young Vivica A. Fox being one of the most highly qualified nannies with athleticism focus and several degrees.
The Happening (2008)
This movie is about trees blowing in the wind. The trees and wind make a chemical that would make people act odd, weird and somewhat frightening. The theme fit within the whole “trees are evil” when trees seem to usually be used to express mass paranoia and conspiracy theory some of the time. The only scary parts of the film are at the beginning. The rest is just weird and bad (and laughable😂) but if you think about it has a B-movie quality about it after years of its release. It’s just a weird movie.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (and their remakes)
This story has been remade multiple times in the 1950s for the Macarthism scares, 1970’s cynicism, 1990’s conspiracy invasion horror and horror and has a Hollywood remake in the 2000s. But the titled-movies, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, are about an alien lifeform invading Earth replacing human life with pod people. The movies are all based on one book by American writer Jack Finney’s 1954 novel The Body Snatchers (sometimes titled Invasion of the Body Snatchers.) Unlike all the films only the book had an optimistic ending.
The Ruins (2008)
This movie can be gory with shrubbery. This film is not for everyone because of the special effects of horror. American tourists go on an exploratory romp through an ancient Inca tomb. They get attacked by carnivorous sentient vein plants that come after them well after they think they are in the clear.
Troll (1&2) (1986 & 1992)
This film is also gross but not really gory. Troll and Troll 2 are well-known terrible horror movies. It has the first appearance of Julia Louise Dreyfus. I remember seeing both of these movies and they are awful and once again gross with things oozing out of places, noses, hands and walls. All to look more like the enchanted fairyland with too many trolls. The sequel is nothing like the first film in the story but they keep the plants in some sort of fairyland with trolls.
The Girl With All The Gifts (2016)
In a zombie apocalypse that was caused by an alien plant invasion, only a few people are immune to all the negative effects by being intertwined with all the plant veins. The plant spores cause people to act like eating machines that won’t stop until they ate everything in their sight. The safe few are children who were born with the plant veins in their brain controlling the zombie state. It has a different premise that focuses on the zombie effects more than the alien plant invaders. It’s has a nice student/teacher relationship with the little girl always looking up to her elementary teacher in appreciation and mentoring.
The Evil Dead (1981)
The trees in the woods come alive and attack the lodgers inside the creepy cabin in the woods after they read from the Necronomicon. The plants’ attack. The trees whip and tear into people. The theme is only seen in this one
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
This is a campy B-movie about tomatoes eating people. This is a good bad movie that is a classic in its own way. It’s funny because of the irreverent and obscured nature of the film. The tomatoes have a weird nom-nom sound before the attack. Also, the opening song is a dumb, catchy jingle that was somewhat used in the cartoon series spinoff of the same name but with a campy rock music twist.
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
A 1960’s horror movie about alien plants taking over the world after a meteorite crashes on Earth. The survivors in chaos must defend themselves against hysteria and man-eating plants. The plants are horrifying in execution. They can communicate and think with each other. The plants look like a cross between a venus fly trap and a rosebud. This film is based on the book of the same name by John Wyndham. And it was also remade in 2009 with Dougray Scott in the lead role.
Swamp Thing (1982)
This was made before a lot of computer graphics software was used to make a comic book movie and a lot of practical effects were used for costuming and action scenes. Based on the DC comic character’s origins of Swamp Thing, it follows a research scientist working on a shady top-secret bioengineering project in the swamps of South America. After a bad run-in with a paramilitary group, he gets injured with chemicals that turn him into a swap thing. The suit is really rubber-looking for a mobster that’s half human and half plant. This is more of an action-science fiction flick than horror but it’s on the list anyway.
Seedpeople (1992)
This is the only movie I heard about and didn’t see yet but it’s a not-so-well-known horror movie with similar premises that are on this list. Man-eating plants from outer space turn people into zombies while a sheriff investigates what is happening to the townspeople. This movie is extremely obscure.
(More leafy additions to the post after 2018)
Annihilation (2018)
When expeditions to an expanding zone of mutated life on Earth nicknamed the “Shimmer” for the light-bending holographic boundary zone, they all end up lost. An all-female mission goes inside the “shimmer” and study what happened to the last team inside, her husband’s team. The fauna in the distorted zone is alive and aware of their surroundings. It copies and mimics life in an alien way.
Screenshot of Annihilation
Little Joe (2019)
A single mother plant breeder working in a plant corporation where they breed new species. They create a plant that gives people joy even though they need more care than most plants. The single mother brings home the experimental plant she names “Joe” after her son. The plant starts to pollinate creating very subtle havoc.
Under The Moonlight 
Plants are not scary…well most plants aren’t scary. I guess if they’re from outer space or mystical. Most of these movies have great practical effects and have more of a thinking man’s feel to the story. There are a lot of classics on this list and hard-to-find films for viewing.
Little Shop of Horrors (1960 & 1986)
An alien plant from outer space lands on Earth. A quirky but weak florist finds the plant and tends to it only to find out that the plant eats people. There are two versions of this story: the 1950’s version with Seymour being more of a villain and the 1980’s version which is based more on the musical that came after the black and white version. The 1980’s version has two distinctive endings (original cut and a well-known alternative ending.)
Creepshow (1982)
There is a funny segment that was plant-focused in the story. An intergalactic moss attacks a dimwitted farmer and his farm. This segment stars Stephen King. Alien moss is the reason why it’s on this particular list, it takes over everything.
The Guardian (1990)
A couple with a newborn needs a nanny to babysit their child. They hire a nanny that after her arrival mysterious otherworldly things start to happen. This is a strange movie about a tree witch coming after the young for eternal youth. It does have a brief scene with a young Vivica A. Fox being one of the most highly qualified nannies with athleticism focus and several degrees.
The Happening (2008)
This movie is about trees blowing in the wind. The trees and wind make a chemical that would make people act odd, weird and somewhat frightening. The theme fit within the whole “trees are evil” when trees seem to usually be used to express mass paranoia and conspiracy theory some of the time. The only scary parts of the film are at the beginning. The rest is just weird and bad (and laughable😂) but if you think about it has a B-movie quality about it after years of its release. It’s just a weird movie.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (and their remakes)
This story has been remade multiple times in the 1950s for the Macarthism scares, 1970’s cynicism, 1990’s conspiracy invasion horror and horror and has a Hollywood remake in the 2000s. But the titled-movies, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, are about an alien lifeform invading Earth replacing human life with pod people. The movies are all based on one book by American writer Jack Finney’s 1954 novel The Body Snatchers (sometimes titled Invasion of the Body Snatchers.) Unlike all the films only the book had an optimistic ending.
The Ruins (2008)
This movie can be gory with shrubbery. This film is not for everyone because of the special effects of horror. American tourists go on an exploratory romp through an ancient Inca tomb. They get attacked by carnivorous sentient vein plants that come after them well after they think they are in the clear.
Troll (1&2) (1986 & 1992)
This film is also gross but not really gory. Troll and Troll 2 are well-known terrible horror movies. It has the first appearance of Julia Louise Dreyfus. I remember seeing both of these movies and they are awful and once again gross with things oozing out of places, noses, hands and walls. All to look more like the enchanted fairyland with too many trolls. The sequel is nothing like the first film in the story but they keep the plants in some sort of fairyland with trolls.
The Girl With All The Gifts (2016)
In a zombie apocalypse that was caused by an alien plant invasion, only a few people are immune to all the negative effects by being intertwined with all the plant veins. The plant spores cause people to act like eating machines that won’t stop until they ate everything in their sight. The safe few are children who were born with the plant veins in their brain controlling the zombie state. It has a different premise that focuses on the zombie effects more than the alien plant invaders. It’s has a nice student/teacher relationship with the little girl always looking up to her elementary teacher in appreciation and mentoring.
The Evil Dead (1981)
The trees in the woods come alive and attack the lodgers inside the creepy cabin in the woods after they read from the Necronomicon. The plants’ attack. The trees whip and tear into people. The theme is only seen in this one
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
This is a campy B-movie about tomatoes eating people. This is a good bad movie that is a classic in its own way. It’s funny because of the irreverent and obscured nature of the film. The tomatoes have a weird nom-nom sound before the attack. Also, the opening song is a dumb, catchy jingle that was somewhat used in the cartoon series spinoff of the same name but with a campy rock music twist.
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
A 1960’s horror movie about alien plants taking over the world after a meteorite crashes on Earth. The survivors in chaos must defend themselves against hysteria and man-eating plants. The plants are horrifying in execution. They can communicate and think with each other. The plants look like a cross between a venus fly trap and a rosebud. This film is based on the book of the same name by John Wyndham. And it was also remade in 2009 with Dougray Scott in the lead role.
Swamp Thing (1982)
This was made before a lot of computer graphics software was used to make a comic book movie and a lot of practical effects were used for costuming and action scenes. Based on the DC comic character’s origins of Swamp Thing, it follows a research scientist working on a shady top-secret bioengineering project in the swamps of South America. After a bad run-in with a paramilitary group, he gets injured with chemicals that turn him into a swap thing. The suit is really rubber-looking for a mobster that’s half human and half plant. This is more of an action-science fiction flick than horror but it’s on the list anyway.
Seedpeople (1992)
This is the only movie I heard about and didn’t see yet but it’s a not-so-well-known horror movie with similar premises that are on this list. Man-eating plants from outer space turn people into zombies while a sheriff investigates what is happening to the townspeople. This movie is extremely obscure.
(More leafy additions to the post after 2018)
Annihilation (2018)
When expeditions to an expanding zone of mutated life on Earth nicknamed the “Shimmer” for the light-bending holographic boundary zone, they all end up lost. An all-female mission goes inside the “shimmer” and study what happened to the last team inside, her husband’s team. The fauna in the distorted zone is alive and aware of their surroundings. It copies and mimics life in an alien way.
Little Joe (2019)
A single mother plant breeder working in a plant corporation where they breed new species. They create a plant that gives people joy even though they need more care than most plants. The single mother brings home the experimental plant she names “Joe” after her son. The plant starts to pollinate creating very subtle havoc.
Banner Credit: Under The Moonlight
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