Plants on the Silver Screen

Awesome Fun Plant Time Continues:

Today's topic is famous plants. Not plants that are famous for anything worthwhile, like feeding millions or making oxygen or accompanying the spread of colonialism or revitalizing historical economies, but plants that are famous for what is most important in our culture: being in movies.

Probably the top two contenders for "most famous movie plant" would be Audrey Jr./Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors" (1960 and 1986), and the Killer Tomatoes from the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" series of movies (1978, 1988, 1990, and 1991).

The original "Little Shop of Horrors" was originally produced as "The Passionate People Eater," a black comedy, was the inspiration for a musical, which was in turn the inspiration for the 80s remake with Rick Moranis (man, Rick Moranis! Anyone else remember him? I think he was in half the movies I saw as a kid!). A plant-store clerk projects his unrequited love for his coworker onto a plant. The plant, both sentient and hungry, eats people, and demands more and more flesh. Hijinks ensue. Audrey eats for vengeance and sustenance in equal measure, and seems to self-reproduce. Efficient! The movie has inspired dozens of pop-culture references, and is considered (both of them, actually) a cult classic).

Meet Audrey Jr.:

Meet Audrey II:

"Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" is a somewhat bizarre franchise, that could probably only have been born out of the late 70s to early 90s oddness. Ah, remember when movie series were weird, not mostly horrible torture horror (see Saw and far too many sequels/imitators)? Anyway, the tomatoes are diabolical killers with some kind of master plan, and it is not made clear (according to Wikipedia) how they came to be, though radioactive waste is used as a plot device in the first sequel. The tomatoes kill in many ways, showing themselves to be more creative than Audrey--eating people, plotting with humans, poisoning through self-sacrifice (watch the tomato juice), and so forth. The tomatoes have been featured in several sequels, including one where they apparently "Eat France", and a Fox kid's cartoon, but sadly no musicals.

A Killer Tomato:

I'm going to call this one for Audrey, though the tomato does look tasty.

Other notable movie plants:

Evil:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1978): Alien plants attempt to take over.
Day of the Triffids (1962): Meteorites trigger rampaging plants.
Children of the Corn (1984, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998...): Corn nurtures malevolence, kids kill.

Good:

Lord of the Rings (most famously 2001, 2002, 2003): ENTS, people, ENTS.

I'm sure there's more, but these are the highlights. Suggestions are welcome!

Apparently there is a term for the study of plants that don't actually exist (myth, fantasy, fiction): cryptobotany. Coooooool. Pseudoscience rocks.