Ross v Ross

With Terrence ‘take his time’ Malick’s new film, The Tree Of Life, finally blooming into cinemas this week (see what we did there?), Ross McG takes a look at some of the most memorable plants in movie history.

6. The tree from Cat People

It had been a rough year for the ThunderCats

One of the barmiest movie intros of the 80s… and a great tree thrown in as well. With a big black cat under it. What does it all mean? Who knows. But that’s a sweet tree.

See the Cat People tree in the opening scene by clicking HERE

5. The tree from The Evil Dead

'You put that picture of The Evil Dead tree rape scene back or I'll throw down!'

If you thought the most horrific thing Sam Raimi ever did was give Peter Parker an emo haircut, then think again. As a child, trees are things that are fun. You can climb them. You can swing from them. You can build huts in them. But the trees in The Evil Dead have been possessed by a demon, which means they are more likely to rape you than give you the foundation to recreate a pleasant childhood memory. If you do happen to be caught in a haunted forest, best to leaf these guys well alone.

Watch the scene HERE

4. The tree from The Wizard Of Oz

'What do you mean the tree that caught the car in Jurassic Park didn't make this list?'

Okay, so the raping tree from The Evil Dead was, ahem, evil, but at least it wasn’t a complete jerk. Dorothy and her little dog too may not be everyone’s cup of tea (stealing someone’s shoes after landing a house on them isn’t going to win you too many admirers) but surely they don’t deserve the nastiness doled out by this particular wooded creature. The thing I don’t like about the tree along the yellow-brick road is that he can’t make up his mind. First he gets angry at Dorothy for picking his apples. Then he gets offended when the Scarecrow says his apples aren’t good enough. And then after chasing them off, he throws his apples at them! Seriously dude, what is your problem. Apart from being an absolute dick. Yeah! How do you like them apples??!!

Watch the tree being mean to Dorothy by clicking HERE

3. The tree from Get Smart

The Tree Of Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

While nowhere near as excruciating as another Steve Carrell vehicle, That Sequel With The Ark That They Couldn’t Get Jim Carrey To Come Back For, Get Smart didn’t exactly set the world alight. It has some nice moments though, most of which involve Anne Hathaway rolling around in a catsuit (proving that Christopher Nolan is a fan of Carrell’s work), and one featuring Bill Murray… as a tree. A particularly needy tree at that. It’s nice to see him branch out into other roles.

Watch Bill Murray as a tree by clicking HERE

2. The tree from From Hell It Came

'People say I'm the life of a party cos... I tell a joke or two. Well I might be laughing now... but deep inside I'm blue...'

This movie makes the title above this paragraph look stupid (two ‘froms’ in a row – what’s that about?), but it can be forgiven for giving us one of the great cinematic trees. Quite possibly the basis for the tree from Poltergeist (or quite possibly, uh… not) the walking, stalking plant from this 50s B-movie is one to remember. When locals bury a dead man in a tree, all it takes is some nuclear radiation for this frighteningly naff creature to be born. The tree, which looks like Chewbacca after being flattened out by a rolling pin, goes on a rampage and throws women in sandpits. Michael Bay is eyeing up a remake as we speak.

Watch the tree in action HERE

1. The tree from Poltergeist

'Climb me kid. I dare you.'

This is one sick sycamore (yes, we know, it probably isn’t a sycamore). Poltergeist is a film with so many ingenious ways of scaring the bejaysis out of you that the biggest of them all is often overlooked. Like the psycho toy clown and the blurry television, the tree is another everyday object from the movie that turns out to be anything but ordinary. In this instance, it grabs a kid through his bedroom window. It’s not the monsters in the closet you want to worry about, it’s the thing next to the shrubs in the garden outside. They’re heeeeeeere. Of course they are. They’re trees. They’re bloody everywhere.

Watch the scariest tree of them all in action HERE

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE TREES IN THE MOVIES? TELL US BELOW…

This entry was posted on July 5, 2011 at 7:42 pm and is filed under TOP FIVES with tags Brad Pitt, Movies, Sean Penn, Terrence Malick, The Tree Of Life, Trees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.