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Last Man on Earth | Year: 1964 Directed: - Ubaldo Ragona - Sidney Salkow Actors/Actresses: - Vincent Price Being The Last Man On Earth Looks Tiring! Given the fact that Omega Man is one of my favorite cheesy movies, it may suprise you to learn that I saw The Last Man On Earth with Vincent Price for the first time today. I'm glad I watched it. I mean, it's not even an excellent B-movie, but it's an obvious influence for later films. The vampires attacking the 'last mans' house sure look like the zombies in The Night Of The Living Dead. It's truer to the original Matheson story I Am Legend than Omega Man (Matheson co-wrote the script, but had his name taken off the film because he didn't like the results). Vincent Price looks too tired right from the beginning of the film, but it is Spaghetti SF so I guess I shouldn't complain. THE quintessential Post-Apocalyptic horror film! Based on Richard Matheson's novel I AM LEGEND; LAST MAN ON EARTH is a sci-fi/horror/morality play starring the inimitable Vincent Price.<BR>Price plays Dr. Robert Morgan; who as you'd guess by the title becomes the last man on Earth after the remainder of the World's population is wiped out by a virus he helped create. Wait, did I say last man? I actually mean last NORMAL man, because Morgan is hiding in isolation with "vampires" outside pining for his blood, because Morgan's own blood contains a special antibody that makes him immune to the virus. To keep from going mad; Morgan lives the past through his home movies and lives with the guilt that among the victims claimed by the virus were his wife and daughter.<BR>This low budget US/Italian co-production predates George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD by four years, but doesn't get the full respect it deserves. In fact; I think LAST MAN ON EARTH is far superior, more intelligent and scarier than NOTLD. Bet you won't guess the twist in the tale.<BR>This was later remade as THE OMEGA MAN with Charlton Heston (which I haven't seen yet) and several years back Arnie Schwarzenegger was to have starred in a remake which never saw the light of day. Despite being made four decades ago, LAST MAN ON EARTH can stand alongside other SF/horror classics like INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL as one of the best genre movies of its era. A moody film and a tour de force for Vincent Price Vincent Price has to practically carry the entire movie by himself, and he succeeds wonderfully. There are not any really frightening moments, but the film's slow, haunting, melancholic atmosphere more than makes up for that. The dubbing and acting are sometimes awkward, and the direction is, at best, uninspired. However, we plunge far deeper into the psychological elements of being the last man on earth than 'The Omega Man' ever did. In that film, the tragedy of the protaginist losing his wife and daughter to the plague was completely omitted, a big mistake which did not help a movie that was already tacky and ill-conceived. The premise of man being alone against the new race of humans is also preserved in 'Last Man', whilst in 'Omega Man' we had an insane cult of hippie mutants. Overall, 'Last Man' is a flawed but fascinating flick, worth seeing for Vincent Price's one-man performance and it's disturbing final scene. Buy Last Man On Earth at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Last Man On Earth Search with the Priority Search Engine on Last Man On Earth This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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