The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Based on the same novel as 'The Omega Man' and 'I Am Legend' but less of an action thriller, this Vincent Price version offers an acute portrayal of loneliness while spinning the same story of a contagion sole survivor who has to ward off his infected neighbours who only ever emerge at night. While the infected individuals are not particularly menacing, they are a curious mix of traditional zombie and vampire tropes, moving in a somnambulist fashion a la 'Night of the Living Dead', but prone to all vampire weaknesses such as sunlight and garlic. This is also an intriguing film from the get-go, opening with eerily deserted metropolis and suburbia shots before the title in jolting fashion appears on screen. The most interesting part of the film though is its flashback section, which not only fills in all the details about how the infection spread, but also features some harrowing scenes that really humanise Price as his daughter becomes infected and he tries to avoid the military burning her body as per protocol. There is also a great bit in which Price briefly befriends a dog. The film loses some of its edginess as Franca Bettoia enters the film late in the piece, resulting in several talky and static scenes. Her presence does, however, lead to a couple of unexpected, thought-provoking twists and the film ends on a haunting if a tad melodramatic note.

An eye-popping futuristic B-movie set in a post-holocaust city in 1968, as virologist Doctor Robert Morgan (Vincent Price , screenwriter changes the main character's name from Robert Neville to Robert Morgan) is immune to the effects of a biologically engineered plague and he battles those who aren't humans . Meanwhile , lots of infected people are crawling , shambling , through empty streets, whimpering, pleading , begging for his blood . By night the vampires led by the sneering Ben Cortman (Jack Stuart) , Morgan's ex-friend , leave their graves and bent on destroying what's left in the world , carrying out slaughter , massacre and mayhem . The embittered last survivor scavengering supplies and searching for an antidote . As he lives among the lifeless , alone among the crawling creatures of evil that make the night hideous with their inhuman craving . There are some flashbacks (in which show up his wife Virginia : Emma Danieli and friend Ben : Giacomo Rossi Stuart , Jack Stuart) about previous Morgan life , when virus outbreaks and newspapers publicize ¨Plague claims hundreds¨. Then , it takes place the appearance of a woman , Ruth Collins (Franca Bettoia) , who rekindles Morgan's faith on the preparation of a cure against virus . Do you dare what it would be like to be the last man on earth or the last woman ? Strong suspense with considerable violence by that time : the sixties . The plot is plain and simple : when a disease turns all of humanity into the living dead , the last man on earth in a post-virus apocalypse becomes a reluctant vampire hunter , then several surprises to take place . This is an original as well as effective cross-fertilization of doomsday fantasy and Gothic myth . It suggests compellingly the darkest and sinister themes of Richard Matheson 1954 novel , though he was dissatisfied with the final result ; therefore and for obvious reasons he was credited with fictitious name . Uneven Sci-Fi/thriller/terror movie manages to convey an eerie as well as creepy atmosphere of dismay . It contains striking frames of desolation on an odd apocalyptic world , remarked by the stunning cinematography by Franco Delli Colli , adding a thrilling musical score by Paul Sawtell . Not an excellent film , but acceptable , but strangely dated now, although it wasn't at the time it was made . Nice and attractive acting by Vincent Price as the sole survivor of a plague which has turned the rest of the world into vampires who constantly harass him . This US/Italian co-production motion picture was finely produced by Robert Lippert who financed the film in Italy and brilliantly directed by Sidney Salkow , and uncredited Ubaldo Ragona . Salkow succeeds in conveying the exultant paranoia of its Matheson original as efficiently as ¨Night of the living dead¨ (1968) , though the filmmaker's vision results a be evasive and timid . In fact , this ¨This last man on the world¨ was established by many critics , including filmmaker George A. Romero himself as a graphic blueprint for ¨Night of the living¨.Richard Matheson story is also the basis for other redundant movies , as it has been adapted as ¨Omega man¨ (1971) by Boris Sagal , starred by Charlton Heston as a of the few survivors who hasn't been turned into a pale-skinned , along with Anthony Zerbe , Rosalind Cash , John Dierkes and Paul Koslo ; here there are also victims of an apocalyptic plague , substituting the vampires for a few albino mutants . And third screen version : the blockbuster ¨I am legend¨ (2007) by Francis Lawrence with Will Smith , Salli Richardson and Alice Braga .

The often filmed tale of doomsday, of one man's efforts to avoid the undead, occurs after man destroys themselves, leaving only Vincent Price as human, hiding from cannibalistic mutants. Yes, the same role played by Charlton Heston and Will Smith, played by one of the true kings of horror. He's hoping to find others who survived cataclysmic destruction involving the most diabolical plague in history. It's eerie and lonely, tragic because how often do we wish to be alone, yet fear it. But loneliness isn't his only woe, and each day and evening bring on the same concerns. Blocking his house from being invaded, reopening it upon the beginning of sunlight, then getting rid of the corpses of murdered mutants, too weak to fight off other fellow mutants, not caring whose blood they end up with.A dead city, regardless of its location, is hell on earth, and Price must travel it every day to stay ahead on supplies and prevent the dead from creating disease. This is a science fiction movie that will make you think, possibly depress you, and even make you grateful for civilization. Price narrates mostly, as if talking to ones self in an empty city was surely the key to insanity. Price travels the city as a modern day Van Helsing, killing off the living dead. This looks pretty low budget, but it seems far too gruesome to have been a TV film and too far from the mainstream to have been anything but nearly a grindhouse, or maybe even art-house being so avant garde.When the walking dead do appear, it's as if every evil creature on earth smells Price's fresh blood, obviously a treat over human plasma. The fact that the attackers in life were people he knew is a frightening twist. Price is fascinating to watch, expressing his despondence silently, turning to spiritual guidance, then being caught in the dark amongst these creatures, easy to fight off when it's one or two but virtually impossible when it's an army of them. This isn't something I could find myself watching over and over, regardless of the version, and each one has its strengths and weaknesses. There's a bit of sentiment as Price flashes back to the "living" fays of civilization, and it makes me realize that as much as I like to chill back alone with my old movies and TV shows (like he does here with brief laughter turning into tears), I could not entirely be without humanity, especially for the three years he recalls being in this position.

A plague has turned the population of Earth into vampire-like creatures of the night. Except for one man who is immune to the disease. He fights a daily battle for survival against these creatures, always with the hope of future companionship.The Last Man on Earth is the first cinematic adaption of Richard Matheson's novel 'I Am Legend'. It has subsequently been remade a couple of times since. The book was an interesting one in the way it combined a sci-fi premise with a traditional horror one, while also focusing strongly on themes of isolation and loneliness. It is a very early example of the sub-genre known as post-apocalypse or pandemic to be precise in this case. As a result it feels quite modern for its time and most probably served as something of an influence for the later genre-defining classic Night of the Living Dead (1968). It stars Vincent Price in the lead role. Despite this being a horror film, he is not necessarily the most obvious actor for this film as his over-the-top style seems at odds with the somewhat melancholic aspects this story demands of its lead character. Yet, despite these initial reservations, Price puts in one of the strongest performances of his career here and shows what a versatile actor he could be.It's not a perfect film though, as it never really generates much tension despite a set-up that has lots of potential for suspense. It's similar in this way to the later adaption The Omega Man (1971), in that the vampires make for somewhat surprisingly feeble monsters on the whole and never threaten as much as they really should. Unlike in that Charlton Heston film though, at least here they are not philosophical beings and do at least have one sole objective to kill our protagonist; it's just a pity that they usually attempt to do so in such clunky and easily-avoidable ways. That said this film is the only adaption that is brave enough to have a dark ending which serves this version very well and works better for the story as a whole. But despite the horror material, much of the focus here is on more easily relatable themes such as loneliness and isolation. Part of the success of the film is that the audience can put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist and imagine what they would do and how they would cope.Shot in crisp black and white, it looks great. There are many shots of deserted cityscapes which give off a very effective ambiance. There is an oddness to these, in that despite the film being set in America it was actually shot in Rome, meaning that we often see distinctive Italian architecture which always seems a bit off. It works quite well though, in that it merely adds a layer of almost dreamlike strangeness to proceedings. On the whole, this is a good, albeit flawed, movie which is quite original in approach.