Rating: 
Summary: A sensational moody film
Review: Like other reviewers here, I saw this movie as a kid, probably around the age of 6 or 7, and it has stuck with me all these years. It is very atmospheric, moody, and creepy all at the same time. When I first saw it on Creature Feature Double Feature on Saturdays here in the Boston area in the 60's, I remember screaming at the scene where the soldiers were throwing the bodies into huge fire pit (some of them were alive still) and my mother coming into the den, seeing what I was watching, and promptly turned off the TV set. It was probably three or four years later that I saw the movie in its entirety. Based pretty closely on Richard Matheson's novella "I am Legend" which is also a highly recommended read. But again, it was the atmosphere, the loneliness, moodiness, and part plausibility of being a survivor of a horrible plague that has kept this movie forever imprinted in my mind. Another scene, from the movie that stuck with me, was Morgan looking out his living room window onto a suburban street and seeing soldiers loading onto a truck a body with a crying woman beside them with the wind blowing and leaves flying around. I can still see her standing in the street, hair and skirt askew from the blowing wind, and all alone as the truck pulled away with her loved one.
Rating:
Summary: The One You Remember Even Decades Later
Review: Out of all the movies that show civilization in collapse, only a few stick to the brainpaths the way THE LAST MAN ON EARTH does. It was not a high budget movie, nor was it in color, and it had only one bankable star, Vincent Price, who played Morgan, the last man on earth. What made this movie special was the often underrated acting of Vincent Price, a man who could inject pizzazz into any script better than anyone else. In all of his dozens of film credits, Price manages to make you feel the pain that he does. Even in his major lemons, he drags you out of your chair in your living room to grab your face and rub it in the slime that so often covered his writhing body. In TLMOE, as he sees that his friends and family are dying en masse, he makes you see that too. You learn to care about even his horribly bleak world. Price plays Morgan, a scientist who somehow survives a superplague that wipes out the living, only to see some of them revive as the walking dead, vampires who exist only to bring him into their fold. Director Sidney Salkow shot TLMOE in grainy black and white, a style that would later be copied in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. The vampires walk about only at night, seeking to bull their way into Morgan's heavily barricaded house. During the day, he returns the favor by driving a stake through their respective hearts. This is a perfectly ghastly, yet gripping tug of war. Morgan, of course, cannot win. The vampires vastly outnumber him. At the end, he is cornered, shouting at them that he is human and they are not, and that is what gave him the right to play the reverse vampire with them. He dies, believing in the nobility of his cause. And it is precisely here, at the ending, that the movie's subtext speaks loud and clear: the 'rightness' of killing others only because of their differences has a variable definition based on who outnumbers whom. Who would have thought that each time Morgan drove a stake through a sleeping vampire's heart, he was making a universal statement about human rights?
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good DVD
Review: Since so many others have already commented on this surprisingly good version of Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend,' a few words on Madacy's DVD release. Madacy aren't exactly a byword for quality, and the low price had me expecting the worst, but the DVD transfer is surprisingly good - a clean 2.35:1 b&w transfer with few edge enhancement problems that you would expect to pay a lot more for. The only extras are a poster image, a few 50s schlock sci-fi trailers and an 'interactive quiz' that gets most of the answers completely wrong, but this is worth buying for the film alone, which is much better than its reputation would have you believe.It also makes a fascinating comparison with Chuck's insanely enjoyable 'The Omega Man': 'The Last Man on Earth' may have less action, a much lower budget, a score considerably less funky than Ron Grainer's, and what looks like the suburbs around Rome's Cinecitta Studios standing in for the USA, but it offers a much more disturbing account of civilisation gradually breaking down around its powerless hero. And for anyone familiar with the remake, the even bleaker ending here is a real surprise. Recommended - it's not an all-time great, but it's well worth [money] of any sci-fi or horror fan's money.
Rating: 
Summary: HORROR AT ITS BEST
Review: So great, an "OWN IT" rating. The scenes, the mood, the story, the living dead..younger fans-dont let the name Vincent Price steer you clear from this movie, he is brilliant as the last surviving man after a world wide plague kills everyone. Now, so you will always trust my reviews, here is the only caveat, the ending...no matter how many times I watch it, I always get let-down with the ending..I always think it will change...now that's a good movie!!!!
Rating:
Summary: HORROR AT ITS BEST
Review: So great, an "OWN IT" rating. The scenes, the mood, the story, the living dead..younger fans-dont let the name Vincent Price steer you clear from this movie, he is brilliant as the last surviving man after a world wide plague kills everyone. Now, so you will always trust my reviews, here is the only caveat, the ending...no matter how many times I watch it, I always get let-down with the ending..I always think it will change...now that's a good movie!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Horror Films of the 1960s
Review: The film The Last Man on Earth and its contemporaries, Brides of Dracula, Blood and Roses, Black Sunday, and Dracula, Prince of Darkness, each portray vampires in a slightly different way, yet there is a common thread in each film. These films are variations, to some extent, of the original Dracula movie that was released in 1931. This film has greatly influenced the portrayal of vampires on the big screen in its predecessors, then and today. In the original Dracula film, the unblinking Count Dracula is, at first glance, a dark, debonair and dashing gentleman. Unlike the vampires in The Last Man on Earth, he appears to be a normal person in that there is no indication that he is deceased. As the movie progresses, his disturbingly inhuman qualities surface, making him a truly frightening individual. He bites his victims on the neck to drain their blood. At various times during the film, he changes from a human to a bat. He has to sleep in a coffin containing dirt from his homeland. He retreats from garlic and crosses. In order for him to enter a home, he must be invited in. He has no reflection in a mirror and is killed by being impaled with a wooden stake through the heart. There is also the stereotypical plot of the hero and his love interest, usually his fiancée, whom Dracula seems bent on adding to his harem of the dead. The hero has rescue his love and this usually leads to a showdown between man and monster, with the monster losing. In the film Brides of Dracula, the depiction of vampires is similar in nature. The vampire bites his victims on the neck, and he is terminated by a wooden stake through the heart. Blood and Roses, released in 1961, has a slightly different theme. It is an adaptation of the novel Carmilla. In this film, the vampire is female. Her spirit inhabits the body of one of her relatives and in that way, she is reborn. Black Sunday runs along the same lines with the lead vampire being female, but it has a little twist. In addition to being a vampire, she is also a witch. Princess Asa (the vampire) is sentenced to be burned at the stake by her own brother. As her body is consumed by the flames, Asa brandishes her future relatives with a curse. After she is killed, her body is buried in a crypt, with her coffin guarded by a cross to keep her from rising again. 200 years later, the cross is damaged and she rises from the dead. Much like in Blood and Roses, she takes a female victim, who is a relative, and tries to take over her body. In Blood and Roses, the victim was willing and accepted the take over. In Black Sunday, the victim is taken forcefully and will be killed to renew Asa's life force. She is found out, and stopped before her victim is killed. Dracula, Prince of Darkness has all of the clichés common to vampire movies of this period: the dashing gentleman, the coffins, the transformation from man to bat, etc. Even the plot has a similar theme. Hero, his fiancée, and friends stay in a foreboding castle-like home, against the warnings of the townspeople. Come to find out, the home is the final resting place of Dracula. He is resurrected and the chaos begins. Of course, Dracula captures the hero's fiancée with the plans of making her one of his own. A showdown ensues with Dracula once again being put to death. In this film, however, it is not by the stake. Dracula meets his demise in a frozen river when the local clergy realizes that the water flowing under the ice is fatal to vampires. The portrayal of vampires in The Last Man on Earth is much different from any other vampire movie produced at this time. The characters become vampires through a disease rather than getting bit; though those that do not already have the virus can become a vampire if bitten by an infected person. They are more like zombies than vampires. The viewer can tell by their appearance, walk and speech that they are dead. Unlike the other vampire movies, the vampires remain in their human form (if you care to call it that) rather than transforming into bats. They are allergic to garlic rather than afraid of it. They are averse to mirrors, though they can see (as can the viewer) their reflections. The main character, Morgan, uses the garlic, mirrors, and crucifixes more like a shield. In Dracula, these same items almost seem to frighten the Count. A select group of those that have contracted the disease find a way to curb the affects of the illness in that they do not appear as the others do. They are able to function normally and are only mildly allergic to garlic. The affect of crosses on this group obvious in the last scene of the movie where they are all gathered in a church in that they are not affected. None of those infected with the virus are required to sleep in coffins to regenerate, as do vampires in the other films, though they do sleep during the day and are very adverse to daylight. They are put down with a stake through the heart just like in the other films. The differences in these movies are what made them appealing to movie audiences years ago. But there also needs to be an element of continuity to the characteristics of the monster. Constant changes and inconsistent distinctive qualities make the monster less believable. The different variations in each film kept the viewers interested and coming back for more. Dracula had the dashing gentleman who "vanted to suck your blood." The Last Man on Earth had vampire zombies who stalked the streets at night, calling for the only person left that was not already a member of their horde.
Rating:
Summary: Don't be the last man to see this incredible horror film
Review: The Last Man on Earth is based on Richard Matheson's incredible novel I Am Legend, in my opinion the second best vampire novel ever written. Vincent Price does not really fit the image I had in mind from the novel, but there can be no doubt that he gives a remarkable performance here and makes the role his own. It's a rather somber tale. Price plays Morgan, a man left completely alone in the world by a plague that wiped out the rest of the population, including his wife and young daughter, three years earlier. The virus behind the plague was a vampiric bacillus, so all of the people who died and were not destroyed by fire have come back as vampires. Luckily for Morgan, the vampires are quite weak and simple-minded, for they attack his fortified home every night in an effort to get in and kill him. By day, Morgan goes out hunting the walking nightmares and driving stakes through their hearts, but there are so many that the project seems almost futile. Midway through the movie, we are treated to a pretty extended set of flashbacks to the early days of the virus and the deaths of Morgan's wife and daughter. Toward the end, Morgan is shocked to find a woman wandering outside during the day, the first human being he has seen in three years. He takes her home with him and thus sets the stage for the movie's memorable climax. Obviously, Vincent Price carries this movie on his own back, given the fact that the vast majority of the action takes place around him and no one else. He plays things rather subtly for the most part, which I found quite effective. His memories make him laugh sometimes, but Price's signature laugh evolves quite effectively into sobs of anger and frustration. The most poignant moments of the film, in my opinion, come when Morgan finds a dog outside his house, the first living creature he has seen in three years. The dog initially runs away from him in fear, but the suffering creature eventually comes back. Morgan cleans him and fixes up his wounds, but the new friendship he exults over soon becomes just another tragedy. The movie doesn't dwell on the dog episode nearly so much as Matheson does in his novel, and for this I am grateful because I find it rather heartbreaking. The little dog gives an incredible performance, but as is so often the case the canine actor does not even merit a mention in the credits. The Last Man on Earth really is a remarkably good movie and really showcases the immense acting abilities of Vincent Price. I wish it would have delved into the science of the virus much more intensely than it did; the scientific aspects of Matheson's story are what make it such a phenomenally good vampire novel. The inner turmoil and chaotic nature of Morgan's thoughts cannot really be presented effectively on film, nor can the actions and motives of some of the other players in the drama be thoroughly understood. The script writers did take some liberties with the concluding scenes, but it is really for the best because the novel's conclusion would not have worked in this medium without the audience being given a much more penetrating look into the minds and motives of the characters involved. Some might find the movie creepy, but there is really nothing here that will disturb the timid viewer-the camera never actually shows any of the gruesome acts that tend to be committed by human beings against vampires and vice versa. Somber and depressing as it can be, The Last Man on Earth is the type of distinguished horror movie that appeals in some way to just about everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Missy's Review of The Last Man On Earth
Review: The movie "The Last Man on Earth" is one of those movies that at this point in time people may laugh at or leave the theater. Usually when people hear that it's a black and white film they turn it away immediately. There is much more to this movie then viewers may think. Sure, it has its moments where a person can't help not to laugh at, but it also has great points that most people look past. The main reason most viewers look past the entire movie is because they are so used to the films that are out today. There are movies like "Lord of the Rings" that have so much action and awesome special effects that blow older movies away. The technology is so advanced that the directors are competing for the most complex scripts and scenes. What makes a great movie? Movies are supposed to leave some things to the viewer's imagination or they'll never use their brains. "The Last Man on Earth" leaves so much out, that it really makes a person think. The new releases that are out are quite similar to this film are movies like "Dawn of the Dead", "Resident Evil", and "28 Days Later". They all deal with some kind of virus getting out and killing almost every person on earth and only a few are still alive. Some people would say that these are run-offs of "The Last Man on Earth" and "Night of the Living Dead" which are both old movies. The only thing missing in "The Last Man on Earth" from movies today is blood, humor, and nudity. Do those characteristics really make a movie? It's ridiculous to add comedy to a scary movie or horror flick. That will just confuse the viewer to either laugh or to be scared. One of the main things that are seen in films today is nudity. It's like a movie is not good enough unless some kind of body part is exposed. Plus, a viewer will barely ever see a naked male, but almost always see a naked female. That doesn't really satisfy both genders. Most movies are sexist and view women as incredibly weak, unstable, sex objects. This movie has its downsides because of the lack of realistic situations. One thing to think about is that Morgan couldn't get the disease because a bat bit him, so there has to be more people or animals out there that has the same anti-venom. There are millions of people out there. If there were no more people alive except Morgan after three years, how is the electricity still working? It was ironic that a lady would appear out of nowhere and then run away. The movie viewed women as uneducated, unsuccessful, house wives. The wife of Morgan was the first person to transform into a vampire or zombie. The viewer gets to decide if the dead are actually zombies or vampires. Throughout the movie it gives hints that the creatures are vampires but it also gives hints that they could be zombies. They only come out at night, they hate to see themselves in the mirror, they're allergic to garlic, and they bite at the neck. On the other hand, they look like zombies, they seem retarded and dumb, and they come back to life after they are dead. So it's anyone's assumption on which creature they really are. There is so much imagery in this movie. It makes a person look at life in another perspective and to not take simple things like going outside at night to see the stars and going to the grocery store for granted. In this movie Morgan couldn't go out at night time and during the day he spent all of his time filling up his gas tank, getting just enough can food to last him, new mirrors and fresh garlic to protect himself. He would wood up his house and have crosses all around to keep them out. This showed how a person can protect themselves in their own home and to believe in god. A scene that was a little ironic was when Morgan ended up dieing in a church. That is symbolic since he was the last real man on earth. When Morgan cures the infected woman with his blood, it shows that people can actually cure each other, and we have our own medicine within us. Since the people who were infected but found a semi-cure killed Morgan, it states that we kill what could keep us alive. He was the last human alive and they killed him out of stupidity. For the most part this movie is well written and great for the horror lovers. "The Last Man on Earth" has meaning behind the scenes and actually makes people think deeper then what's handed to them. The viewer gets to create or add on to the film. A famous novelist, Wolfgang Iser believes "texts leave great portions unexplained to the reader, whether as gaps in the narrative or as structural limits of the text's representation of the world. This basic indeterminacy "implies" the reader and begs her participation in synthesizing, and indeed living, events of meaning throughout the process of reading." This means that if you replace text and reading for script and viewing it would make since that this is what the producer and writer of this movie wants to capture with his/her audience.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Horror Flick
Review: There are few films that I saw as kid which still stay with me to this day. This is one of them. Vincent Price gives one of his best movie portrayals in this haunting, dark film. I, too, remember the zombies calling for "Morgan." The scariest scene for me involved an "unexpected visitor" knocking at his door. You'll know what I mean when you see this classic. Turn the lights low late some Friday night and let Vincent do what he does best in this gem!
Rating:
Summary: Good but Not Great
Review: There is an upside to this movie as well as a downside. The upside is it's the closest adaptation to Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND the silver screen has yet offered. The downside is it ain't exactly Forbidden Planet quality Sci Fi. I think it does a reasonable job of capturing the original novel on film considering the year it was made and the fact that it's a foreign film (it has the original setting--something its remake THE OMEGA MAN chose to abandon). To say this is one of the best films to come out of Italy would be more than somewhat inaccurate, though. I really wish the canceled Ridley Scott project mentioned in Amazon.com's review had been realized. I was hoping we would finally have a decent version of Matheson's powerful and all-round excellent novel make it to the silver screen. Oh well, c'est la vie. A movie well worth buying.
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