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Summary: Morgan, Morgan, Come Out Morgan...
Review: Back in the 1970's, while growing up in suburban Detroit, the highlight of any weekend was 11:30 on Saturday night, when local horror movie host/nut job/cultural icon The Ghoul aired on (at various points in time) Channel 50 or Channel 20. The show was a combination of bad movies (usually punctuated with our hero's overdubbed comments, dialog, and belches), TV show parodies, and blowing up models or his nemesis Froggy with M-80's or cherry bombs. Vincent Price's "Last Man On Earth" was one of the films that received The Ghoul treatment but really was several cuts above most of the cinematic dreck featured on the show. Based on the novel "I Am Legend," the film ultimately went on to influence both "The Omega Man" and George Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead." No self-respecting horror fan should be unfamiliar with the plot, which centers around the dead coming back to life to battle the living, in this case Price. Our hero holes up in his boarded-up house during the day as the zombies bang on his windows and doors, groaning "Morgan, Morgan...Come Out Morgan..." while Price quietly contemplates the carnage he will wreak once the sun sets as he systematically and fruitlessly attempts to terminate his death-sucking friends. One of the least known of Price's movies, but certainly amongst his best.
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Summary: THE quintessential Post-Apocalyptic horror film!
Review: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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Summary: horror, noire, religious allegory and a great performance
Review: For $...- this film is an absolute steal for horror fans - and also for those who are fond of film symbolism.The Bad Obvious budget problems, some hooky dubbing voices, continuity errors such as having night and day appear in the same scene and some questionable acting. - But not by Vincent! Due to the flaws the film might elicit laughs by indiscriminate viewers. Just avoid watching the film with these types - we all know who they are. The Good The film has many noire elements: the despairing, unstable, confused loner, deserted streets, a voice over narration describing the inner world of the protagonist and a fem-fatale. The film takes place in a modern post apocatalypitc Las Angeles but there are abundant elusions to the dark ages of medieval Europe: spears as weapons, paranoia, fear of the supernatural, plague victims, wrong headed crusaders, and vehicles carrying the dead to be consumed by fiery pits. The story has all the plot points of a religious allegory and on top of all this it's a horror movie. There is an outstanding - one man show - performance by Price - Price plays his character as if he were a 120 year old man in a forty year old body- tired worn out frustrated, angry, depressed, moping, hunched shouldered and dug deeply into the worst nightmarish rut imaginable. His only activities are to go out by day and destroy former victims of the plague now turned into goulash vampires - By night he boards up his house and drinks himself into a stupor. The original story by "I am Legend" Richard Matheson was very good to begin with but the Last Man on Earth screenplay adds more symbolism, which gives the film additional depth. Much of the film is told in flash backs which reveal all the hero's errors in judgment. Last Man On Earth is a moody, dark, compelling nightmare. This DVD version is from very good film stock My only complaint is that it apears as if the DVD may have been dubbed form a very good VHS print Other then this the film stock is almost flawless for an old movie- but know the film always had an appropriate gritty, documentary, black and white, look and sound.
Maybe the DVD does not deserve 5 stars but- but because of the films depth in story, Prices performance, pathos, intelligence and symbolism along with being a very good horror film ...! I cannot give this DVD anything but 5 starts. Absolutely no one who loves Vincent Price or, horror films should pass this up!
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Summary: Being The Last Man On Earth Looks Tiring!
Review: 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.
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Summary: Target for a buck
Review: I just picked this DVD up last night at Target. They have this special area near the entrance...Spot something....anyway found this DVD in there for only a buck. Bought and watched it. If you like the Dead movies you'll appreciate this one.
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Summary: An early take on zombiism
Review: I recently picked up this movie on a whim for $1. It's an early zombie film similar to the omega man where the people are sickened by a virus that wipes out most of the planet leaving only a few survivors - only it's not actually a zombie film at all, but a vampire film based on Richard Matheson's 'I am legend'. But anyway, I prefer to see it as a zombie film. More interesting is that vincent price's character seems to by the ONLY person who survives without getting sick - all the others are kept alive by some mysterious treatment.
anyway, that's all details. the important thing is that this movie starts better than it ends, but that's OK, it's still fun. i think that this is the only zombie movie i can think of that presents zombification as non-to those who are attacked. (i can't remember if this is the case in the omega man.)
they're also slow and weak and don't seem to have the typical hunger for human brains. interestingly they do foreshadow bub's memory of their past lives, and they even taunt price as they clamour at his door at night.
i used to think zombie movies began with romero and ended with evil dead, this pushes the timeline back a llittle further into the past.
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Summary: Vampires as Zombies....different
Review: I saw this movie last week on Amazon, never having heard of it, and decided to pick it up. I must say, it really was a good decision. This movie gives a different take on the whole zombie genre(probably because it was created before Night of the Living Dead was capable of tatooing the typical zombie into our minds).
Anyway, Vincent Price plays Morgan, who literally is The Last Man on Earth. The rest of the human population has been taken ill with a virus that slowly kills them and brings them back to life as blood-thirsty zombies. But they really only move like Zombies. They share the same qualities that a vampire would(afraid of their reflection, afraid of garlic and crosses, etc...) We are given a good walk-thru of what the average day in the life of Morgan is like and then the movie takes a spin to his life before the virus spread. This is my favorite part of the movie, because you can really see the influenece this movie had on George Romero. There are news casts, trying to explain what is going on, there are people who are afraid oftheir bestfriends..it really is excellent.
Finally, the movie goes back to the present and Morgan discovers a woman walking around. He brings her back to his home, after much convincing..And I will save the awesome ending for you too see....Enjoy!!
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Summary: Religious analysis...
Review: I watched this movie in my composition II class at USF and I really enjoyed. I wrote the following paper regarding the underlying religious symbolism throughout the movie. It was very well done for its time and I would definitely recommend it. Robert Morgan, who is the main character and in fact "the last man on earth," survives a certain plague-type epidemic that engulfs almost everyone on the face of the planet. Morgan lives day by day throughout the movie in fear for his life and preparing for the sun to set and the defense to go up. The virus affects humans by turning them into zombie-like vampires that only emerge at night to feed on fresh blood and spread the disease into the healthy population. Morgan just so happens to be the last man untouched by the sickness which has a symbol in itself. The writer intends to portray Morgan as Jesus, the Jewish savior for which Christianity is based on. Jesus was thought of as a threat to the Jews during his time. His religious beliefs that he was the son of God angered the Jewish people greatly. They looked at him, as what would be equivalent to in this day and age, a cult leader. Morgan is by no means portrayed as a cult leader but he is in fact the only man left who is healthy and in the right state of mind. Everyone is after to kill him because they looked at him as dangerous and a threat to their existence. This resemblance could be built upon the writer's intentions on comparing Jews to zombies who are out to eliminate anyone that doesn't conform to their beliefs. Morgan holds a cure to the virus, his blood. It's yet another symbolic approach to the pro-Christian ideology intended by the writer. Morgan's blood is "pure," immune to the virus and the key to saving human existence. Robert Morgan developed immunity to the virus during a fever he obtained which made his blood very valuable to the infected. The zombies did not see this and continued to pursue his extermination. According the Bible, Jesus had the power to heal the sick and helpless. The correlation between Jesus' special ability and Morgan's unique blood draws a holy characteristic in Morgan. He is very much portrayed as a modern day Jesus in this fashion. As the movie progresses towards the end, the religious affiliation is very evident. Morgan learns of the infected people that have been taking an injection to help house the virus from fully affecting them, turning them into blood thirsty zombies. These infected people now see him as a threat since he has been eliminating them, not knowing that they have found a way to sustain the virus. Morgan's actions at this point are much like that of Jesus'. Morgan was only trying to eliminate the zombies, not innocent people. He didn't understand that his actions were being shunned upon by the "healthy" infected group. He even goes about transfusing his blood to the infected woman he meets, making her immune. The correlation with Jesus here is that Jesus was only doing what he believed. He didn't mean to harm anyone, but the majority of the population looked down on his beliefs and actions and still persecuted him. The infected party didn't want to give him a chance, or even explain to him that they found a way to control the virus. This similarity may not be very clear on the surface but the facts between these two ideas are strikingly similar. The religious symbolism even expands out past the portrayal of Robert Morgan as Jesus. As Ruth enters the picture, so do the symbols of Jesus' once loyal friend turned betrayer, Judas. Ruth, who is part of the "healthy" infected population, runs into Morgan out during the bright hours of the day. Morgan is shocked by the sight of a healthy woman. It's no coincidence that she just happens to run into him as she makes it appear because we soon learn of her deadly role. Ruth is acting as a spy for the infected population hoping to find some information on Robert Morgan to eliminate him. Morgan takes the woman into his home and cares for her. He even goes about transfusing his blood to her body to destroy the virus in her. Ruth realizes Morgan's value and good intentions and this specific detail is very symbolic of religion. According to the bible, Jesus cared for Judas as did Morgan cared for Ruth. Judas then turns his back on Jesus to collect an award for information on Jesus. After Judas does this he then realizes what he has done and tries to stop the Jews from arresting Jesus. Ruth in turn, tries to save Morgan as Judas did. She tries to explain the good to the people against him but no one will listen. Jesus and Morgan both suffer death because of the betrayal of a friend and misunderstanding of a population. The death of Robert Morgan is the most powerful and religious attribute throughout the entire movie. Any doubt of the presence of religion will sure be over ruled by these scenes. Moments before he is executed by the infected group, he is seen fleeing from them, trying to escape. He tries to seek refuge in the closest, safest building which just so happens to be a church. However, this church was not able to bring help to him. He was already marked for death and the infected followed him right into the church and up to the altar. There he stands, facing the group, above them all on the alter. This scene is the most religious symbol present in this movie. He is about to be executed like Jesus, above the enemies, just as if he were on a cross. He is then hit with a spear in the chest and collapses at the foot of the altar.
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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.
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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.
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