In my humble opinion, Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend" comes across much better in this 1964 version of "The Last Man On Earth" than it did in the 2007 Will Smith feature.
Shot in Italy, this stark film looks killer in a black & white!! I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fantastic Cinematography by Franco Delli Colli! 
Vincent Price puts in another tremendous performance as the last man, Dr. Robert Morgan!! Nothing to do, but count the days!!
Among other things, Vincent has a record player and listens to some swingin' jazz as a way to try and relax, meanwhile, Zombies are constantly trying to break into his pad!!Here's a "37 second soundbite" to sharpen your axe to!!
Vinnie doesn't get out much, if he uses up the rest of the gas left in the world, he's really going to be in trouble!!
So, let's see, this film was made in 1964, and the groundbreaking "Night Of The Living Dead" wouldn't be released until four years later, in 1968!! Very interesting!!
At this point Vinnie finally makes contact with another non-zombiefied human, and so the story just finally gets started.....You can get "The Last Man On Earth" on Netflix, and it streams freely on the internet, so what are you waiting for, the end of the world???
This is without a doubt the best movie version of I Am Legend! Although I do like The Omega Man. The Will Smith version was okay, but the vampires were way too video gamey for my taste.
ReplyDeletei believe i'll pass on the Will Smith version, thank you.
ReplyDeletei love the bit where Vinnie's dead best friend comes back to taunt him every night- i'm glad mine just phone it in...
I plan on waking up to that "37 second soundbite" in the mornings. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThe commentary on the Vincent Price Collection II Blu Ray said that "Night of the Living Dead" was influenced by "Last Man on Earth," and George Romero said in interviews that he got the idea from "I Am Legend."
ReplyDeleteFrom its reputation, I expected "Last Man" to be as chintzy as "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman." It is actually not a bad horror film, although it is hindered by its low budget.