Sunday 15 January 2012

The Last Man on Earth (1964)



Film of 2012 #13
Some Spoilers

The film based upon the Richard Matheson Novella "I Am Legend" it is the 1st adaptation and  the truest to the original story. It follows Vincent Price in the titular role of the only surviving Man in a world over run by vampires. If you have ever read the book, this is the visualisation of the world that Matheson envisioned and explores what it would be like to be the only living human in a world of Vampires.

I love the book and the story and the end point that explains the title and the fact that you might not necessarily know what the consequences of your actions are no matter what your intentions or or thoughts The biggest flaw for this film for me is that Vincent Price while an awesome actor and character he is very much Vincent Price and it is hard to see past this when watching the film but still you get the idea of the impression that Matheson was trying to convey in the book.

This film is a must for all fans of genre films and the Richard Matheson story, this is a solid 4 star recommend for me, the flaw of the wrong actor for the art and the clearly small budget within a film that is clearly dated, still well worth seeing.

1 comment:

  1. There first adaptation I saw was Omega Man and it still remains my favourite. I was a little disappointed by this one as it wasn't 'urgent enough'. I love Price but he just didn't work in this for me. It is an interesting new take on the Vampire lore though.

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