Movie Review of The Last Man on Earth (1964)

The Trailer

The Plot

When a disease turns all of humanity into the living dead, the last man on earth becomes a reluctant vampire hunter.
(Source IMDB)

The Breakdown

Who is in it? Vincent Price
Genre: Horror
Was it scary? It was more of a suspense film.
Would this movie be for every horror fan? It’s for every classic horror fan.
Should you see it? Yes.

Movie Review Spoiler Alert Zone!

The Verdict

This is the movie they remade into the 2007 Will Smith movie called ‘I Am Legend’. Anything with Vincent Price is usually good (including the Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ video). I don’t know what it is about movies that have one lone cast member for the majority of the film that interests me so much, maybe it’s the skill of the actor chosen to act it out. I liked ‘Cast Away’ with Tom Hanks, ‘Phone Booth’ with Colin Farrell, and I’m pretty sure I’ll like the upcoming movie with Ryan Reynolds called ‘Buried’ scheduled to be released October 8th, 2010. Vincent Price is an Icon in the classic horror film, he has the awesome ‘horror voice’ which typically is used to narrate the films he stars in.

This film inspired George Ramero’s zombie classic ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968). The vampires movie around like the zombies from the Ramero films, yet hate garlic and their reflection. This film was adapted by the 1954 novel by author Richard Matheson titled ‘I am Legend’. Without this movie I’m not sure the world would have zombie films they way we do now, and for that I’m thankful to it. This movie was a lot more hardcore than the 2007 remake too, because the man has to watch his family get sick with the disease and slowly die. The army comes for his daughter’s body and he watches them throw her into this pit of fire. His wife turns and then dies, and he buries her, but she comes back for him. The quiet voice saying “..let me in…” it was creepy! This movie was a cool old flick with good use of suspense, I give it an 8/10.

Official Nutshell-Movies Explanation

The Last Man On Earth (1964): A scientist survives a pandemic that turns people into zombie-like vampires and struggles to find a cure.

Tags: horror classic, i am legend, pandemic, post apocalypse, richard matheson, the last man on earth, vampire movie, vincent price, virus movie, zombie movie

http://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/ Matthew Bradley

You’ve hit the nail on the head regarding the biggest problem with the Will Smith version: time and again, they made changes that reduced the story’s dramatic impact. Sure, it’s terrible that his family was killed in a helicopter crash, but isn’t what happened to Vincent Price’s family in this version (the most faithful to the novel) much, much worse? And instead of the pathetic pooch here, Smith gets Superdog, his faithful companion and ally against the Dark Seekers, which of course makes him less alone than he was in the original. For further information, see my book RICHARD MATHESON ON SCREEN (http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4216-4), tentatively due out in early October.
- http://www.facebook.com/eppiotic Justin
  
  Thanks! I’d like to check it out. I totally agree with you, this movie had more isolation and room for heartache than its 2007 counterpart. I have to admit I didn’t read the original novel by Matheson so I don’t really know if the Will Smith version was more true to the book or not, but as for the quality of movie is concerned ‘The Last Man on Earth’ is better.
  - http://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/ Matthew Bradley
    
    The Will Smith version was much less true to the book and, appropriately, credits not only the novel but also the screenplay of the 1971 version, THE OMEGA MAN (which dispenses with Neville’s family entirely), as its source material.
    - http://www.facebook.com/eppiotic Justin
      
      I was actually going to watch ‘Omega Man’ next to do a cross review lol. I’m going to be writing on a new topic called ‘Re-Makes Head to Head’ that will pit the new movies against the Originals and I planned on doing a three-way duel with these movies.