Bloodtype Online

    There have been many film adaptations of the Richard Matheson book "I am Legend" over the years.  George Romero has stated that "Night of the Living Dead" was an adaptation of the book, "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston is one as well, but in my opinion the most faithful adaptation of the book would have to be the 1964 Vincent Price vehicle "The Last Man on Earth".   Originally supposed to be made by the legendary Hammer Studio out of the UK, who decided against making the film and therefore passed it off to a counterpart of their's in the US named Robert L. Lippert.   Lippert had been producing films since the mid 40's at that point and ended up being the right man for the job. 

    "The Last Man on Earth" tells the story of the Dr. Robert Morgan a man who manages to survive a world wide plague of sorts that doesn't effect him.   He had received a vaccine years ago when working in Central America which seems to defend his body against the germ, while it manages to wipe out anything or anyone that was ever of importance to him.   But when the light fades and the dark of night creeps along Dr. Morgan is haunted by the people that surrounded him when before the plague, they come for his blood.   So in a world all by himself Dr. Morgan must figure out a way to survive, and the only person that he can depend on is himself. 

    The main focus of "The Last Man on Earth" is on the character of Dr. Robert Morgan which is a treat for the viewer because it's basically Vincent Price doing his thing on screen the entire film.   It's truly a vehicle in which Price gets to go through a wide range of emotions making the film that much more captivating.  Normally Price gets to have a little fun with his characters and ham it up a bit for the camera.   But considering the fact that in this movie he doesn't have to go over the top to play a person who maybe the most human character he's ever played, it's still an impressive job.  

    If you are fan of Matheson's novel this is the film adaptation to see.  It's not identical to the book page for page, but it manages to be the closest adaptation of the book to date.   It's faithful to the source material and I'm sure anyone who's a fan of the original writing will see that in the film.  But even if you are unfamiliar with the book you can still more than watch and enjoy the movie for what it is.   The one thing that I always loved about the story was that it had an undeniable quality about it that makes you put yourself in the shoes of our main character.   When movies are like that I find that not only does it make the movie better but it certainly adds something to the experience.  When I come to think of it, isn't that something that we'd like to experience in everything we see?   Maybe it's just me.

    Overall I would highly recommend "The Last Man on Earth" to horror fans and fans of the book as well.  It's a well written and the acting is exceptional, and above all it's just a really good movie.  Also the new reissue that the people at MGM/Fox Home Entertainment just released has the film looking better than ever as well as a short documentary about Richard Matheson in which he actually gets to vent some anger about how his books have been adapted to film although with the story changed.   Very interesting stuff nonetheless. 

Rating - ***

-Ed Demko