Ahh back to my horror classics for a bit... Unlike the other Vincent Price classics I've reviewed, 1964's thriller The Last Man on Earth is based on the novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson rather than Poe. This is a very good adaptation.

Robert Morgan is the only living human left on Earth. For 3 years he's been alone after a plague wiped out humanity. He apparently was the only one who was immune to it. Morgan has much more to worry about than loneliness though...

Seems some of the dead have come back to life. Now, I gotta tell ya that these were closer to zombies in look and movement... but the movie says vampires and there's the whole wooden stake and garlic thang happening, so who am I to judge? heh. Even with that one bit of weirdness, this is a great movie.

Price is his usual low key self. He was once a scientist working on a cure for this plague.. now he just spends his days hunting for the hiding places so he can kill them, and his nights listening to them trying in vain to get into his house. Price was always very good at showing desperation in his face. Here we also get an acute sense of loneliness. The character Morgan fights with himself daily, almost ready to just give up. Price deftly gets this across.

This was filmed in black and white and I am very glad it has not been colorized. The B&W just gives it a creepier feel. I think colorizing would detract from the atmosphere quite a bit.

Price did a lot of Corman flicks in the 60s, but this one was an Italian job Directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow. Ragona only did a few other Italian flicks, but Salkow had his hand in a number of American TV series such as 77 Sunset Strip, The Addams Family, and Maverick, along with movies like Twice-Told Tales. I'm a major Corman fan, I have to say that this one was just right up there with his movies.

Last Man on Earth runs 86 minutes and is unrated. I'm saying any age at all. There's no language and the violence is surreal horror stuff.

Special Features include a short paragraph long bio on Price, a series of trailers from other horror flicks from the same era, and a fairly silly interactive quiz on the movie... All fun if you're into this type of old film though.

If you're into classic horror rather than today's hack-n-slash crap, then by all means pick this one up soon. It's every bit as good as Price's other horror flicks. 5 stars.


Other Vincent Price movies:
The Masque of the Red Death
http://www.epinions.com/content_90237079172

Fall of the House of Usher
http://www.epinions.com/content_89485119108

Pit and the Pendulum
http://www.epinions.com/content_88129834628

Tales of Terror
http://www.epinions.com/content_92066057860



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD