Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

*cue catchy jingle*

Ten more days to Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.
Ten more days to Halloween - Silver Shamrocks!

Welcome Boys and Ghouls to Month of the Living Dead, my thirteen day (and then some) tribute to that most wonderful of holidays ever - Halloween! Join me, wont you, as I watch the sinister and the silly, the morbid and the macabre, the violent and gruesome in a two week bloodletting that comes to a boil on the eve of all saints.

*cue thunder and lightning effect*

So sit back, turn the lights down low and get ready for today's presentation of. . . .

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (and the House on Haunted Hill)! Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!

*cue commercial break*

Today in true drive-in movie fashion, we get a Vincent Price double feature!

Let's see: a lack and white, low budget film with tons of mood and atmosphere? Our lead protagonist trapped in a house? An slowly shuffling army of ghouls recently back from the dead? A downbeat ending where the Hero loses? Sounds like Night of the Living Dead, doesn't it? Surprise - it's Vincent Price, beating George Romero to the punch by a decade!

The year is 1964 and Robert Morgan is The Last Man on Earth. The problem - he isn't alone. You see, a incurable, virulent plague has swept across Europe, decimating the population (and not in the traditional roman "reduce by 1/10th" either). As the plague spread to the rest of the globe, the dead began rising from their graves, becoming undead, flesh eating ghouls. The Authorities vainly attempted to prevent the dead from reanimating, seizing the bodies of expired citizens and dumping them into a plague pit - but to no avail, and the air-born plague soon claimed the lives of Morgan's wife and young daughter - and yet somehow sparing him. In the three years since, Morgan has proven immune to the disease and now shelters himself in his home, protected by mirrors, garlic and other anti-vampire paraphernalia. And so Morgan wages a desperate war against the hordes of the undead who seek to kill . . .. the last man on earth!

The original source for The Last Man on Earth is Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend - while his name may not ring a bell, the works almost certainly will. Matheson is the same author that brought you The Shrinking Man (no Incredible in the print version's title) and penned the classic Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.

The premise also might be familiar to the reader, mostly thanks to the remakes and adaptations since then. The story served heavily as the inspiration for George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Charlton Heston's 1971 Omega Man. There's also a forthcoming Will Smith vehicle sporting the original name coming Christmas 2007 (end of the world with flesh eating ghouls? What better a Christmas movie that that?), although, as I understand it, it only vaguely draws on the original premise - so the less said about that, the better. Of all those adaptations, The Last Man on Earth is probably the most faithful to the original work - most likely because Matheson co-wrote the screenplay - with just the protagonist's name changed and the ending spiced up a bit.

Let me make this perfectly clear - Vincent Price is an acting god, and he totally makes this film. It's a a quiet, measured piece, and haunting tale for most of its running length, and if a weaker star was in the Morgan roll (or if they had simply decided to go with the large caliber explosive heroics of Charlton Heston), it wouldn't have been nearly as good. But Price give a heart-wrenching performance of a man left behind to bear, quite literarily, the weight of the world on his shoulders, alone with the pain of losing his friends and family.

The movie is not without flaws - mainly the low budget, some often dubious attempts to pass off Italian shooting locations for the greater Los Angeles area, and an action filled climax that's not quite keeping with the somber moments of terror during the first two reels - but the film still works because of the bleak imagery, some well done atmosphere and of course Vincent's world weary performance. In short, The Last Man on Earth is essential viewing - if nothing else, to see the progenitor of the modern zombie film - for any horror fan.

TOTAL BODY COUNT: Thousands (off screen)
MOST MEMORABLE KILL: Getting stabbed with a spear. Ouch.
GALLONS OF BLOOD USED: 0
SPRING LOADED CATS: 0
THE MORON OF THE MOVIE AWARD GOES TO: Virginia Morgan for falling into typical 50's television housewife patterns and totally folding in a crisis situation.
BREASTS ON DISPLAY: 0
BEST LINE: "Your new society sounds charming."

The other side of the disc sports The House on Haunted Hill, a 1959 feature produced and directed by the godfather of the B-Movie gimmick: William Castle.

Millionaire Frederick Loren (Price) invites five people to join him and his wife at a haunted house party. Each guest will be paid $10,000 - provided that they survive a night in his house. Amongst the guests include Jet pilot Lance Schroeder, the naïve and impressionable Nora Manning, society columnist Ruth Bridges, Doctor David Trent looking to test his theories on the effects of psychological trauma, and Watson Prichard who once spent a night in the possessed house - and when he was found the next morning, he was nearly dead.

When midnight comes, the doors are sealed and the windows barred - and the guests have to see if they can survive a night in the house on haunted hill!

While the weaker film of the double feature, sporting considerable lapses in credulity and some plot holes large enough to drive a truck through, House on Haunted Hill succeeds as a typical William Castle slice of spooky fluff, with some genuine shocks thrown into the mix which still pack a jolt. Price chews up the scenery with great aplomb, his tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Despite the cheese and gimmicks and trappings of the period and whatnot, the film still holds up well. The film is overflowing with a moodiness that's as engaging as they come. Oh sure, the acting is borderline hammy at times; but the sincerity of the cast prevents the movie from melting down in to an over the top farce. There are enough twists and turns to the plot to keep the attention of the viewer - no it's not going to scare anyone these says, but it's still a fun movie.

My only regret is that we don't get the original Emergo! effect. In an effort to elicit bigger and better scares from the audience, Castle introduced a shocking new element that would allow a fearsome fiend to break free of the movie screen and actually enter the screening auditorium. Okay, it was just a pulley system rigged up so that at the push of a button from the projector booth, a plastic skeleton would fly over the heads of the audience during the climax - but he was trying!

Ah, bless William Castle's heart. They just don't make movies like that anymore.

TOTAL BODY COUNT: 2
MOST MEMORABLE KILL: The acid bath at the end. Oh what a way to go.
GALLONS OF BLOOD USED: 0
SPRING LOADED CATS: 0
THE MORON OF THE MOVIE AWARD GOES TO: Honestly, nobody was outstandingly stupid here.
BREASTS ON DISPLAY: 0
BEST LINE: "It's a pity you didn't know when you started your game of murder that I was playing too."

THE DVD -
Release by the low budget label Diamond, this disc is a pretty no frills public domain affair. House on Haunted Hill looks pretty good, all things considered - and is widescreen to boot! Unfortunately, Last Man does not fare nearly as well as Haunted Hill. The movie is full frame (cropped from a wide screen format, I believe), the print is often scratchy and blemished; despite the back of the box claiming a "fully restored and enhanced digital masters" print.

If Haunted Hill is your movie of choice, then this disc will probably fit your needs. If it's Last Man that you're after, consider seeking out the double header with Panic in Year Zero! from the MGM Midnight Movie line.. The print, so I'm told, is the superior version. You'll pay a bit more (ten bucks as opposed to five for the Diamond release), but it'll be worth it.

THE EXTRAS -
Sadly, aside from text bios for Price and Castle, nothing.

THE BOTTOM LINE -
The Last Man on Earth is no timeless classic, but it is definitely a distinctive little chiller that had a long lasting impact on the genre. House on Haunted Hill is a fun fluffy bit of schlock with some nice atmosphere and the occasional "gotchya". As a double-bill, this pairing of Price chillers is top notch, especially when you consider that you've probably paid five bucks for the set.

Join me next time for another journey into the macabre. Until then. . . pleasant SCREAMS! Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!

*cue thunder and lightning effect*

My Month of the Living Dead reviews:
* THE EVIL DEAD
* NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
* PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE
* THE FOG
* REVELATION OF THE DALEKS
* DAWN OF THE DEAD
* THE LAST MAN ON EARTH/HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL
* DAY OF THE DEAD
* RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
* THE OMEGA MAN
* NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 3D
* THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED UP ZOMBIES
* LAND OF THE DEAD
* MASTERS OF HORROR - HOMECOMING
* 28 DAYS LATER
* WHITE ZOMBIE
* HALLOWEEN




Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12