Other Titles • The Last Man on Earth (1964) • L'Ultimo uomo della Terra • Naked Terror (1964) • The Night Creatures • Night People (1964) • Vento di morte • Wind of Death (1964) • The Damned Walk at Midnight
Synopses for The Last Man on Earth (1964)
1.
A terrible plague sweeps the Earth, and its victims become zombie vampires, roaming the night in a ravenous search for fresh blood. Dr. Robert Morgan may very well be the only human survivor of the plague, hiding in his ramshackle home from the creatures' nightly onslaught. With the dawn, he begins a gruesome ritual of gathering dead bodies lying about the city streets and disposing of them in a burning landfill. Packing garlic and sharpened wooden stakes, Morgan hunts down the zombie-like creatures during the daylight hours in an effort to control their ever-increasing numbers.
A scientist whose family has succumbed to the plague, Morgan has seen the airborne disease quickly spread through Europe, transforming the population into nocturnal blood drinkers. The creatures are hell-bent on destroying Morgan, eerily calling his name in the night. While burying a diseased dog, Morgan sees a young woman who appears to be normal and chases her down. she is part of a large band of rebel humans who are fighting their infection with an antidote. Morgan may have killed many of these people, believing them to be vampires. He believes he can cure the woman with a transfusion of his blood, but time is running out. The vampires and the rebels both want Morgan dead!
Based on Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, The Last Man On Earth has the same unnerving, stark black & white realism of Night Of The Living Dead but predates the latter by about five years. Equally low budgeted, both films have garnered huge cult following over the years for their gritty portrayals of a nightmarish, apocalyptic vision of zombie invasion. The Last Man On Earth, made in Italy, features veteran horror star Vincent Price, who expertly conveys the feat and isolation of a man believing himself to be alone among a population of vampires. Co-star Giacomo Rossi-Stuart appeared in the cult favorite The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave. Remade in 1971 as The Omega Man with Charlton Heston, The Last Man On Earth was directed by Sidney Salkow, who also directed several episodes of TV's The Addams Family and worked with Price on the thriller Twice Told Tales in 1963.
(38 votes)
2.
Based on Richard Matheson's SF thriller I AM LEGEND, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is about a man who survives a global plague only to be stalked nightly by zombielike victims who call out his name. Vincent Price stars as Robert Morgan, a scientist who tried desperately to come up with a cure for an airborne virus that was killing people around the globe. Although he could not develop a serum in time to save his family, he himself seems to be immune from the disease. Thus, he is left to wander the streets by day, staking zombies, then barricading himself in his house each night as the zombies try to break in and kill him. Price is excellent in the role, going about his horrible business as if it were just another day: waking up and eating breakfast, putting on a suit, calmly staking the zombies, making dinner, listening to records at night. But when he suddenly sees what looks like another living soul out in the daylight, his world is suddenly turned inside out.
(36 votes)
3.
Vincent Price gives an atypically restrained performance as the sole survivor of a worldwide plague that revives its victims as bloodthirsty vampires. During the day, he canvasses his abandoned hometown, tracking down and stalking his former friends and neighbors, always making sure to return before nightfall, when the dead rise to assault his fortified house. Hope arrives in the form of an apparently normal young woman (Franca Bettoia), but her agenda proves to be even more sinister than that of the vampires.
Based on the 1954 novel by coscripter Matheson (whose displeasure with the final product spurred the use of a pseudonym), this Italian-made production is best known for its influence on George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The similarities between the two films go beyond the presence of shuffling zombies and housebound heroes; both feature taboo-breaking scenes of interfamilial murder, and both end on bleak, dystopian notes. While The Last Man on Earth lacks the political and darkly satirical shadings (and graphic gore) that make Night of the Living Dead a more memorable experience, the combination of Bava-esque Gothic atmosphere and bleak, documentary-style camerawork by directors Ragona and Salkow (the brother of Price's agent Lester Salkow) lend themselves to moments of pure frisson that compare laudably to Romero's film. Matheson's novel also provided the source material for the awkward 1971 Charlton Heston vehicle The Omega Man. A planned third version, helmed by Ridley Scott and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was shut down in its earliest stages due to skyrocketing budget costs. --Paul Gaita
(36 votes)
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