A mysterious disease sweeps across the globe, carried by the wind. Dr. Robert Morgan works desperately with a team of scientists to find a cure while the dead pile up at alarming rates. Soon the government turns to burning the corpses in hopes of containing the plague. Dr. Morgan's own family comes down with the disease. Rumours spread of some of the corpses returning to life as vampires.
Soon Dr. Morgan finds himself alone. Somehow possessing immunity to the disease, he is now the last man on earth. But at night the living dead, zombie-like vampires, rise from their resting places and come out to hunt. Each day Morgan searches the city, destroying any vampires he encounters. Each night, he takes sanctuary in his home and waits for the protective cover of sunrise.
Based on the 1954 horror novel, I Am Legend, the story embodied in The Last Man on Earth has been remade on film twice since; in The Omega Man (1971), and I Am Legend (2007). It also inspired the seminal film in modern zombie cinema, Night of the Living Dead, which was released only four years later.
The Last Man on Earth stars the legendary horror actor Vincent Price. Like other films of that era, it lacks the fancy special effects and make up, and the gore, that we have grown accustomed to in modern horror movies. It also features some pretty awful acting on the part of most of the cast, and some fairly campy music aimed at setting the mood.
All of this fails to stop The Last Man on Earth from being a pretty good watch, however. In fact, it easily keeps the viewer interested as we gradually learn how Dr. Morgan to to where he is today, and what his life has become. Then, a plot twist that could change everything and save the human race. Could...
4 wreaths of garlic out of 5
Unrated. Contains mild violence.
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