The Last Man on Earth
Madacy Edition
Italy - U.S.A. / 1964
Directed by Sidney Salkow
Starring
Vincent Price
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Franca Bettoia
B&W / 87 Minutes / Not Rated
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC)
Madacy Home Video
Hold your mouse pointer over an image for a pop-up caption

Review by
Brian Lindsey
 
6
     5   10 = Highest Rating  
Though EC has already looked at this film with a review of the Diamond double feature disc (which pairs it with House on Haunted Hill), Madacy — another "budget" company — has released a stand-alone version of The Last Man on Earth which looks and sounds significantly better. (You can read our original review by clicking HERE.) As a fan not only of star Vincent Price but also Richard Matheson's source novel and the 1971 remake, The Omega Man, I felt it was a good time to revisit it. Truly, it's a rare thing when an excellent book results in two very different film adaptations that can stand on their own individual merits.
    The Italian-American co-production Last Man on Earth is certainly the most faithful cinematic version of Matheson's groundbreaking I Am Legend (1954), adhering quite closely to the book. In comparison to Omega Man the alterations made are relatively minor... The name of the main character is changed (from "Neville" to "Morgan"), as is his pre-Apocalypse occupation (from factory worker to scientist), and the climax is beefed up to be more visually dramatic. The Omega Man, while retaining the literary character's name, jettisons just about everything else. Befitting its star, Charlton Heston, that film is a science fiction action movie with a big dose of tough guy testosterone. You sure as hell won't see ol' Chuck breaking down and weeping in abject despair over his cruel, lonely plight.
    Price, on the other hand, is anything but the stoic, square-jawed action hero. His very human protagonist suffers a range of psychological distress, evoking our heartfelt sympathy at his anguish. Heston's Neville has no family, no life outside his work in the flashbacks that detail the End of the World. Price's Morgan has a wife and young daughter that he loses to the Mankind-destroying plague. Thus, of the two screen adaptations, Last Man on Earth is the more emotionally resonant. This doesn't mean it's necessarily the superior movie, however. Despite having their genesis in the same source material the two movies are so different it's like comparing apples and oranges. In the Price film (as in Matheson's novel), victims of the plague rise again to walk the earth as vampire-like zombies. Only the blood of the last normal human will slake their thirst. Our hero uses garlic and mirrors to keep them at bay during the night, while by day he hunts them down and stakes them using the tried-and-true Van Helsing method. Heston's enemies are mutants — light-sensitive albinos who want him dead out of a psychotic, quasi-religious conviction. Vampirism plays no role in the plot at all. Because it lacks the detailed interior monologue of the novel — in which much about the nature of the vampires is scientifically explained — Last Man comes off as less believable than its 1971 successor. (While watching it one may well ask, "Why don't the vampires just burn down Morgan's house?" This is explained in Matheson's novel, but not in the Price film.) So if you want gunplay and motorcycle escapes, go the action route with Omega Man's Colonel Neville. If you want a grim sci-fi/horror yarn grounded in the bleakest aspects of the human condition, spend some time with Robert Morgan. The poor soul could really use the company. He may not be the neatest housekeeper in the world, but he'll be happy to fix you a stiff drink and put on some of his jazz records.
I'd always heard nothing but bad things about Madacy discs. These negative comments can be boiled down to a single statement — transfers so lousy they're not even worth five bucks. So, while not shelling out a significant chunk of dough, I was still hesitant about purchasing the company's edition of Last Man on Earth when I spotted it at Best Buy. I'm glad I took the gamble. For a bargain bin cheapie this disc looks remarkably good. While not pristine, the letterboxed transfer is a quantum leap ahead of the Diamond version, which is dark, damaged, grainy and fullframe to boot. (Likely taken from a severely beat-up 16mm dupe.) For the Madacy DVD, the company apparently stole — ahem, ported the transfer from an old laserdisc release; the difference is like night and day. There's some moiré effect in two or three scenes and images aren't as razor sharp as they would be were this, say, an MGM Midnite Movie disc. But I shan't complain... especially for only five bucks! Sound quality is also greatly improved here. Dialog is clear and strong, hiss is kept to minimal levels and there's no distortion to speak of.
    I don't expect any extras on a 5 dollar disc but Madacy makes the attempt anyway. They really needn't have bothered, as for the most part they're pretty lame. There's a so-called biography of Price that doesn't really tell you very much, a screenshot of Last Man's original theatrical poster and a trivia quiz consisting of badly worded questions. Of more interest is a slate of 4 trailers, running as one continuous selection: The Giant Gila Monster, I Bury the Living, The Killer Shrews, and Killers from Space. (All are pretty ragged looking; sadly, the promo for Last Man isn't included.) And judging from the keepcase packaging, apparently no one at Madacy realized that Last Man is not a haunted house movie. (The flick's original poster is just as misleading, so I'll cut 'em some slack.) All in all I'm just happy to finally get a decent copy of the film on DVD. This is a good deal for the price. 4/01/03
UPDATE In September 2005 MGM released the hands-down best version of Last Man ever on home video, pairing it on a double feature disc with Ray Milland's apocalyptic Panic in Year Zero! (1962). You can read our review of this DVD HERE.
HOME | REVIEWS | TOP