The Last Man on Earth

No, I don't mean the guy you wouldn't date even if he were the last man on earth.

I've been on an Omega Man kick lately. The Omega Man is one of my favourite films, and along with Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green, form the must-see Chuck triple-bill.

First I re-read I Am Legend, the Richard Matheson book that started it all. It was a bit of a shock to realise the book is half a century old! Robert Neville's wife and daughter succumb to the plague bourne by dust-storms, and while baby girl is safely burned in a mass burial pit, Neville wants something more personal for disposing of his beloved's earthly remains, so he secretly digs a grave for her. Too bad she comes back! Neville seems immune to the plague, he thinks because he was bitten by a vampire bat, and in short order becomes the last man on earth (you know omega is the last letter in the greek alphabet, right?), seeking slumbering vampires during the day and baricading himself in his house at night, trying to drown out the taunts and attacks by former next-door-neighbour Ben Cortland.

After a few years he finds another survivor, a young woman whose husband was recently killed by the un-dead. Neville hasn't gotten any for awhile, and decides he needs a mate. Remember, this was written in the 50's, and his actions seem... rather brutish. But he has some fun before discovering she is a spy relying on the latest vampire science to keep safe in the nest of the man they hate and seek to destroy.

Stringing the stories in chronological order, the early 60's brought The Last Man On Earth, a B&W Italian production starring Vincent Price. Though great as an actor and icon, Price is no action hero. The film is pretty faithful to the book, except the character is re-named Mason and was a scientist doing research on the plague as it slowly came from Europe, and Ben Cortland is a slightly-paranoid fellow researcher and neighbour. Definately give this one a miss. It is boring, rather disjointed, and the production values are not the best (you can see the bodies of the obviously very light vampires bend as Price gathers them up).

1971 brought us The Omega Man, which is the best-known version (so far). Charlton Heston is Neville, who this time was a scientist in the military and is shorn of wife and child. The plague is the result of germ warfare and Neville survives because he tested the vaccine he developed on himself. Ben Cortland becomes Matthias, and his undead army become luddites.

Neville finds the woman (Lisa) when he is out "shopping" for some new threads. She has a whole gang of young people up in the hills who are infected but not yet ill. Neville cures one of them with antibodies from his own blood and plans to join them, but the vampires finally get him. In an ending full of hope, Neville dies a christ-like death and manages to give his life-giving blood to the young people.

The movie is violent and cool. No station-wagon corpsemobile for Chuck--he gets a convertible! The music is very 70's. It is also worth noting that the Lisa is black, which I didn't think was a big deal, but a friend pointed out interracial pairings were still unusual at the time, only a couple of years after the airing of Kirk and Uhura's famous kiss.

Currently being filmed is I Am Legend, starring Will Smith. My comparison here is based on a rumoured script, so heaven knows what the movie is going to look--this thing definately needs some tweaking. Neville is given back his wife and child in this version, which gives the character a strong emotional bias. In fact, he is a history professor and his daughter has recently been diagnosed with cancer. He begs a researcher at the university to give his daugher the experimental treatment that seems so successful (it's done wonders for Ben Cortland!). The vampires are much stronger. Packs of vampric dogs roam the streets. Eventually the woman makes contact, turns out she is an uninfected spy forced into service because her little brother is held by the vampires. Turns out there are a quite a few people held in underground San Francisco to provide delicious, nourishing blood. Very happy ending, though, which means it sucks.

I could easily see Will Smith in this incarnation of Neville. Much more action-hero, more violent, more special effects. Screw the station-wagon and convertible; the serious vampire-hunter needs a Land Rover. More high-tech weapons and security.

I am looking forward to seeing the movie next fall (?) and hopefully a lot of the stupid and sentimental will be wrung out of it first. My most fervent hope is that the special effects work, because the new vampires and weapons need it to pull the whole thing off.