The Last Man on Earth (1964)

When a disease turns all of humanity into the living dead, the last man on earth becomes a reluctant vampire hunter.

Director:

Ubaldo Ragona

Writers:

William F. Leicester (screenplay), Richard Matheson (screenplay),

Stars:

Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vincent Price	...	Dr. Robert Morgan
Franca Bettoia	...	Ruth Collins
Emma Danieli	...	Virginia Morgan
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	...	Ben Cortman
Umberto Raho	...	Dr. Mercer (as Umberto Rau)
Christi Courtland	...	Kathy Morgan
Antonio Corevi	...	Governor (as Tony Corevi)
Ettore Ribotta	...	TV Reporter (as Hector Ribotta)

Storyline

Dr. Robert Morgan is the only survivor of a devastating world-wide plague due to a mysterious immunity he acquired to the bacterium while working in Central America years ago. He is all alone now... or so it seems. As night falls, plague victims begin to leave their graves, part of a hellish undead army that''s thirsting for blood...his!

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Plot Keywords:

plague | night | disease | vampire | survivor | 

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Taglines:

Do you dare to imagine what it would be like to be... the last man on earth... or the last woman?

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 March 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Damned Walk at Midnight

Filming Locations:

E.U.R., Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni La Regina, Associated Producers (API)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To more accurately show how grueling it was for his character to survive, Vincent Price insisted on lifting real people into the back of his car instead of dummies. This is why it seems he's taking extra care with the bodies. For the scene at the pit, however, he's handling dummies for obvious reasons.

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Goofs

At 14:50 when Morgan is driving away from the grocery store on a street, he is driving his Chevy station seated on the right side of the car, as in England.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Robert Morgan: Another day to live through. Better get started.

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Connections

Featured in The Black Dahlia Haunting (2012)

User Reviews

Price gets apocalyptic in this extraordinary zombie flick!

Made four years before Night of the Living Dead, The Last Man on Earth tells a very similar story. Based on Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend", the film tells the tale of a terrible plague that has wiped out all of mankind and replaced them with vampire-zombie like creatures. Well, it's almost wiped mankind out - one man, Vincent Price, still remains. Now that he has inherited the Earth, the last surviving human has to hunt these creatures by day and then hole up in his house during the night. Vincent Price says most of dialogue in voice over, which gives this apocalyptic horror film a great element of pessimism, which is essential in order for the film to work. The way that Price reads his lines is done in such a way that it seems he has simply given up all hope, and this helps the tragic element of the movie, which is this film's main backbone. The dreary black and white cinematography helps this element of the film also, as it adds the degree of hopelessness and pessimism, which this story thrives on.

Quite how this film has reached the ripe old age of forty and still not garnered the praise and respect it deserves is beyond me. While Night of the Living Dead deserves the praise for 'really' creating the zombie movie that we all now know and love, this film got the theme first, and thus deserves it's place in the annals of film history. The story, even without the horror of the zombie creatures, still makes for fascinating food for thought. The idea of being left all alone on the Earth is simultaneously fascinating and horrifying, and by showing us the things that the protagonist has do every day to ward off the vampires (mirrors and garlic on the doors, hunting them by day), along with such quotes as "another day to live through" show the true horror of the idea behind the film. Of course, Vincent Price is one of the greatest actors of all time and his presence in the movie is easily one of the highlights. Price's great screen presence helps to offset the obvious low budget of the film and even during the slower moments, The Last Man on Earth still ensures that we are interested in what's going on, just by the fact that Price is there. On the whole, this is an extraordinarily brilliant film and one that deserves your viewing!