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.

Directors:

Ubaldo Ragona (as Ubaldo B. Ragona), Sidney Salkow

Writers:

Richard Matheson (screenplay) (as Logan Swanson), William F. Leicester (screenplay)

Stars:

Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vincent Price	...	Dr. Robert Morgan
Franca Bettoia	...	Ruth Collins
Emma Danieli	...	Virginia Morgan
Giacomo Rossi Stuart	...	Ben Cortman (as Giacomo Rossi-Stuart)
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

When a plague devastated life on Earth, the population died or became a sort of zombie living in the dark. Dr. Robert Morgan is the unique healthy survivor on the planet, having a routine life for his own survival: he kills the night creatures along the day and maintains the safety of his house, to be protected along the night. He misses his beloved wife and daughter, consumed by the outbreak, and he fights against his loneliness to maintain mentally sane. When Dr. Morgan finds the contaminated Ruth Collins, he uses his blood to heal her and he becomes the last hope on Earth to help the other contaminated survivors. But the order of this new society is scary.

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Plot Keywords:

post apocalypse | vampire | zombie apocalypse | mutant | virus | 

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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:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Matheson originally wrote the script in 1957, at which point it was to have been produced by "Hammer" films with Fritz Lang slated to direct.

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Goofs

Vampires, which they seem to be - killed by stakes, repelled by garlic, only coming out after dark etc - are not afraid of mirrors, they just don't reflect in them. Vincent Price's character users a mirror to repel the marauders outside his house and we see one clearly reflected And if indeed mirrors did repel these marauders then the one on the front door would have an effect, which it clearly doesn't. And neither does the garlic..

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

The 2008 DVD release by Ripley's Home Video in Italy restores not only the mother-with-crying-baby shots from the end scene of the film (as in the US MGM release), but also two lengthy sequences earlier in the film. The first is a flashback scene where Virginia consoles a tearful Morgan after the funeral of their daughter Kathy, while the second is a conversation between Morgan and Ruth after her she has changed into some of Virginia's clothes. Both scenes reinforce Morgan's utter devotion to his deceased wife and help to clarify his descent from a lively and vibrant family man to the grim loner, himself only one step away from the living dead.

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Connections

Referenced in LazyTown: The First Day of Summer (2013)

User Reviews

Vincent Price is Legend!!

I'm not sure why this film is as underrated as it is. This is an amazing, depressing and in many ways brilliant film based on the Richard Matheson classic novel "I Am Legend". Vincent Price effectively conveys the terror and despair of being the last living man on an Earth that is now overrun with vampires and/or zombies. The depiction of Price's day to day bleak existence is a moving and powerful thing to behold and the continual menace of the hordes of zombies is creepy in the same way as was later depicted in "Night of the Living Dead". In fact, as noted by others here, one can not watch the scenes where the zombies lay siege to Price's boarded up house and attack his car without recognizing how close these scenes would later be copied by George Romero in his classic zombie films. If you are a fan of horror film history or just looking for a classic and unique film with an interesting story, track down this lost gem.

Details

Country:

Italy USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

6 May 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Je suis une légende

Filming Locations:

Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Associated Producers (API), Produzioni La Regina

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1