THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)

Streaming in color and it’s original black and white version on Tubi!
Directed by Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow.
Written by Richard Matheson (screenplay & novel), William F. Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, Ubaldo Ragona (screenplay).
Starring Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Umberto Raho, Christi Courtland

While most know I AM LEGEND from Will Smith’s slappy remake, my first experience with the story written by William Masterson was THE LAST MAN ON EARTH starring horror icon Vincent Price. Though heavy on narration by Price, this film is similar to Smith’s mostly solo adventure in that it spends the bulk of its time illustrating just how alone the titular character of Morgan truly is.

Price does a fantastic job of portraying a man who is trying to stay busy in order to retain his sanity. He’s a man on a mission to end the vampire plagued streets of the world one creature at a time, checking city blocks off of a map in his boarded up house. Price does a fantastic job, rarely uttering a line save for the narration, yet conveying his frustration crystal clearly. This is one of Price’s most sympathetic roles. There are no puffy shirts or Medieval speechery here—just a lone man wandering the streets trying to keep hold of his humanity against unbelievable odds.

Having read and viewed Richard Matheson’s masterpiece in its various forms through the years, it’s a testament to Matheson’s story that it still holds up today. Though the “vampires” in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH move more like zombies, the film utilizes much of the vampire mythos for its story with nods to the vamps’ aversions to garlic, crosses, and their own reflections. At times, the horror of this story is a mirror image of its time and might not shock the jaded audiences of today, but I can’t believe anyone won’t get chills when Morgan confronts his undead wife. It’s Price’s performance that makes this version of Matheson’s tale so special.

Though I didn’t hate Smith’s modern update, I definitely prefer Price’s performance in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH and can’t help but picture him every time I re-read the Matheson classic.

Check out the trailer here!!