Mrs. Seeber~editor in chief

Mrs. Seeber~ EDITOR in Chief...a blog for my cleaver husband to rant about our favorite pasttime~ movie watching

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Last Man on Earth 1964

Vincent, Vincent, Vincent what were you thinking?  Saw another one last nigh that I had never seen before- The Last Man on Earth. An over-dubbed Italian flick that has all the things that should have made it killer but the only thing that died was this movie.  Is it the worst movie I have ever seen- no way, is it the worst Vincent Price movie (in my opinion) I have ever seen- bingo bango bongo.

It was written by a master of horror/sci-fi stories, Richard Matheson.  More famous for The Shrinking Man, Hell House, Stir of Echoes, Twilight Zone episodes and for the most recognizable version of this story, I am legend.  There are actually 3 (or more if you count rip-off versions like- the 1968 Night of the living dead) versions of this all with big name actors; this one, Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston and I am Legend with Will Smith.  All of them except the Smith version (which isn't perfect either) pretty much dropped the ball (and then tripped on it).
The story, which is now classic, a plague wipes out nearly everyone, lonely survivor, human chasing zombies and add in a nice vampire twist.  To give you an idea how much Matheson liked it he pulled out on it but to get credit (and therefore money) he let them credit him as Logan Swanson.  Smart move Ricky!

I was never a fan of watching people’s mouths move and it not matching what they were saying, the setting was dumb (if zombies were banging on your house every night, calling you by NAME and saying they wanted to kill you, wouldn't you move or at least board up the dang windows), the acting was weak (even Vince, looked like he was going through the motions), the zombies were embarrassing and the pace slow (much like the zombies).  I read that someone thought that this was Price’s best movie- oh my- was it the only one they ever saw him in?  He was better in the Michael Jackson video- Thriller!  The House of Wax kicked this movies butt.  I was a little excited when I saw this was coming up I have since come to my senses.
A critic once said that this movie was able to “conjure up some genuine chills”  pa-leeeeeeeeeeeeeease….he must have been sitting in front of an outstanding air conditioner at the NorthPole!
   

2 comments:

  1. MORGAN...MORGAN...MORGAN Loved this movie as a kid, but doesn't cut it for adults. First saw it on Chiller Theater with Chilly Billy Cardille.

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  2. Good. God. You are so wrong. This was a great movie. Admittedly the Heston version was better. The greatest thing about this movie was the reversal they did with the plot in that the human ended up being the monster. That creature that came during the day and killed. The creature you told your kids about so they would be good.

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