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The Last Man On Earth
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List Price: $5.98
Medicine Alternatives Price: $2.79
Your Savings: $ 3.19 ( 53% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: American International Pictures (AIP)
Starring: Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Umberto Raho
Directed By: Ubaldo Ragona, Sidney Salkow
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0777966841892
Format: Black & White
Label: American International Pictures (AIP)
Manufacturer: American International Pictures (AIP)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: American International Pictures (AIP)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-02-10
Running Time: 86
Studio: American International Pictures (AIP)
Theatrical Release Date: 1964-03-08
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Editorial Reviews:
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Vincent Price gives an atypically restrained performance as the sole survivor of a worldwide plague that revives its victims as bloodthirsty vampires. During the day, he canvasses his abandoned hometown, tracking down and stalking his former friends and neighbors, always making sure to return before nightfall, when the dead rise to assault his fortified house. Hope arrives in the form of an apparently normal young woman (Franca Bettoia), but her agenda proves to be even more sinister than that of the vampires. Based on the 1954 novel by coscripter Matheson (whose displeasure with the final product spurred the use of a pseudonym), this Italian-made production is best known for its influence on George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The similarities between the two films go beyond the presence of shuffling zombies and housebound heroes; both feature taboo-breaking scenes of interfamilial murder, and both end on bleak, dystopian notes. While The Last Man on Earth lacks the political and darkly satirical shadings (and graphic gore) that make Night of the Living Dead a more memorable experience, the combination of Bava-esque Gothic atmosphere and bleak, documentary-style camerawork by directors Ragona and Salkow (the brother of Price's agent Lester Salkow) lend themselves to moments of pure frisson that compare laudably to Romero's film. Matheson's novel also provided the source material for the awkward 1971 Charlton Heston vehicle The Omega Man. A planned third version, helmed by Ridley Scott and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was shut down in its earliest stages due to skyrocketing budget costs. --Paul Gaita
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Low-budget Production, but Atmospheric
Comment: Granted, in this day and age of effects-driven spectacles with fast editing, the pacing of this version seems a bit pedestrian. But what it lacks in visual flourishes it makes up in atmosphere. You might be surprised at how convincing the depiction of the deserted city was, with its strewn and flopped corpses, and by Vincent Price's earnest performance as a man nearly mad with loneliness and despair. But you can either take this trip back to another cinematic era or you can't. Therefore, if you're on this page, you know already if you want to buy this movie, and what you're really looking for is information about this particular edition.
You must take note of the release date of the DVD, December 4th, 2007. That's important, because some of the reviews below were written prior to that date, and they're clearly discussing a different product. MGM released this edition to meet the interest generated by the Will Smith remake, and it bears the MGM logo on the spine of the case, the lion's roar before the DVD menu comes up, and it's a pristine print in widescreen format. It is not marred with scratches, and it upconverted beautifully from my Sony Blu-ray player to my HDTV, which is a concern for me these days.
And as a special feature, we get a 7-minute interview with Richard Matheson, author of the now classic novel "I Am Legend" that the movie was based on. It's a simple interview, sprinkled with insights and ideas, how he thought of the book, and so on; not much to it, but nice just the same. Mainly it's the picture quality of the movie itself that's the real attraction on this disc. This is the edition you want to get if a good clean copy is what you're after.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed
Comment: I had never seen this movie until tonight and I guess I was expecting
something different.
The acting was horrible at best and I feel this could've been a great movie.
I am a lover of classic movies, but this was a real let down.
Were they Zombies or vampires and the freakin surviving humans were more
of a threat than the mutants. Really silly and none of it made sense.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Last Man...........
Comment: The Last Man on Earth - a classical tour de force by Vincent Price. There have been many immitators and updates over the years but none can beat the "Master". While Charleton Heston and Will Smith are good actors, they aren't in the same league with the classically trained and experienced Vincent Price. The pain and suffering in his eyes and body when his young daughter and then his wife succumb to the disease as well as the absolute horror in his expression when his vampire zombie-like wife returns to their house is absolutely riveting. The sorrow expressed when he is betrayed at the end is almost a physical weight for the audience. Altogether, another fine performance by a real professional actor.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sci Fi
Comment: Great movie, The Omega Man is a new version starring Charlton Heston which is also a great movie. Would recommend it to anyone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Best Version
Comment: This movie is B&W, old and with almost no special effect, but is the most close from the novel. The Omega Man is more distant but still pass. The movie with Will Smith uses only the name and concept. The Last Man on Earth shows us the Robert Morgan's (Neville in the novel) fight to maintain his reason, in a boring world, alone, except for mindless vampires. It is a Hate It or Love It type movie. If you want to see a history close to the Novel in a movie were the actor performance need to compensate the lack of special effects and were the point is the Psychological pressing in the last man on Earth, ok, you will like it. If you want gunshots, high-speed cars, fights, explosions, special effects ever if far from the original story, you will hate it.
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