Written by: Carroll Jenkins on November 13th, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: USA/Italy, 1964
Directors: Ubaldo Ragona, Sidney Salkow
Writers: William F. Leicester, Richard Matheson, Furio M. Monetti, Ubaldo Ragona
Cast: Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Umberto Raho, Christi Courtland
DVD released: October 21st, 2008
Approximate running time: 86 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: N/A
DVD Release: Legend Films
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $14.95
Synopsis: A plague has turned everyone but one last survivor into vampires.
One of the growing number of movie versions of Richard Matheson’s classic sci-fi thriller “I Am Legend”, this film is most notable for a restrained, sympathetic portrayal by Vincent Price. In this film, the ‘vampires’ actually look more like zombies from Night Of The Living Dead than the traditional blood sucker.
The first act details Vincent’s daily routine – wake up, check garlic, sharpen stakes, kill vampires, burn them, go home and sit up all night while they pound on the house. Act two is a flashback that portrays the events that led to this situation, and his personal tragedies. Despite the low budget this is an intelligent, literate, and atmospheric film.
The DVD:
The Last Man On Earth is readily available in different versions, all of which feature quite acceptable transfers. This Legend release is progressive scan and has closed captions. There are chapter stops as well, but the scene selections only reference the colorized version.
Color Screenshot
