Fancy Clown
Member
2) The Last Man on Earth - (Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow, 1964)
"Another day to live through. Better get started."
I watched a handful of Vincent Price films as part of my marathon and enjoyed them all quite a bit, and in the middle of watching this one I realized I have actually seen it before ages ago, probably shortly after I read I Am Legend. While this one certainly doesn't reach the lovely gothic heights of Corman's Poe adaptions, nor the fun of House on Haunted Hill, there are some notable aspects about this film. For starters, it kicks off with quite an evocative opening. Widescreen compositions show legitimately haunting images of vacant cityscapes populated only with the occasional dead body or abandoned vehicle. A church sign reads out that "the end is nigh". The end is very nigh indeed. This sequence of images very much prefigures the horrifying abandoned nightmare-scape that kicks off 28 Days Later. That's not the end of the "firsts" in this movie either, as the hordes of zombie-esque vampires shambling towards a fortified home immediately call to mind Night of the Living Dead, which would release four years later. However, this film contains none of the horror or thrills that Night of the Living Dead would contains, as it is mostly a sort of ponderous old fashioned romp, replete with voiceovers and pace killing flashback sequences. There's no grit or edge here. Vincent Price is fun to watch as always however, and the movie is at its best when it's showing the exhaustive toll his tiresome existence is taking on him. It's also interesting to see how close this adaptation sticks to the story. And while it ultimately is neither scary nor all that much fun, I'd say it's still a worthwhile watch if only to see some seeds of other films' later greatness begin in this modest Vincent Price vehicle.
Side note: Looking at the poster after watching the film, I like how it doesn't sell what it's about at all. It makes it look like another gothic haunted house picture featuring some sort of vengeful female ghost. No doubt trying to capitalize on House on Haunted Hill's success.
"Another day to live through. Better get started."
I watched a handful of Vincent Price films as part of my marathon and enjoyed them all quite a bit, and in the middle of watching this one I realized I have actually seen it before ages ago, probably shortly after I read I Am Legend. While this one certainly doesn't reach the lovely gothic heights of Corman's Poe adaptions, nor the fun of House on Haunted Hill, there are some notable aspects about this film. For starters, it kicks off with quite an evocative opening. Widescreen compositions show legitimately haunting images of vacant cityscapes populated only with the occasional dead body or abandoned vehicle. A church sign reads out that "the end is nigh". The end is very nigh indeed. This sequence of images very much prefigures the horrifying abandoned nightmare-scape that kicks off 28 Days Later. That's not the end of the "firsts" in this movie either, as the hordes of zombie-esque vampires shambling towards a fortified home immediately call to mind Night of the Living Dead, which would release four years later. However, this film contains none of the horror or thrills that Night of the Living Dead would contains, as it is mostly a sort of ponderous old fashioned romp, replete with voiceovers and pace killing flashback sequences. There's no grit or edge here. Vincent Price is fun to watch as always however, and the movie is at its best when it's showing the exhaustive toll his tiresome existence is taking on him. It's also interesting to see how close this adaptation sticks to the story. And while it ultimately is neither scary nor all that much fun, I'd say it's still a worthwhile watch if only to see some seeds of other films' later greatness begin in this modest Vincent Price vehicle.
Side note: Looking at the poster after watching the film, I like how it doesn't sell what it's about at all. It makes it look like another gothic haunted house picture featuring some sort of vengeful female ghost. No doubt trying to capitalize on House on Haunted Hill's success.