Film Screening: The Last Man on Earth December 26, 2008

Friday, 12/26
9:30 PM
Admission: $5.00

Location: 600 4th St, West Sacramento (corner of 4th & F in West Sac, just over the river from downtown Sacramento. Parking lot entrance is off of F St between 4th & 5th streets).

The Last Man on Earth

This is the first film adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend from 1964 (the second being Heston's The Omega Man, and there was that third recent entry from Warner Brothers) starring Vincent Price. In this, Price plays a scientist who is the last survivor on Earth after a plague has turned the rest of the population into zombie-vampires. He manages to escape contagion due to a jungle virus he once had which makes him immune to the disease. He spends his time clearing bodies, killing the zombie-vampires, reinforcing his house against them, and reserves time to cling to what was a normal lifestyle prior to the plague.

This film was an admitted direct influence on Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (he actually stated that Night was a "rip-off" of Last Man): the Red Scare commentary, the documentary style of filmmaking, the grim and pessimistic ending - it's all found in "The Last Man on Earth." Also interesting, Price plays a character which goes against his typically typecast roles, and quite effectively - humanism, sadness, despair are all here.

Official Website: http://www.shiny-object.com/screenings/