This movie is the first adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel, I am Legend. It was a low budget horror movie. Despite this it is still effective. Vincent Price became a star doing these types of movies. He plays the title role of Dr. Robert Morgan. It is an unusual role for him. He plays the good guy.
Dr. Robert Morgan is living in a world, where a plague has devastated the human race. They have been turned into vampires by a virus. Morgan’s mission is to destroy as many as he can, to remain safe. He throws the bodies into a burning pit, essentially a dump. He pours gasoline on the bodies and into the pit. He does his work during the day. His evenings are for relaxing as best as he can Dr. Morgan listens to relaxing music, to tune out the noise of the vampires trying to get in.
Morgan narrates through part of the film. It then goes to dialogue. There are flashbacks, with Morgan trying to get a vaccine for the virus. He works with his colleague and friend, Ben Cortman, (Giacomo Rossi Stuart). He also thinks back to happy domestic times with his wife, (Emma Danieli) and daughter. These blissful moments are shattered when his wife and daughter succumb to the virus. They are very heartbreaking moments. The doctor’s friend Ben, becomes one of the vampires. He makes it his mission to harass Morgan outside his house. He and his undead allies are denied entry due to garlic and crosses painted on the entryways.
It is during his darkest moments, that the doctor receives a visitor. Her name is Ruth Collins. She claims that she is there to tell him the enemy is coming. She confesses to him that she was sent to keep him occupied and let the vampires in. Morgan suspects she is a vampire. His suspicions are all but confirmed, when he throws garlic on her. She denies that she is one of the undead. She passes out and Morgan uses his blood which contains the virus to cure her. Morgan goes out into the night to confront the vampires. This leads to a final confrontation with those left alive, who don’t believe Ruth has been cured.
The Last Man on Earth succeeds as a horror film. There are the haunting moments of the vampires stalking their enemy, Dr. Morgan. It has the worst horror imaginable. The doctor’s daughter’s body being taken away to be destroyed by the authorities. This is to prevent her from becoming undead. Morgan can’t bear having his deceased wife be taken away. He buries her. She comes back as one of the undead, and must destroy her. He carries homemade stakes in a bag, for destroying formerly living friends and neighbors. His work as a doctor has now been corrupted. He is living a lonely existence trying to block out the terror.
This movie shows very effectively the gloominess of a world where there is only death. The brightness of Doctor Robert Morgan’s full life is contrasted by the dark dismal world of his present existence. His daylight hours are not used to help people. They are used to bring peace and rest to formally alive humans. His nights are haunted by his long gone happiness, and the cries of the undead. This film sets the mood for a similar film, Night of the Living Dead, a few years later. Richard Matheson adapted his novel with William F. Leicester, into a very effective screenplay. This was helmed very well and fit into the horror genre by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow. It was a joint Italian /American production. Vincent Price was the only actor who spoke English in the movie. The Last Man on Earth proves that a film can work on a shoestring budget. It proves to be very effective for the genre. It helps that Vincent Price is in this movie. He lives up to his nickname, The Master of Horror, even though he isn’t a villain.