Not if he were …

The Last Man on Earth stars the master thespian of big-screen horror, the late, great Vincent Price as, well … the last man on earth. Not exactly a big plot twist there, but wait: Price’s character, Dr. Robert Morgan, isn’t really alone; there are plenty of “zombie-vampires” wandering around, aching for human, umm, contact. The Last Man on Earth was the first adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, which also spawned 1971’s The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and another upcoming film incarnation starring Will Smith. George Romero freely admits that his Night of the Living Dead was also heavily indebted to Matheson’s story. A number of horror or suspense films were based on Matheson novels, including The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Legend of Hell House and Stir of Echoes. In addition, Matheson penned the famous “Terror at 20,000 Feet” episode of The Twilight Zone and the original teleplay for the cult TV classic The Night Stalker.

But back to our feature film. It seems Dr. Morgan (Price), through previous exposure to dangerous infectious diseases, gained immunity to the particular illness that has ravaged the Earth, turning the entire population into photo-phobic vampire creatures. The Last Man on Earth is a classic of the horror genre, bridging the gap between the campy, cheap-thrill romps of the late ’50s and the darker, more dystopian visions of the late ’60s and ’70s. At night, Dr. Morgan barricades himself in his home, and when the sun rises he goes hunting, killing many vampires and destroying their remains. But one fateful day he makes a startling discovery—it turns out that …