Along with SOYLENT GREEN and PLANET OF THE APES Charlton Heston made a great sorta-trilogy and great triple-feature of 70s end-of-the-world flicks. This one, which is a remake of the Vincent Price flick THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, the great Mr. Heston takes on a gang of mutated psychopaths with guns blazing. There's a kind-of blaxploitation feel to some of this one due to an African-American lady(Rosalind Cash) that shows up and one of the not-so nice freaky killers(Lincoln Kilpatrick) who is a black man whose skin has turned white due to the apocalyptic plague that's running rampant. There was also a 2007 remake of this, or I guess more accurately the novel that all these are based on, titled, same as the book, I AM LEGEND with Will Smith that I know I've seen but don't remember liking it much. The original Price film is a good one and seemingly a big influence on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, so it is important but this is the one I've gone back to rewatch the most and that's probably because I enjoy that 70s style the most. Heston gets to do his Jesus impression, there's a cool denim jacket with a big middle finger on it and manages to have a happy and sad ending all at the same time.
Japanese OMEGA MAN!!:
EL ULTIMO HOMBRE!!:
I remember growing up in the Deep South in the 70's, and when this movie was first released, there was some opposition to it because of the sex between Heston and Cash. Fortunately, we've made some progress in that area.
ReplyDeleteOverall, the movie is pretty darn good, but Heston's character is a bit of a dummy to be honest. He is constantly ignoring his own security protocols and regimens, and therefore the plague victims eventually get him.
I would imagine some folks would have been bothered about the interracial angle in this back then even though the famous STAR TREK kiss had happened a couple of years earlier it didn't exactly give everyone super-progressive thoughts in this area.
ReplyDeleteI think Heston's character really only gets dumb after running into other unaffected survivors but that is a good observation. Still doesn't ruin the film for me.