The Omega Man (1971)

Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend had already received a cinematic treatment in 1964 with The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price.  The original novel was set in 1976 after an atomic war had stirred up radioactive dust that kills most people, while turning others into vampires.  Over the course of three years Robert Neville, the hero of the novel, figures out the scientific reasons behind the change while searching for some way of reversing it.  

The Last Man on Earth was an Italian production that changed the name of the lead to Robert Morgan and also changed Matheson's writing credits for his assistance in adapting the script since the creatures and ending were heavily altered.  The Omega Man saw even more alterations, although supposedly Matheson at this point wasn't as upset since other than having the last surviving real human fighting creatures that can only come out at night, The Omega Man was pretty much a different story from his original.  

Colonel Robert Neville (Charlton Heston) is the last survivor of a plague unleashed as the result of missiles containing a weaponized bacteria that were launched in the direction of the U.S. during a border war between China and the U.S.S.R. in 1974.  The disease was fast-acting, with many people dying within seconds and some taking a little longer.  The ones that did survive became sensitive to light and showed signs of albinism and psychotic behavior.  A particular group in Los Angeles, called the Family, is led by a zealot named Matthias (Anthony Zerbe) that intends to destroy all the former remnants of civilization.

Matthias's targets include anyone who has remained human and, as far as he knows, that is limited to Neville.  Neville is of the same mind, spending his days trying to keep his sanity, killing the Family where he finds them, and his nights defending his home against Matthias and his followers.  This routine changes upon finding a group of survivors led by Dutch (Paul Koslo) and Lisa (Rosalind Cash).  The survivors are not immune, but the plague is progressing slower with them.  Since Neville injected himself with an experimental vaccine he hopes that a serum made from his blood may help the others.  That is, if Matthias doesn't destroy them first. 

While The Omega Man keeps the general plot of I Am Legend, Matheson was right in saying it was quite removed from his original vision.  There is some passing similarities to vampires, but not the need to drink blood nor the aversion to garlic or crosses.  It is too bad that a real cinematic version of his novel never came to fruition, especially in the period in which this was made, as the ending to the original book seems more in line with the counterculture of the late 1960s than it does with the time in which it was written.  It is also more of an ending one would expect from Philip K. Dick, rather than an author known for mainstream horror and sci-fi novels and even more for his work in Hollywood.  It's not a typical industry ending for sure, but it is one that leaves the reader thinking.

Still, this movie had the advantage of being made at a time when even a story of this sort was given serious consideration, so even though there is some hint of better times - at least for the small survivor group - it is still a pretty bleak ending.  Boris Sagal, the director, worked well with cinematographer Russell Metty, taking advantage of an empty downtown Los Angeles on the weekends in order to cut the costs of location filming, and the shots - including frequent zoom-outs - are quite memorable.  It worked well enough to also remind me that the last time I saw this movie was on VHS with a pan-and-scan version, and The Omega Man loses a lot when not shown in widescreen.

It also benefits from the soundtrack work by Ron Grainer, known for his work on British sci-fi shows such as Doctor Who and The Prisoner.  Sometimes it's orchestral, sometimes jazzy, and often finds itself filling in when licensing for some of the music that was meant to be used fell through.  The music is not intrusive, often fitting the mood of whatever scenes there are.  In a lot of ways this is Charlton Heston and Anthony Zerbe in dueling one-man shows, so anything to add more interest to the proceedings is welcome.

This is a moderately budgeted b-movie and there are issues.  The makeup on the Family is not always the best and there is a heavy reliance on stock footage to set the tone of what happened.  The first third, introducing Neville in an abandoned L.A. and the first encounters where we see the family and Matthias, are the best portion of the film.  The ending isn't bad, though edited a bit weird, but the introduction of survivors is where things slow down a bit.  As soon as Neville has some purpose other than killing Matthias's followers it becomes more of a rote sci-fi thriller rather than a unique post-apocalyptic film.

It is still plenty of fun to watch and most of the elements come together.  Heston was starting to age a bit and decided after this that it was time to back off the action hero roles, although that didn't keep him from starring in Soylent Green a few years later.  Anthony Zerbe continued having character actor roles, while Rosalind Cash spent the rest of her career largely on television or on stage, with her role as Lisa being her most well-known feature role.  In that it is historical due to the interracial relationship that develops between Lisa and Neville, which was still controversial at the time.  Despite its departure from the source material The Omega Man remains the best, and most interesting, adaptation of Matheson's novel to date. 

The Omega Man (1971)

Time: 98 minutes

Starring: Charlton Heston, Rosalind Cash, Anthony Zerbe

Director: Boris Sagal