Now that news came out this week that there will be a prequel to the latest incarnation of the movie adaptation of the novel I am Legend, which we were wondering how they were going to make a sequel considering Will Smiths character died at the end, we thought we would look at the past movie incarnations of this post apocalyptic story.  The one that most critics is the most interesting is the film The Omega Man. This movie , made in 1917, starred cult film legend Charleston Heston.  The recent movie more mirrors this movie than the older  The Last man on earth. Heston plays Dr Robert Neville who during biological warfare between Russia and China wipe out the entire population of the earth with the only survivals being biological resistant Albinos. Heston bunks out in a fortified apartment building protected by flood lights at night and weapons. The survivors are psychotic and very violent and through their leader believe that technology and science has brought this plaque to the earth the this group , who call themselves The Family, start destroying all technology in the city and in the meantime taunt and try to kill Dr Neville. Eventually they capture him and set to burn him but saved by a women he would see during his travels. Turns out she is part of a group of young people and children that have not succumb to the plaque yet because of their age. Eventually Dr Neville makes an antidote  from his blood and give it to one of the boys who is close to succumbing to the plaque. Once cured though the boy goes to The Family to try to convince them that there is a cure now but they kill him. While Dr Neville tries to go save him the woman who saved him eventually gets affected by the plaque and gives The Family access to his bunker. When he comes back a big battle ensues and Dr Neville is mortally wounded. When he is dying he gives the last of his plasma to the survivors and dies.  The movie was criticized at the time but eventually had a cult following.

The second movie was actually the first adaptation of this novel called The Last Man on Earth starring another cult legend Vincent Price. In this adaptation was an Italian made movie filmed in Rome and  made in 1964. The story follow Dr Robert Morgan a survivor  of a world wide plaque that turns people into flesh eating zombie/vampire types. The movie follows Dr Morgan during the day as he goes hunting for supplies in the city and gathers and burn dead bodies he also stakes any zombies he finds resting during the day. The movie really shows Dr Morgans mental struggles as he tries to cope with living everyday as the last human on earth. One day in one of his daily excursions he meets a woman Ruth and tries to befriend her. He finds out she is part of a group of survivors who have found a way to slow down the affects but not cure it and they have sent her to spy on him. He meets the group and the group does not trust him and are afraid of him because he has survived with no drugs. Ruth becomes sick and Dr Morgan transfers his blood to her and his cured and they tries to convince her that now they can cure the rest but her people attack him and he runs to a church were they impale him with a stake. In the famous ending Morgan runs out screaming “Freaks your all Freaks!” This movie really tries to show the physiological aspect of a man all alone which the modern movie tried to do. Both movies I would recommend watching. The new proposed movie is supposed to show how the plague began which the other movies showed only in flashback moments.

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