The Last Man on Earth

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For the earlier film with this title, see The Last Man on Earth (1924 film).

The Last Man on Earth
A promotional film poster for "The Last Man on Earth."
Directed by	Ubaldo Ragona Sidney Salkow
Produced by	Robert L. Lippert Samuel Z. Arkoff Harold E. Knox
Written by	Novel: Richard Matheson Screenplay: Furio M. Monetti Ubaldo Ragona William Leicester Richard Matheson (as Logan Swanson)
Starring	Vincent Price Franca Bettoia Emma Danieli Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Music by	Paul Sawtell Bert Shefter
Cinematography	Franco Delli Colli
Editing by	Gene Ruggiero Franca Silvi
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date(s)	8 March 1964
Running time	86 min
Country	/
IMDb profile

The Last Man on Earth (originally titled L'Ultimo uomo della Terra) is a 1964 film based upon the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend. It was originally released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures. It has since fallen into the public domain. MGM Home Video, the current owners of the AIP film catalog released a digitally remastered widescreen print in September 2005.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 External links
4 See also

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Every day is the same for Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price). He wakes up, gathers his weapons and then literally goes vampire hunting. Morgan lives in a world where all humans have been killed due to a new disease. This disease turns people into vampire-like creatures, who fear mirrors and would kill Morgan if they got the chance. At night Morgan locks himself inside his house, and in the morning, when the "vampires" are weaker he kills as many as he can, and destroys the bodies. Then one day, he meets a beautiful girl. Overjoyed at the sight of another human being (Morgan's wife died from the disease years ago) he calls to her, but she runs away. Finally the two meet again, and she explains that many of the creatures that he had killed were still alive. Morgan is filled with regret at his actions, and when he learns that this girl is also inflicted with the fatal disease, he vows to cure her. Morgan is immune to the effects of the disease for an unknown reason; he posits that it may be due to a bat bite he received in his youth. Whatever the reason, when he gives the girl some of his blood, the symptoms disappear. At last, a cure has been found. Unfortunately, the girl is not alone. She lives with others who have the disease, and the others have decided that because Morgan has killed many of them, he must die. They chase Morgan and murder him, in doing so, killing the last true man on Earth.

[edit] Trivia

This film was originally going to be produced by Hammer Films of Great Britain. They decided not to make it and passed the script over to their U.S. associate, Robert L. Lippert, who produced the film in Italy.
The movie and the Matheson book it is based on are considered primary influences for George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The creatures, while technically vampires, shamble and move very much like the zombies in Romero's landmark film.
Matheson was dissatisfied with this adaptation and substituted his screenplay credit with the name "Logan Swanson."