The Next Reel Film Podcast
The Last Man on Earth
When Science Meets Survival Vincent Price stars in the first adaptation of Richard Matheson’s influential novel I Am Legend, bringing to screen a post-apocalyptic tale
May 15, 2025
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When Science Meets Survival Vincent Price stars in the first adaptation of Richard Matheson’s influential novel I Am Legend, bringing to screen a post-apocalyptic tale
Richard Matheson’s 1954 vampire horror novel “I Am Legend” helped influence the zombie genre (it was the inspiration for the ‘68 George Romero film “Night of the Living Dead”) and popularized the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease. Yet for some reason, filmmakers haven’t been able to crack the story. It’s been made into three different films, and it doesn’t seem like any of them have gotten it right. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we kick off our disease series with the second of these adaptations, Boris Sagal’s 1971 film, “The Omega Man.”