The book, "I Am Legend", by Richard Matheson is probably my favorite novel of all time. That being said, it is almost a given that I am going to hate the film adaptation. I have to say that I was completely surprised by how much this film captured the spirit of Matheson's book and retained much of the emotional impact of the story thanks mainly to an amazing performance from Vincent Price.

For those not familiar with the story, Price stars as Dr. Robert Morgan, a scientist who has survived a plague that has wiped out all of the Earth's humans. The only creatures left are ones that have returned from the dead as vampires. Morgan lives out his days by driving around and picking up supplies/slaying vampires by day and shutting himself in his home at night as a group of the undead terrorize him. Although there is not a lot going on plot-wise, the film conveys Morgan's feelings of loneliness, despair, boredom, and hopelessness to the viewer and fills you with a sense of dread as you imagine what Morgan must be going through. We are also provided with a flashback sequence where we see the plague slowly wipe out Morgan's family and we see the military destroying bodies by throwing them into a fiery pit so that they do not return as vampires. These scenes are terrifying and heartbreaking as we can feel Morgan deal with his loss and try to carry on as the world crumbles around him. This sequence also contains one of the freakier moments that I can recall in my horror movie watching career.

I have new respect for Vincent Price after seeing this flick. For an actor to carry much of a movie completely on his own is a feat in itself but for the actor to also be able to draw you into the world emotionally is on another level. This is something that I found Charlton Heston was not able to do in the 1971 remake entitled The Omega Man which has become more of a bit of 70's cheesiness than a faithful adaptation of Matheson's book. There is no cheese at all in Price's portrayal and there is also nothing hopeful, only desperation and a series of letdowns. It is fairly heavy stuff in this regard and I am still reeling from the sheer bleakness of the film days after watching it. In this regard, I found this movie to be an amazing adaptation as the book evoked the same feelings in me, which I still recall years later. Add to that some beautiful black and white cinematography courtesy of Franco Delli Colli and you have a horror movie that can truly be considered a classic.

Apparently Matheson did not like this version of his story and even went so far as to use a pseudonym for his part in the screenplay. Italian film fans will want to look for Kill Baby Kill's Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Morgan's former friend Ben Cortman. If you are planning on purchasing this, there have been many releases of this film but I would recommend MGM's widescreen print (ed. note: comes on DVD as a double feature with Panic In The Year Zero) as the one to get. (Josh Pasnak, 8/21/05)

Directed By: Ubaldo B. Ragona, Sidney Salkow.
Written By: William F. Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, Ubaldo B. Ragona, Logan Swanson (Richard Matheson).

Starring: Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart.