(1971) It's August 1977, more than two years after the end of the Third World War, during which nearly every human being died from germ warfare, except for Col Robert Neville (Charlton Heston), who roams the streets of Los Angeles in search of the nest where the night creatures hole up.

These vampire-like beings, tertiary cases from the plague whose skin and eyes (reminiscent of Village of the Damned) have been altered, can't withstand daylight or strong artificial incandescence. Wearing black cloaks and calling themselves "The Family," they are led by Jonathan Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), who is intent on destroying "the last living reminder of hell."

At night Neville retreats to his fortress, filled with guns and gadgets, where he plays chess against a bust of Caesar, enjoys his supply of alcohol, and fends off attacks from Matthias's brethren. At the outset director Boris Sagal's sci-fi film (screenplay by John William and Joyce Corrington) is somewhat similar to I Am Legend (2007), both of which were based on Richard Matheson's novel, but as this version proceeds it transmutes into more hokum than horror.

When Neville, who sometimes imagines hearing public telephones ringing, sees an afro-haired female manikin in a clothing store come to life and run off, he initially chases her only to realizes she's just another hallucination of a lonely man. Eventually Matthias's brethren capture Neville and bring him to their leader, who has forbade the use of modern weapons or machines ("The curse would begin all over again") in their quest to cleanse the world of the one obsolete individual from "before the punishment."

However, Neville discovers he's not entirely alone and gets rescued (by use of stadium lights) by the black female he'd dismissed as a figment of his imagination, Lisa (Rosalind Cash), and her white cohort Dutch, who have "some kind of resistance" to the plague, though at any moment they might "go over," denature like Matthias.

In fact, Lisa's young brother Richie is suffering symptoms, which is why they've come for Neville, aware of his having been a military scientist and doctor. Neville, who has immunity from the plague following self-injection with an experimental vaccine he'd designed just before the end of the world, uses his own blood to create a serum for Richie and then for Lisa, Dutch, and their small band of surviving children. Might he cure rather than kill Matthias and the marked brethren?

In the meantime, tough-talking, mean-mother, streetwise Lisa vamps into a soft, sweet, vulnerable Eve for Neville's Adam. Original score was by Ron Grainer (who composed the title music for the TV series The Prisoner and Doctor Who).

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
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