What a Crappy Movie

This is a micro-budget affair, pretty routine, but it's never boring. Unlike, say, Omega Man, which was almost consistently boring.

I'd rank the four versions in this order:

The Last Man on Earth: 3.5/4
I Am Legend: 2.5/4
I Am Omega: 2/4
Omega Man: 1.5/4

The only one deserving of high praise is the original. "The Last Man on Earth" is a grainy, often terrifying apocalyptic vision that's never boring and introduces images and ideas that would be very influential on the modern zombie film, particularly Romero. Scene after scene creeps me out, and a surprisingly thoughtful performance by Vincent Price grounds the film in reality. It's the only version that's a qualified success.

The others are a little too muddled. But "I Am Omega" isn't the crapfest a lot of people dismiss it for. The film has a clear logic in its apocalyptic rules, and if they're underutilized, it doesn't cheat. Mark Duscacos is comptetend if stiff, and the low-budget, grainy style actually adds a bit of texture. An effective, desolate dread resonates throughout the film, and I especially enjoyed the scenes where they're trying to find a stick-shift in a dimly lit parking complex while zombies jump out of the shadows. In fact, all the scenes in the dark were well done - the journey in the sewers were pretty creepy too. The film isn't particularly interesting, but watchable. It doesn't have much brains, but it's got heart. You get the impression that the filmmakers were really trying to do something cool with their limited budget, and they succeed about as much as they fail.

Will Smith's version is slightly better, because establishes a fully-realized apocalyptic world that this one can only hint upon, and Smith himself is powerful in the lead. Both films are underwritten and vague about the nature of the mutants, and they steer from the source material and reduces the monsters to simply mindless beasts instead of the compelling new society of Matheson's book. The final act, which is pure adrenaline, is unforgivable after the more thoughtful establishing story. The logic doesn't follow through, and the film goes for high octane instead of following its story to a more appropriate, apocalyptic conclusion.

"Omega Man" is pure schlock that's hard to take seriously, but its datedness gives it a certain charm. The creatures are actually more interesting than the lead, which Heston hams up to the point of downright distraction. The whole film is show in a tedious, methodical manner, and it has long sections in which not much happens (obligitary romance, etc.) that are painfully routine and hopelessly dumb. Loved the scene in the stadium though.

Hope this helped.