For most younger people (whatever that is?), this film is more known from its - more or less - remake: 'I am Legend' with Will Smith in the leading role.
In this film we get to meet one of the most famous actors among those creating very special, mysterious, dangerous and sometimes evil characters: Vincent Price.
The film was made in 1964 but obviously one awaited the end of the world very soon, as the events take place in 1968. The 1960's was a turbulent decade all over the world and sometimes one get the impression it was The Most Turbulent post war decade, wherefore doomsday-feelings might have been very common - as it is today.
Price is Dr. Robert Morgan, seemingly the only survivor after a plague turning everyone into vampiric creatures, not standing mirrors (of course), sunlight (of course) or garlic (of course).
He spends his days killing as many of these 'creatures' as he can, then burning them and during night-time he locks himself inside his house, in order to protect himself against 'the others'.
If the creatures had been more intelligent they would easily have killed him but fortunately for Morgan, this plague also makes them unintelligent and very weak.
Earlier his wife and daughter had died because of the plague and this was before Morgan or any other person knew that they would 'come back' as living dead. When they did, he understood that he had to kill them with a wooden stick (of course).
From different reasons - explained in the film - Morgan has become immune against the plague.
One day he sees a woman - Ruth (Franca Bettoia) - who tries to run away from him.
When he finally catches her, she is very suspicious but Morgan soon finds out that she is infected too. She is however part of a group having found a vaccine that keep the plague under control and she was sent to spy on him
He infuses his own blood into hers and sees that she recovers. Now they see a hope, a hope being crushed when Ruth's people attack Morgan's house and they have to flee.
They flee into a church and although Ruth tries to convince her group that he is 'good', they kill him, impaling him on the altar with a spear.
When dying he declare them being "freaks", saying that he is the last "true" man on Earth.
Happy end?
As being a dystopia, there are no hopes for the Earth and the humans (as we know them) or at least it doesn't seem that way.
On the other hand one could say that the human race was extinguished on behalf of another 'race' and even if this group of 'new' inhabitants seem to be mentally and physically weaker, they might develop into something better than the humans. Could there exist something worse than the humans in the Universe? Perhaps.
It's however a nightmarish film, not least if one consider the fact that this Dr. Morgan is the last man trying to survive and trying to kill as many as possible among the 'sick', not seeming to have any future at all for himself. Normally most people might perhaps have killed themselves during the same circumstances but on the other hand, one often say - right or not - that hope is the last thing abandoning man. In this case: Hope for what?
Price is of course a very good choice for this role as his a person, in his looks, incarnating both 'evil' (whatever this is), strength, determination, inscrutability, mystery and charm.
We haven't seen the remake with Smith but the trailer looks good and I would like to compare the two.
This one I can however recommend, not least for the young not having experienced the acting of Price.
In this film we get to meet one of the most famous actors among those creating very special, mysterious, dangerous and sometimes evil characters: Vincent Price.
The film was made in 1964 but obviously one awaited the end of the world very soon, as the events take place in 1968. The 1960's was a turbulent decade all over the world and sometimes one get the impression it was The Most Turbulent post war decade, wherefore doomsday-feelings might have been very common - as it is today.
Price is Dr. Robert Morgan, seemingly the only survivor after a plague turning everyone into vampiric creatures, not standing mirrors (of course), sunlight (of course) or garlic (of course).
He spends his days killing as many of these 'creatures' as he can, then burning them and during night-time he locks himself inside his house, in order to protect himself against 'the others'.
If the creatures had been more intelligent they would easily have killed him but fortunately for Morgan, this plague also makes them unintelligent and very weak.
Earlier his wife and daughter had died because of the plague and this was before Morgan or any other person knew that they would 'come back' as living dead. When they did, he understood that he had to kill them with a wooden stick (of course).
From different reasons - explained in the film - Morgan has become immune against the plague.
One day he sees a woman - Ruth (Franca Bettoia) - who tries to run away from him.
When he finally catches her, she is very suspicious but Morgan soon finds out that she is infected too. She is however part of a group having found a vaccine that keep the plague under control and she was sent to spy on him
He infuses his own blood into hers and sees that she recovers. Now they see a hope, a hope being crushed when Ruth's people attack Morgan's house and they have to flee.
They flee into a church and although Ruth tries to convince her group that he is 'good', they kill him, impaling him on the altar with a spear.
When dying he declare them being "freaks", saying that he is the last "true" man on Earth.
Happy end?
As being a dystopia, there are no hopes for the Earth and the humans (as we know them) or at least it doesn't seem that way.
On the other hand one could say that the human race was extinguished on behalf of another 'race' and even if this group of 'new' inhabitants seem to be mentally and physically weaker, they might develop into something better than the humans. Could there exist something worse than the humans in the Universe? Perhaps.
It's however a nightmarish film, not least if one consider the fact that this Dr. Morgan is the last man trying to survive and trying to kill as many as possible among the 'sick', not seeming to have any future at all for himself. Normally most people might perhaps have killed themselves during the same circumstances but on the other hand, one often say - right or not - that hope is the last thing abandoning man. In this case: Hope for what?
Price is of course a very good choice for this role as his a person, in his looks, incarnating both 'evil' (whatever this is), strength, determination, inscrutability, mystery and charm.
We haven't seen the remake with Smith but the trailer looks good and I would like to compare the two.
This one I can however recommend, not least for the young not having experienced the acting of Price.
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