The Last Man on Earth

A scientist (Vincent Price) finds himself the last surviving human after a global epidemic transforms the world into vampire-like creatures.

The Last Man on Earth should be required viewing for all film school students. It’s chocked full of lessons, both good and bad. Let’s start with the good.

First, from the opening frames, there’s the crisp black and white photography, which serves to mask the film’s low budget. No gimmicks. No color tricks or special film stock, just good solid cinematography.

Second, there’s Vincent Price. If your film’s basically going to consist of a single character, the performer needs to be larger than life. Price’s tremendous charisma makes him a joy to watch, and he easily carries the film.

Third, notice how the script opens with Price as the last man on earth. Given the film’s title, you know this is where the film is going and so, rather than bore the audience getting here; the film starts mid-story and works its way backward.

Now, let’s move on to the not-so-good.

First, there’s the opening scene’s voice over narration. Voice over narration, with a few notable exceptions, is never good. They try to disguise it here as Price’s character’s inner monologue, but it still doesn’t work. The pleasant quality of Price’s voice makes it bearable, but the filmmakers should have worked out a more efficient way communicating the necessary information.

Second, there are the vampires, or rather, vampire-like creatures. They start out creepy (“Morgan, come out!”) but quickly descend into little more than a nuisance, when we see Price’s character push them out of his way as if they were seniors at a buffet line they lose a lot of their menace.

Third, while the The Last Man on Earth starts well, it wastes a lot of time on back-story. The strength of the film is in its premise, not how Price’s character became the last man, but rather what life for him is like as the last man. This leads into the final issue, the ending.

Without spoiling it, I’ll simply say it doesn’t work. It’s neither believable, nor poignant, and feels like the writers simply ran out of ideas, money, or both. The ending makes or breaks many movies, and The Last Man on Earth deserved better.