The Omega Man is, essentially, a pretty awful movie that is salvaged by one thing, and only one thing: The hammy scene chewing of its lead actor, Charlton Heston.

Based on the novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, Omega Man is set in a post-apocolyptic future in which a biological plague has killed off all but one man. The Earth is now dominated by menacing zombie-vampires, who are led by the evil Matthias (Anthony Zerbe). These nasty undead folks are out to get Chuck, constantly laying siege to his mansion, only to be filled with hot led from his machine gun for their efforts.

While the material is generally weak, it does give Chuck time to shine. He is capitivating as the last man on Earth, playing solo chess matches and holding one-sided conversations with a statue-bust. If you liked Heston's mysanthropic rants as George Taylor in Planet of the Apes, then you'll love his Omega Man musings.

Eventually Heston's character learns that he is not alone on the planet, and encounters an attractive black woman with an amazingly large afro (dubbed the Afro Queen by my friends and I). Naturally, a little bit of jungle love ensues. Later in the film, Heston's character triumphs over Matthias only to have a spear heaved through his chest in the unnecessary, anti-climactic final scene. My guess is that this illogical bit was tacked on to the end of the film because of Chuck's general disdain for sequels.

Heston's Performance: 4/5 Stars.
Overall Film: 2/5 Stars.

--Chris Kivlehan

Heston Reflects

In 1971:

"It works on the levels it needs to work, and the element of dread runs well through the whole piece. This is another of a not very long list of films I have more or less personally concieved, and this may turn out to be the best of them. My performance is good . . . there is a chance for a kind of lightness, or at least wryness, that I don't often have a place for in the men I play. It'll be interesting to see how it works with audiences." --From The Actor's Life.

In 1978:

"This picture doesn't please me that much now, and neither does my performance in it. You sometimes imagine you see things you planned in a performance that in fact hardly exist in it, or only flicker faintly through the film." --From The Actor's Life.

Cast

Charlton Heston as Robert Neville
Anthony Zerbe as Matthias
Rosalind Cash as Lisa
Paul Koslo as Dutch
Eric Laneuville as Richie
Lincoln Kilpatrick as Zachary

Crew

Boris Sagal / Director
John William Corrington and Joyce H. Corrington / Screenwriters
Walter Seltzer / Producer
Russell Metty / Cinematographer
Ron Grainer / Original Music
Warner Bros. / Distributor

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The Novel