The Omega Man

A fitting followup to the third "Apes" film (which also played in the summer of '71) is Warner Brothers' The Omega Man (OM), released in August of '71. Charlton Heston launched the Apes franchise in 1968 and acted in the first two. In OM, he plays Robert Neville, the last "normal" man on a post-apocalyptic earth. The film is the second adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel, "I Am Legend." It is also a remake of the first adaptation, The Last Man on Earth ('64) which starred Vincent Price.
Of course, "Omega" is the last greek letter in their alphabet, so the Omega Man is the Last Man (too). OM is a very 70s film, so has some archival value there too.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Robert Neville drives alone through an empty Los Angeles. He as the whole town to himself, or maybe not. At the sight of a shadowy shape in a building, he stops to spray the windows with machine gun fire. Dry dead bodies occasionally litter the city. He tarries too long in the city. Dusk falls. Albino mutants in monks' robes attack him as he tries to get in his garage. He kills three of them. He fires up his generator. The floodlights drive the mutants away. He's safe, but so tormentedly alone. Through various flashbacks, we learn that biological weapons were used in a Sino-Russian war. This spawned a world-wide plague which killed most people in minutes, but some victims mutated into psychotic light-sensitive albinos. Their leader is a former news anchor named Matthias, convinced that evil modern civilization brought the judgement upon mankind. Neville was a military scientist working on a cure for the plague. In desperation, he injects himself with one of the serums. It works. He's immune. Matthias's mutants want to kill Neville as symbolic of old world of bombs and machines. Neville wants to either kill the albinos, or find a cure -- he's not clear which. While foraging one day, he stumbles across Lisa, another normal person. She eludes him. Later, Neville is captured by the mutants. Lisa and Dutch rescue him. Neville finds out there are other normal people hiding up in the hills. They're infected and eventually "turn." Lisa's brother Richie is turning. Neville tries to help Richie by giving him a transfusion of his blood. Through various adventures, Neville and Lisa find romance. Richie gets better, but disagrees with Neville's goal of killing the mutants. Richie goes to Matthias' headquarters to broker peace and promise the cure that worked on him. The mutants kill Richie and bait in Neville. After much shooting, Neville makes it back to his apartment, only to find out that Lisa has "turned" and let in Matthias and his goons. They trash the place. Neville escapes to the yard with Lisa, but he's speared by Matthias. Neville shoots Matthias dead. Dutch comes in the morning with a truckload of singing kids. The dying Neville gives Dutch the pint of his savior blood, then dies in a crucifix-like pose. Dutch takes Lisa and the kids to some unspecified safe haven. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
OM is great as another iteration of Matheson's powerful story. It is infused with much early 70s culture. 8-track tapes! This does date the film, but is also fun as a 70s time capsule. Note the swinging' bachelor pad notion, so popular in the 70s. Heston is commanding in his portrayal of the "last man," as tragic hero. It's somehow comforting to imagine mankind's "last" being so full of resourcefulness and fight.

Cold War Angle
Fears of the end of civilization found voice in post-apocalyptic stories. There had been many since the early 50s and the start of the Cold War. Having the plague come as "fallout" from a superpower war was an easy sell to Cold War audiences.

Notes
Compared to the Book -- The original source material for OM was Richard Matheson's 1954 novella, "I Am Legend." His story had a global bio-plague which may have come from a war somewhere. "They" are called vampires, but also a sort of new mankind. Ruth is their bait for a trap. Neville is captured and sentenced to die as a monstrous serial killer of the new humanity. He was legendary. OM kept the bio-warfare cause, but the mutants aren't so much a new mankind as a temporary throwback to medievalism which would be temporary at best. The mutants eventually die of the plague, so why was Neville in such a hurry to kill them? The book is somewhat depressing, in that Neville is the last one of "us" and he's doomed. In OM, a Land Rover full of singing kids, Dutch, and Lisa, drive off to supposed safety to rebuild the "old" mankind.

Compared to the First Movie -- LMOE screenplay (said to have been partially written by Matheson) was already a departure from the novel, even though it also kept many key story features. The Corrington's remake built upon some of the 1964 features. "They" aren't zombies which rise from the dead, as in the '64 film. Once shot, they stay dead. The Corrington's have Lisa instead of Ruth, as a mildly infected "normal" woman, but not a trap. Though she does let Matthias into Neville's house once she's "turned." The '64 version had the ill-fated dog, like the novel. OM had no dog. (The 2007 version would put back in the dog.) OM has the hero speared and killed by Them like LMOE had. The religious undertones are there too. The "cure" is much more understated in LMOE, as Ruth's blood carries the hero's immunity, but little is made of that. Much is made of this in OM. The '71 movie has much more of a Rambo-like swagger to it too. OM's Neville wields machine guns, where LMOE's Morgan wielded wooden stakes.

Racial Mix -- The writers build in an interesting irony into OM. While Matthias bombasts about how his albinos represent the "enlightened" future of mankind, it is the afro-zombie Zachary who cannot let go of the old-world prejudices. Yet, it is Neville, the whitest of white guys, and Lisa, the afro-soul-sister, who set aside the old racism and find love. Inter-racial "love" was still a gasp-inducing topic in the early 70s. Having a token black on a starship crew was all good political correctness, but in the end, black women were supposed to pair up with black men -- not mix with the white guys.

Neo-Luddites -- Screenwriters John and Joyce Corrington rewrote Matheson's vampires and William Leicester's 1964 zombies. The Corringtons used their albino semi-zombies as surrogates for that faction of 60s counter culture which railed against militarism, capitalism and industry. They burn books (the establishment knowledge), and vow not to use "the wheel" -- symbolic of industrial civilization. To leave no doubt, the Corringtons have Matthias' minions smash things in Neville's apartment. Art, technology, civilization, all smashed in proper Luddite zeal. The way these counter-culture zombies are written, one can see some of the motivation that would underly latter "hippy" activism and the "Back to the Land" movement of the 70s, seeking to escape the evils of industrial capitalism, etc., etc.

Savior Symbol -- Note the ending, where Neville takes on the symbolic role of Jesus. He is killed by those he came to save. He was pierced in his side with a spear. As Heston slumps in death, in the fountain, note how he holds his arms -- as if floating by far higher than buoyancy would cause -- so the camera can slow-zoom back to reveal a Christ-on-Cross pose, but without the cross. Perhaps more significant is that his blood is then the key to the salvation of mankind. Not all of mankind, in a universalist sort of mode, but only those, like Dutch, who accept his sacrifice. Those, like the family, who refuse the blood, are doomed to "outer darkness." Audiences of 1971, no doubt, got this. One wonders how many 21st century viewers, in an age in which atheism is so fashionable, would get it.

Sequel Worthy -- Some 50s themes were just too powerful to leave in a single movie. Matheson's post-apocalyptic "last man" is clearly one of them. Vincent Price starred as the first on-screen last man (first last man?) in 1964. Heston plays Neville in '71. The Millennial Generation would get their own version via Will Smith as Neville in 2007. Each film would build upon the earlier ones, though drifting further from Matheson's darker tale with each remake.

Bottom line? OM isn't as "timeless" as some sci-fi classics, but it definitely is one. It is a worthy remake of the story and (if one can get over modernist revulsion for things "out" of fashion) a pretty well told story. OM is one of the 70s' hallmark sci-fi. It's worth watching on its own, but perhaps as part of a a triple feature of the "Last Man" movies. Compare and contrast…

The Astro-Zombies

Ted. V. Mikels was a prodigious maker of low-budget films that catered to a lowbrow audience. His Astro Zombies (AZ) is a prime example of that product. It headlined actor Wendell Corey, in what would be his last movie role, and John Caridine. If Kubrik's2001: A Space Odyssey was the high point of 60s sci-fi, AZ is sample of the other end of the curve. The low level camp of 50s and 60s drive-in fodder was not quite ended. Cinematically, AZ suffers in ways typical where the writer, producer and director are all the same person. There are lots of shots that should have been edited out, but the "artist" kept.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The movie opens to a non-sequitor scene somewhat explained later. A buxom redhead drives home into her garage where a man in a skull mask jumps out and kills her. At the scene of a car crash, the driver lies nearly dead. A greasy little man drags his body away. CIA agents investigate the string of murders. They suspect a Dr. DeMarco and his work are behind the murders. On the freeways of LA, a foreign agent rewinds an audio tape. He sells the tape to a buxom foreign agent, Satana. Her minions kill him afterward. Meanwhile, Franchot (the greasy man) brought the dead driver to Dr. DeMarco's lab. They extract his memory into a small circuit board, then freeze the body for later. Back at Dr. Petrovich's lab, everyone goes home but Lynn. When alone, the skull-masked Astro Zombie jumps out and brutally kills her. Meanwhile, at a local nightclub, the two CIA agents, and Janine, take in a bit of avante-garde topless dance. Satana's thugs (Juan and Tyros) drive to evil HQ. They catch two other agents watching the house. One, they kill outright, the other is chased and shot by Satana herself. At CIA HQ, Holman (Corey) laments the lost agents, but they have a lead. The dead tape seller posed as a doctor at a conference which DeMarco spoke at (hence the tapes) before DeMarco was dismissed from the space agency. His idea was to create AstroMen from synthetic organs, and use radio transmissions to upload data into their brains. He got fired for that sort of crazy talk. Enemy agents want his plans so they can create perfect zombie armies. Turns out that DeMarco made his first zombie from a pscyhopath's brain whose last sight was of red-headed Janine. (that's why the first woman was killed. She looked vaguely like Janine, you see?). Lynn was supposed to be Janine too. So, the CIA use Janine as bait to lure the zombie. This fails. But, when Janine goes home, the zombie ambushes her. Eric fights with it, and pulls off its battery pack. Zombie runs away using a flashlight to his forehead to power his solar cells. Satana and her thugs use a radio locator to find Dr. DeMarco's typical basement lair. They burst in demanding the secret, while DeMarco is preparing Zombie 2.0 (made from a "morally pure" man: the dead driver). Zombie 1.0 staggers in needing a recharge. DeMarco hooks him up to the re-energizing unit. Then the CIA burst in and there's gunfire. Zombie 1.0, recharged, goes outside to get Janine and chops some agents while he's en route. Juan stabs Franchot, then runs outside to be shot by CIA agents. DeMarco pulls the power switch to stop Zombie 1.0, but Satana shoots DeMarco. Before he dies, he activates Zombie 2.0, who obeys her order to "kill" by pushing HER into a high voltage box, so that both die. Eric eulogizes by saying, "There's one basic element of life that can't be removed: the emotions." Janine adds, "Thank God for that." The End.

Why is this movie fun?
AZ is so eclectic and campy and just plain "bad" that is can be fascinating. It tries to be exploitive to so many tastes that it's like watching a one-man-band play a dozen instruments simultaneously. There's a mad scientist with his mute Igor sidekick. There are sinister foreign agents -- one of which regularly strikes leggy-cleavagey poses. There are stalwart CIA men who make juvenile innuendos about their dates in a topless bar. (We're talking classy here.) And, solar powered zombies (men in skull masks). AZ is a pu pu platter of stereotyped 2D characters. Things really get moving in the last few minutes when all the baddies manage to kill each other or get killed.

Cold War Angle
This is peripheral, but Satana is vaguely representing a hostile foreign power (China?) which wants the zombie secret in order to create unstoppable invading armies. Amid the various spies and CIA agents is the usual Cold War spy game.

Notes
Frankenstein for the 60s -- As eclectic as the plot of AZ is, it amounts to the classic Frankenstein story (1931 movie version) modernized for the late 60s. You have your mad scientist assembling new bodies from old parts. He's thinks he's doing it to benefit mankind, but his monster is uncontrollable and killing people. This basic story is modernized in that the doctor's work is coveted by sinister foreign agents who want an army of such monsters. They are being chased by CIA men. Dr. DeMarco even has his stereotypic "Igor" character in the mute and leering Franchot -- who steals bodies to give the doctor parts to work with. And, while it is still electricity which animates the monster, in AZ, they're solar cells! Monster science has advanced!

Crank Up the T&A Machine -- Mikels aimed his production at the usual lowest common denominator for an audience. As such, there is plenty of female exposure. Most notable is the topless dancer scene in the night club. She wears only a G-string and groovy swirly body paint. Her modern improv dance goes on for two minutes or more. Close ups of her gyrating butt (just like the many beach movies) and long looks at her colorful chest, leave no doubt about what Mikels figured his audience wanted to dwell upon. After THAT bit of raw cheesecake, Satana's many outfits seem almost tame. All were dresses slit up to the hip (ideal for leggy lounging poses) and deep cut tops which barely contain her amplitude. And then there's the girl in the gold bikini, strapped to a table in DeMarco's lab. Franchot putzes around her, leering at her. She wriggles and whimpers a lot, but she has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. You could cut all her footage and not change the story a bit. She's just there as added T&A.

Gratuitous Gore -- Movie makers were pushing the envelope of gore and violence. Low-budget film mongers followed in their wake. Mikels starts off with a brutal murder of the buxom redhead. He later inserts a quasi-rape murder scene of Lynn the lab assistant. Gratuitous. Later, the zombie goes for another quasi-rape scene in Janine's bedroom. Near the end, zombie 1.0 finds the "razor sharp machete" on top of the re-energizing unit (and why would a machete be there?), he chops off the head of one CIA agent, so it rolls on the lawn. (this is more amusingly bad than seriously violent.) The zombie then buries the machete into the forehead of another geeky looking agent. Those last two are more campy than disturbing, but Mikels was clearly appealing to the baser elements with AZ.

The Art of Slow -- AZ is more like one man's "work of art," than a studio film. Many shots do nothing to advance the plot, but must have been kept for some "art" reason. Extended dashboard-cam shots. A wheel splashing in a puddle, etc. Then there's the long monster-bait scene. Nothing happens. The night club dance scene is another long stretch for no reason (other than the T&A mentioned above). Then there is the obtuse scene in which DeMarco unscrews several screws in order to pull out a metal drawer, so he can unscrew yet another screw in order to open a hatch and drop in a little circuit board. After he's flipped a few switches and made some lights blink we get to watch him do it all again to get the little circuit board out. Why? It must be art, but it's painfully slow art.

And Yet, There's More -- Something about Mikels' AstroZombies touched a chord in audiences. He returned to the topic to make a sequel (of sorts) in Mark of the AstroZombies in 2002. A third movie was done too. There is a segment of the movie-going market that likes killers in masks.

Bottom line? AZ only barely tries to be a sci-fi flick, while really being a crazed-killer-of-beautiful-women and gore flick. At 91 minutes for a 60 minute story, it can be tediously slow at times. John Caridine does a lot of monologuing science blather to his mute assistant. Tura Satana makes an interesting evil babe. Acting was not the strong suit of any of them besides Caridine. Fans of more serious sci-fi are likely to be annoyed with AZ, for all its alternate lowbrow agenda. It's poles apart from 2001. Fans of trashy slasher movies may enjoy it for its trashiness.

Planet of the Vampires

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

Cold War Angle
This isn't present much, beyond the somewhat customary "who can you trust?" trope typical of alien-takeover films.

Notes
Zomies In Space -- The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

Budget Friendly -- Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

Alien Colors -- Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

Alien Inspiration? -- Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Hostile Planets -- Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

Nihilism or Sequelism? -- The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

The Last Man On Earth

Based on Richard Matheson's 1954 story, "I Am Legend," Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow's Last Man On Earth" (LMoE) is the first of many movie adaptations. Vincent Price stars and lends a dignity to this otherwise low-budget Italian-American production. LMoE is a pivotal link between the familiar 50s post-apocalypse genre and the nascent zombie genre of the 60s and beyond. Told in a grim, spare style, it is the story of a man who witnesses the world he knew fall apart around him, yet leave him untouched.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dawn breaks over a rambling italian city. Bodies lie in streets, doorways and stairs. A super germ has infected the world. Only Dr. Robert Morgan survives as a normal human. Others turn into vampire zombies. Morgan hunts and kills the zombies by day. They surround and bang on his fortress house by night. Morgan goes into mental flashback to relive the coming of the plague, the loss of his daughter and wife, and her turning into a zombie. Morgan finds a lost non-zombie dog which gives him hope for companionship, but the dog dies. While burying the dog, Morgan spots a normal woman out in the day. She runs, but he convinces her to come to his house. He is pleased to find another survivor, but suspects Ruth is infected. She is, but she takes a drug developed by other survivors (yet still night-people) that let her tolerate the day. She pulls a gun. Her job was to keep him there until the night men could come get him. Without her drug, she passes out. While unconscious, Morgan gives her a transfusion of his immune blood. She recovers, so his antibodies were effective. The zombies attack. The night soldiers come. Morgan flees, but they corner him inside a church. Wounded and surrounded, he rails at them, shouting that he is the last man. A night soldier hurls a spear that kills Morgan. Ruth comforts him in his last moment, then walks out through the ring of night people. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Price turns in a quality performance as the "last man". The directors maintained a dark and claustrophobic mood. The understated use of Rome cityscapes gives visual variety.

Cold War Angle
Matheson's story is a classic example of 50s post-apocalyptic angst. Something big gets out of control and wipes out the world as we know it. The germ, like radiation, kills most of the population outright. The few survivors become monsters.

Notes
Based on the Book -- LMoE follows Matheson's story reasonably well. There were many omissions and compressings, as is typical for books turned into 90 minute movies. Many of the novel's elements show up in William Leicester's screenplay: the home fortress, the little dog, the spy woman, the new society, etc. At the end of both movie and book, the main character utters the title words. In the novel, Neville, realizing that he was the monster, says "I am legend." In the movie, Morgan shouts to the surrounding night-people. "I am the last man!"

Zombies Rising -- Zombie movies began with White Zombie in 1932, with scattered appearances in the 40s and 50s. Often, the zombies were living people under a voodoo trance, not the "living dead." Curt Siodmak's Creature with the Atomic Brain ('55) featured a gang of reanimated dead bodies. They were science-zombies, not the supernatural spooky kind. Ed Wood featured a couple of the risen un-dead in his Plan 9 From Outer Space ('59). The mindless shambling vampire-zombies in LMoE were closer to the classic movie zombie, but predating Romero's Night of the Living Dead by four years. Zombies were going to be hot, but LMoE was ahead of that curve.

Social Commentary -- Elevating the story from just a cheesy zombie horror film, is Matheson's study of human society and the dynamics of change. A 20th century version of the Black Plague topples the society we knew. A new civilization, a new world order develops from within the ashes and rubble of the old. What moves this story beyond a mere plague apocalypse is that many of the victims don't die so much as change into something new. The last man of the old order -- zealously fighting the change -- is the hunted enemy of the new order. The old order's martial law (troops hauling the dead to The Pit) is replaced by the new order's martial law (troops killing off the zombies and hunting Morgan). New boss same as the old boss.

Fascist Reflections -- Filmed in Italy, with an italian director and screenwriter, parts of LMoE take on a political commentary. The new people (especially the soldiers), dressed all in black are too close of a parallel to Mussolini's "Black Shrits" in the 1920s and 30s. This adds a political parallel to the plague story -- the adults worrying about news reports of something new and deadly sweeping the continent, how many die, but many more become brutish mobs, the new order being ruthless and efficient in eliminating opposition. LMoE has a political subtext to it.

Remake One -- In 1971, Matheson's story was turned into a film again, but also drawing on LMoE. This second version was titled, The Omega Man, which was a fancy way of still saying "the last man" Charlton Heston plays the main character, using Matheson's character name: Robert Neville. Curiously, he is a macho Army doctor and more screen time is spent on his zombie hunting. He dies in the end, from a spear, just like Vincent Price did. Where Ruth, carrying Morgan's blood in her veins was a more subtle hint at hope, the '71 version was more upbeat and reassuring with a whole bottle of his blood being driven away in a van full of singing children.

Remake Two -- In 2007, the third version came out under Matheson's original title, I Am Legend, but also keying off the previous two movie versions more than going back to the novel. Will Smith stars as the main character, an army scientist named Robert Neville. He has a companion dog rather than finds a lost one. He captures an infected woman, rather than her come to him as a spy. Like LMoE, it is her blood that is the hope. Neville dies, but in a more 1990s manner -- a massive explosion. Like OM, there were other normal human survivors. Expanding on the upbeat ending of Omega Man The uninfected woman and boy drive off to a safe commune/enclave in rural Vermont. Here, it is Neville's work that makes him a "good" legend.

Bottom line? LMoE is a B classic. It is far more than a zombie apocalypse movie. Sci-fi fans won't find a lot of science in the story, but there is more than enough depth to the story to make it a must-see classic.

Plan 9 From Outer Space

The dubious honor of "Worst Film Ever Made" for Plan 9 From Outer Space (Plan 9) originated with the Medved's "Golden Turkey Awards." This distinction doesn't quite fit anymore, however, as so many people have become fans of the film. In the context of its day (the 50s) Plan 9 was an obscure failure of a film when released in 1959. 1960s and 70s television rescued it. Countless late night runnings in local TV "Creature Feature" productions brought Plan 9's fascinating cheapness to new audiences. With such a wide cult following, much has been written about Plan 9, bringing attention to its quirky writer, producer, director, Ed Wood Jr. Plan 9 has a subtle earnestness to it, which the bad acting, cheap sets, and bad special effects cannot squelch. While it would be easy to see Plan 9 as a totally camp parody of 50s sci-fi, Ed was serious.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The show opens with Criswell making a menacing introduction. The movie itself opens with an old man among mourners at his wife's grave. He later dies too and is buried. Flying saucers arrive, seen by an airline pilot, Jeff. The dead wife (Vampira) rises and kills some grave diggers. The police investigate, but zombie wife and zombie old man kill the girthsome detective (Tor Johnson). Tor is buried, and also rises as a huge bald zombie. The Pentagon sends a Colonel to investigate it all. Aboard the saucers' mother ship, the lead saucer commander tells the alien Ruler how Earth's authorities refuse to listen to their warning about weapons proliferation. The alien "Eros" plans to use Plan 9 to get the earthlings' attention. He plans to raise the earth's recently deceased to cause chaos. Then the earthlings can no longer deny the existence of the aliens. Eros tries his plan for awhile, but three zombies don't cause that much chaos. Due to lack of results, the Ruler takes away 2 of Eros' three saucers. The Ruler's plan is to send the old man zombie (Bela)among people, then use the decomposition ray on the body. That should impress the humans into listening. Eros goes down to earth to follow orders. The old man zombie performs as planned, but it only causes the people to go into the cemetery to investigate. They find the ship. Eros lets them in so he can talk smug and monologue about how earth must be destroyed because earth scientists could (pretty soon now) discover Solarbanite which explodes light particles. This would destroy the whole universe, since light is everywhere. A fight breaks out aboard the saucer between Jeff and Eros. This sparks a fire. The Colonel, the Inspector and Jeff all get out just before Tanna makes the saucer take off. The three men watch the burning saucer fly over Hollywood, then explode. Criswell comes back on with an equally menacing epilogue. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
For fans of 50s B movies, especially sci-fi, there is so much to love. Aside from reveling in the really poor quality of almost everything, there is the mystery of just what Ed thought he was doing. Plan 9 is a "perfect storm" of cheapness that attains a sort to pathos all its own.

Cold War Angle
Plan 9 re-uses the familiar plot of advanced aliens warning (and/or threatening) earthlings for their recently developed destructive power. Eros says that earth scientists are on the verge of discovering "Solarbanite." This is a thinly veiled analogy for nuclear weapons. Jeff says,"So what if we develop this Solarbanite bomb, then we'd be an even stronger nation." To this, the alien Eros exasperatedly responds, "...stupid stupid stupid." Thus, Ed Wood delivers his commentary about Cold War logic.

Notes
Bela Beyond The Grave -- Ed Wood Jr. befriended the aging star Bela Lugosi -- famous for his Dracula roles in the 1930s. Over 70 years old, and frail as he was, Bela still had some drawing power on the marquee. Wood gave Bela the starring role as his mad scientist in Bride of the Monster ('55) -- Bela's last speaking role. In 1956, Woods shot a few minutes of Bela in his classic vampire tux. These weren't scripted scene segments, just some impromptu clips. Woods had a vague movie idea for a western-vampire hybrid, "The Ghoul Goes West." But, Bela died in August 1956 before any real work had been done. Wood later worked his Bela clips into his script for Plan 9. Thus, Plan 9 was Bela's last movie, released three years after he died.

Secret Martians -- The aliens in Plan 9 never really say where they're from. The script and early production work, however, referred to them as martians. Mars was the popularly presumed home of flying saucers. The only trace of this remaining in the script, comes when Eros refers to the possibility of earthlings blowing up the sun, which he calls "our sun." We must be neighbors then.

Interplanetary Faith -- Adding to the eclectic mix in Plan 9, Woods added a dash of God. In the saucer, Eros chides earthlings for "not using the minds that God gave you". Jeff questions this. "What do you know of God?" Eros adds this to his list of things to deride earthlings for. "You think you are the only ones to think about God?" Given their behavior, especially Eros's, the martians weren't any better at following God than 20th century earthlings had been.

Soap Boxing -- Ed, as writer, seemed to have several things he wanted to say about life or society. Without much delicacy, his characters occasionally launch into little monologues of Woodian messages. Women are headstrong, but weak. The military brass are hypocrites and liars. Flying Saucers and aliens do exist. Nuclear weapons are a bad thing. Policemen are incompetent boobs, etc. None of these messages have much to do with each other. They're just some things Ed wanted to say. Plan 9 was his soap box.

Lost Halo Luster -- In most 50s B movies, the US military is portrayed as the heroic guardian of the land. Recall Them! and Deadly Mantis to name but two. Notice how Wood was counter-culture. In Plan 9, the military weapons are ineffectual. The top brass are liars -- they know UFOs and aliens were real, but maintain a fiction. Even Wood's "benign" aliens are decidedly not Christ-like Klaatus. In some ways they were as dysfunctional as we earthlings. Eros backhands Tanna for being too outspoken, then goes on to chastise the earth men for being belligerent. No Klaatu here.

Constellation of Lesser Stars -- In addition to Wood's fallen star, Bela, Wood had his other regular character actor, Tor Johnson. Tor is once again cast as the big bald brute. Instead of reprising "Lobo" from the prior two movies, he is the zombie of Inspector Clay. Vampira, (Maila Nurmi), played the zombie of the "old man's" wife. Vampira was a local Los Angeles TV celebrity in the mid 50s. Criswell, who provided a lurid intro and epilogue to the movie, was also Los Angeles phenomenon. Minor note: In Criswell's intro, he uses the movie's original title "Grave Robbers from Outer Space." The rest of the cast were almost-nobody actors or just plain folks, like Wood's landlord, his chiropractor, one of the actor's houseguest, etc.

Bottom line? So much has already been written about Plan 9, but it really has to be seen. It is a classic "acme" of low-budget 50s sci-fi movies. It's almost too easy to watch Plan 9 with the condescending ridicule of MST3K. But, one can enjoy the cheapness without arrogance. Instead, watch it with the context of 50s B sci-fi in mind. Ed Wood wasn't making a parody. He was serious. Everyone in it was serious. They were in Hollywood and making a movie!

Invisible Invaders

This movie is another hybrid of sci-fi and the horror genre. It is certainly a good example of the B-minus grade of movies. It has aliens (invisible ones, which saves on costuming) and space ships (invisible, of course, saves on props), and an army of zombies for the heros to defeat. If not expected to be too serious, Invisible Invaders can be entertaining.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Amid the pressures to develop better and better atomic weapons, a Dr. Noymann is killed during one of his experiments. An invisible alien inhabits and reanimates his body to deliver a warning to a cohort of his, a Dr. Penner. Unless the nations of the earth surrender to the aliens in 24 hours, they will invade and all human life will be destroyed on earth. No one believes Penner or his associate John Lamont. The aliens then deliver two similar re-animated-dead warnings to people at large. Panic ensues. No surrender comes by the deadline, so the aliens animate an army of zombies who start fires, blow up buildings, etc. The government asks Penner, Lamont and Penner's daughter Phyllis to hide out in a research bunker with a Major Jay. Much destruction afflicts the earth while Penner and Lamont try one failed idea after another to create a weapon against the aliens. They capture an alien-infested zombie by encasing them in acrylic. They bring the encapsulated alien into a sealed test chamber in the bunker in order to test ideas. None work. In frustration, Lamont throws a beaker of fluid at Jay which causes electrical shorts and loud alarms. Penner notices that the loud sounds affect the zombie. They then construct a sound gun. It works. The aliens are jamming their radio communications, so they have to defeat the hoard of zombies and go find the invisible ship to destroy it. This they do and radio in their discovery. The world is saved and learns to live together in harmony. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
It's somewhat fun to see (or hear) veteran B-grade sci-fi actors like John Carridine and John Agar at work. Despite the predictable script, the pace moves along fairly well. A few plot surprises keep it from being totally predictable. Knowing that Invisible Invaders predates the big-time zombie movie Night of the Living Dead by nine years is kind of fun.

Cold War Angle
The attempted moral of Invisible Invaders is preaching nuclear disarmament. Penner starts the movie as a lone voice advocating disarmament. The heavy-handed moral statement comes at the end (though it's a non-sequetor to the story line)."Out of the destruction of war, in which a dictator of the universe had been defeated, a lesson had been learned. The nations of the world could work and fight together." Instead of a Cold War, we should all be friends.

Notes
Plan 8 From Outer Space? -- Invisible Invaders was released prior to the much more famous Plan 9 From Outer Space which also featured aliens trying to take over the earth by re-animated dead humans. Plan 9 was produced earlier, but the two films appear to have been developed in parallel rather than one spawning the other. For some reason, zombies became quite the hot marketing item in the late 50s. Zombie flicks were assured of selling drive-in tickets, no matter how lame.

Don't Need No Body -- One shouldn't expect thoughtful continuity in B-minus films, but... The aliens say they must inhabit (re-animated) dead humans in order to kill people. They're invisible, sure, but they're not insubstantial. They leave draggy foot prints in the dirt. They push bushes aside, They can hit people and knock them down. They really don't need human bodies. Still, zombies make for a creepier army.

Interplanetary Procrastinators -- Zombie Noymann tells Penner that they had invaded earth's moon 20,000 years ago, defeating the civilization there. (the catwomen?) Now it was earth's turn. Why, after tens of thousands of years, were they in such a hurry that they had to issue a 24 hour ultimatum? And just what were they going to do with earth if it had surrendered? Would the aliens not have invaded? What then?

Bottom line? If you like old zombie movies, this is one you should catch. It's cheap and kind of campy, but that's pretty normal for the genre. If you like sci-fi and aliens, you'll be a little disappointed. There is a smattering of "science", what with the whole sound-gun thing, but it's a little thin.
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The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy

This is another film from the far outer orbits of the sci-fi system. It's slender claim to sci-fi comes only near the end, but it's there. Viewed on its own, The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (RvAM) is more prone to confuse and annoy the average modern viewer. K. Gordon Murray imported this Mexican film and had it dubbed into English, but RvAM was the third in a series of Mexican aztec mummy movies, so it's only natural that audiences would get lost. The basic premise, however, was a familiar one to Mexican audiences. This third installment introduced a sci-fi element of a hybrid human-robot, created by the sinister Dr. Krupp to defeat the mummy.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Much of the back story from the first two films is told in narration over reused footage. Dr. Almada hypnotizes his wife, Flor, to find out that she was once an aztec princess (for whom chastity was required). She and her warrior lover were both sentenced to death. Dr. Almada searched for the golden breastplate worn by the princess as proof of his wife's past life and his own psychiatric brilliance. Trouble was, the undead warrior, Popoca, guards the breastplate. Popoca steals the breastplate back, and kidnaps Flor. She is rescued. A villain named Dr. Krupp wants the breastplate because it is also a treasure map to some vast aztec treasure hoard. All of this is back story. The new story, is that Krupp has assembled a hybrid robot-human from cadavers, mechanisms and some radium for power. With this super-strong robot, he will defeat Popoca, get the breastplate and find the treasure. With that treasure, he plans to finance the construction of an army of robots and rule the world. Krupp uses hypnosis to get Flor to show him where Popoca sleeps. (She has a psychic connection to Popoca via her previous life as the romantic princess, you see.) She leads them to a tomb. In the tomb, the robot and mummy finally do fight, and it's nearly a draw, until Dr. Almada rushes in and shoots the remote control out of Krupp's hands. The mummy takes advantage of the moment and destroys the robot. He also kills Krupp and Bruno. Flor gives the mummy the breastplate with a touching speech about ancestors. The mummy shuffles off. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
RvAM is just so strange, it's hard not to become fascinated. The Krupp character is so over-the-top that he's intriguing to watch. The final battle scene in the last five minutes, is so odd (more like a grade-school pushing match with sparks and smoke) that it's worth the wait.

Cold War Angle
There is no Cold War analogy in RvAM. It's a horror / monster flick with just a dash of Frankenstein.

Notes
Program Already in Progress... -- RvAM suffers from being far removed from its roots. Released in America in February of 1959, it was an english dubbing of The Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot ('58), which was itself the third installment in a Mexican horror movie sequel series. Much of RvAM rehashes the action of the first two -- The Aztec Mummy ('57) and Curse of the Aztec Mummy ('57). All this rehash takes up the greater portion of RvAM's runtime, so it's easy to get a little lost. Why, for instance, is Dr. Krupp is sometimes referred to as "The Bat," for no apparent reason? This comes from the second movie where he was an arch villain and dressed up in a ski mask and long cape. There is only one very brief glimpse of this costume in RvAM -- a clip which makes no sense in the American version. Since American audiences were not already familiar with the story lines, all the rehash is more confusing than helpful.

Senor Frankenstein -- Of some interest, is Dr. Krupp's repeat of the classic 1931 Frankenstein sub-plot. He steals cadavers and brains. He claims to have discovered how to reanimate dead tissue. His creature will be super strong and indestructible. A more modern 50s twist, is the use of "radium" to do the animating, not electricity, although it is still a dark and stormy night with lots of lightning and electrical equipment around when the creature comes to life. The big difference, is that the creature is more robot than man. With an army of such robots, Krupp planned to rule the world. He just lacked venture capital or a research grant. Hence the ongoing need for all that aztec treasure.

Modern Rustic Robot -- By the late 50s, movie robots had become quite sophisticated. Forbidden Planet's Robby was a hard act to follow. Robby set the bar pretty high. Yet, the titular robot of RvAM turns out to be a rustic throwback to pre-50s "technology." Even the old Republic "water heater" robot looks pretty good compared to Krupp's creation. Low budget in Mexico means really low budget. But, there is a certain nostalgic industrial-baroque charm to Krupp's robot. Something out of Flash Gordon or Video Ranger. Robby was a designer's vision of a robot. Krupp's robo-human was more in sync with what a 6 year old in 1959 might have imagined. Therein lies its charm.

Fight! Fight! -- A quirky sub-genre of movies began in 1943 with Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman. Imagined as a sequel to both Frankenstein and Wolfman movie lines, it began the monster vs monster trope. This was bound to happen eventually. Once the movie universe became sufficiently populated with famous monsters, it was only natural for movie fans to wonder which was scarier, stronger, etc. The monster vs. monster tradition began then, got traction in the 50s, and continues to this day. (Alien vs. Predator, Jason vs. Freddie, et al) RvAM is one of those monster match-ups. It's just one from out in left field.

Bottom line? Watch RvAM knowing that it's chapter three, not a new work. Don't expect it to be especially logical or even consistent. Enjoy the melodramatic villain. Revel a bit in the robo-remake of Frankenstein as a side plot. Don't expect high production values. The very complexity of RvAM is worth experiencing, not for its greatness, but simply for the fun.
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Creature with the Atomic Brain

A vengeful mobster, an ex-Nazi scientist, atomic radiation and zombies. From the barest descriptions, Creature with the Atomic Brain (CAB) movie should be about as tacky as 50s B-films get. However, CAB has some talent behind it which keep it interesting. The key ingredient is the writing of Curt Siodmak. He gave us Magnetic Monster ('53), Donovan's Brain ('53) and Riders to the Stars ('54). He will go on to give us Earth vs Flying Saucers too. With Siodmak's above-B writing, and above-B acting (Richard Denning, mostly), CAB is a better than average B film.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The action begins immediately after the credits. A hulking zombie breaks into a mansion and kills a (presumed) mobster boss named Hennesy. The police are baffled. The fingerprints are of a man who died days before. The blood stains are radioactive. (back story) A mobster named Buchanan was forced out of the country, betrayed by some mob mates. While in Europe, Buchanan finds a German scientist who is trying to re-animate the dead -- to provide a menial labor pool. Buchanan funds his research and brings Steigg to America. His goal is to send zombies to kill off those who betrayed him. The police figure out the common Buchanan connection with those killed and try to put the last three into protective custody. Buchanan uses a dead policeman to get one of them, and a dead police captain to get the other two. When the zombie captain is captured, police doctor, Chet Walker (Denning) discovers the remote control brain implants and figures out the plot. Police and army troops converge on the lead-lined mansion. Buchanan sends out his platoon of unkillable zombies to fight them off. Walker gets into the mansion and smashes the electronic controls. The zombies all fall down. Buchanan is about to shoot Walker, but the zombie captain strangles Buchanan first. All is safe again. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Normally, zombie movies are tedious, but in CAB, they're not paranormal spooks. They're electronically controlled bio-units. Siodmak puts more "science" into the tale, which makes it more fun. While the staging is a bit flat, the pacing is good and keeps your interest.

Cold War Angle
There are no commies, but the fact that atomic energy is used to reanimate the dead, CAB does pick up some of the fear inherent in the new nuclear age. Steigg's zombies were fueled by atomic energy in lieu of life.

Notes
Zombie Vision -- One cool little detail is how Steigg used implants in the eyes of the dead bodies to collect and transmit live video of what the zombie saw. This made the zombies an extension of their controllers (Buchanan) and not simply a creepy monster. Steigg also used electrodes to control their speech, so the zombie could act like a remote speaker for its controller. The zombies also took voice commands like "drive the car," and "come home" and "Kill him!".

Girl and the Beast -- A curious trope in sci-fi is the scene where the killer monster is confronted by an innocent little girl. This appeared in the early Frankenstein movie. There is something compelling, some deeper chord struck, in these scenes. The monster stops being a monster, temporarily -- charmed by innocence? The innocent has no fear, she just wants to play. The little girl's death in Frankenstein was a mistake, not malice. In The Quatermass Xperiment ('55) and here in CAB, the monsters are alone with little girls playing with their dolls. The monsters somehow have enough human decency remaining in them to spare the girls. The dolls, however, suffer a sort of substitutionary "death."

Brains on the Brain -- Siodmak was fascinated with the power of the human brain. In Donovan's Brain the big gland had paranormal powers. In CAB, the brain is more of a machine which can be controlled by very clever scientists. The 50s had an undercurrent mood of naive optimism about "science" being on the verge of having all the answers.

Extreme Recycling: Zombie Labor -- A fascinating detail easily overlooked in CAB, is Steigg's original intention for his work -- to create a working class of zombie laborers to do menial work. Here, Steigg fits the archetype of the misguided naive genius "mad" scientist. His bio-robot idea is very similar to Karel Capek's 1921 play R.U.R, (which gave us the word "robot") in which non-human bio-tissue beings were created to supply humans with a menial labor class. This is an enduring notion.

A Trace of Decency -- A common feature in zombie and man-becomes-monster movies is the idea that in the good man, a trace of his goodness will remain. In the recent Quatermass Xperiment ('55) the astronaut Caroon, though being consumed by the space monster, does not kill his wife, nor the little girl, even though he happily kills others. In CAB, the zombie police captain, "Uncle Dave" to the little girl Penny, goes on to brutally stab the last two hidden mobsters, but does not hurt innocent little Penny. (the doll doesn't fare so well, see above). This seems to show that we like to think that goodness runs deeper than monstrosity.

Bottom line? CAB is not an easy movie to find, but worth the effort. Yes, it's a B-movie and sounds absurd. Nonetheless, it's well worth watching for a sci-fi spin on the ubiquitous (and often tedious) zombie character.