A reworking of the “I Am Legend” tale by Richard Matheson, The Omega Man works quite well in a lot of ways and is almost the equal of The Last Man On Earth. Charlton Heston does well in the lead role, there are some decent effects and moments of tension and the story keeps some of the bleak nature of the source material while also sliding in a helping of optimism.
Heston is Robert Neville, the last completely uninfected man alive on Earth who spends his nights locked up in his fortified home and ignoring the attempts of infected mutants to get to him before spending his days searching for the main nest, in an attempt to wipe out as many of them as possible.
It may not be as faithful to the source material as The Last Man On Earth was but the changes made for the benefit of The Omega Man actually hold up as fairly sound decisions. Neville is no longer battling vampires but infected people who can’t tolerate strong light and violently oppose anything that they see as a remnant of a past that led to the downfall of man by his own hand. There is also a change to the second half and the ending of the tale but it enables the movie to make it’s own mark while still exploring the main themes of the original tale.
The cast is a good one with Heston, of course, overshadowing the proceedings with his ultra-macho presence (ironically, he’s surely the embodiment of the alpha male). Anthony Zerbe is an actor I have enjoyed in almost every role he’s ever played and this one is no exception. As Matthias, the leader of the battling infected, he is as blinded by anger as he is by the virus and yet has some small kernel of truth in what he says, like many of the more dangerous people in positions of power. Rosalind Cash, Paul Koslo and Eric Laneuville are also very good in their roles and the movie provides one extra pleasant surprise in the shape of a kiss between two people that you never think is actually going to happen.
More cinematically pleasing, at the expense of the downbeat nature inherent in the novel, The Omega Man is a perfectly enjoyable slice of sci-fi horror hokum that tries to maintain a thought-provoking centre. Fans of the source material may balk at the changes but they enable the film to take the concept and original title and twist them towards a slightly different, but no less interesting, direction.
DIRECTOR: BORIS SAGAL
WRITER: JOHN WILLIAM CORRINGTON, JOYCE HOOPER CORRINGTON (BASED ON ORIGINAL MATERIAL BY RICHARD MATHESON)
STARS: CHARLTON HESTON, ANTHONY ZERBE, ROSALIND CASH, PAUL KOSLO, ERIC LANEUVILLE, LINCOLN KILPATRICK
RUNTIME: 98 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: USA
Film Rating: 
