The Last Man on Earth (1964)

I have read and I'm a huge fan of Richard Matheson's story "I am Legend", a story that has now inspired three different film versions. While each version attempts to recreate the intense and terrifying world that is described in that book, the first film that attempted to do so failed horribly. Richard Matheson himself was hired to co-write the script but soon left the project in disgust over how his story was being twisted and treated. "The Last Man on Earth" is ultimately a plodding, slow, ridiculous mess starring Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan. Price's narration and acting feel tired and phoned in, as he also knew how much the script had been altered from the original story. The film is made even more difficult to watch due to the low film quality that makes it seem like the movie was originally filmed as a silent movie or shortly after they were able to add a suitable soundtrack to films.


Dr. Robert Morgan is the last normal human on Earth. Everyone else has been turned into vampire-like creatures that walk around and faintly moan like zombies at night. Dr. Morgan spends his days tracking down and killing the vampires, dumping their bodies into a fire pit. He eventually meets Ruth, a woman who may or may not be infected. Dr. Morgan's hopes are dashed when he finds out that she is infected. He finds a cure for her but it's too late when Ruth's friends come and save her and kill him for his actions against the vampires.

Stir of Echoes (1999)

Welcome to my 250th review! Here is a movie that is one of my personal favorites and one that I was able to rediscover just a few months ago.

"Stir of Echoes" is another excellent story written by Richard Matheson which was adapted into film in 1999. This movie has some intense, scary moments and a disturbing sense of tension builds as Kevin Bacon delivers an outstanding performance as the main character Tom Witzky. Everything about this film is nearly perfect from the pacing to the performances of the other actors. The film truly utilizes the Rolling Stones song "Painted Black" with eerie and haunting precision (even though the version used is a cover). The song plays such an important role that it feels like a character itself, moving the story forward.

Tom Witzky is a hard working blue-collar guy trying to take care of his pregnant wife Maggie and young son, Jake. Jake has the ability to talk to ghosts but his parents just think he has an over active imagination. One night at a party for the adults, Tom is hypnotized, deeply, by his sister-in-law Lisa. While hypnotized, Lisa suggests that Tom become "more opened minded" because he is a non-believer in the paranormal. Over the next few days, Tom begins to have visions of a violent fight involving a teenage girl and he hears a faint melody that he can't name and is unable to get out of his head . Around this same time, Jake begins talking to a ghost named Samantha. It's soon revealed that Jake's babysitter is Samantha's sister and that Samantha went missing about six months earlier. Tom's behavior becomes erratic as his obsession over Samantha intensifies. The people around him become more and more concerned as both he and his son won't give up on Samantha, no matter how dangerous this obsession might become.He eventually discovers the dark truth about his visions and how they will affect his family.

Trilogy of Terror (1975)

The “Trilogy of Terror” is the only anthology that doesn’t have a connecting story and it’s the first Made-for-TV movie that I’ve reviewed so far. This movie was developed as a TV series pilot that was later passed over. It stars Karen Black in four different roles and was written by Richard Matheson. The first two stories were mediocre at best with disappointing endings that failed to shock. The third story, on the other hand, is highly regarded as one of the scariest moments ever seen in a Made-for-TV movie and it’s the only reason why I’m reviewing this film instead of John Carpenter’s “Body Bag”….(yawn).

The first story is about a college student that asks his teacher out on a date, drugs her and takes pictures of her, and then blackmails her into doing whatever he wants. But after a few weeks, the teacher tells the student that she has become tired of him and the entire experience was of her design. He’s shocked and dies after drinking a poisoned beverage. She burns down his apartment and makes it all look like an accident.

The second story is about two sisters who are the polar opposite of each other. One day the prudish one decides to kill the sexy one, but the only problem is that they happen to be the same person who is suffering from a split personality syndrome.

The third and by far greatest story of the trilogy is about a young woman who buys her boyfriend a Zuni fetish doll that has a warning to never remove the golden chain that it wears because it keeps the killer spirit that’s trapped within under control. Of course the chain falls off and the Zuni doll comes to life, attacking the woman over and over again. She tries to kill it in various ways but nothing works. Finally, she manages to trap it inside her oven where it burns to death…only to become a cloud of black smoke that she inhales when she opens the oven. The woman becomes possessed with the killer spirit and waits for the next victim to come along.