Despite Will Smith’s best attempt, I Am Legend didn’t do it for me. The original movie, the Last Man on Earth, starred Vincent Price based on the book by Richard Matheson while The Omega Man is the best version of the three.
The Vincent Price version, also called the Last Man on Earth, is effective as the world has been hit by a virus turning the populace into vampires while those that do not survive the disease are thrown en masse into massive pits in dump trucks. The Omega Man is as effective but this time, humanity is turned into white haired, white skinned creatures that cannot tolerate sunlight and come out at night. They are not vampires, more a cult where the disease seems to make them follow Matthias without question as seen later in the character of Lisa. Matthias calls them the Family.
His aim is to cleanse the world with fire to eradicate all of the past’s monstrosities that brought the world to an end. It isn’t clear if all survivors of the plague turned as Matthias did but they want Charlton Heston’s character of Robert Neville is his main nemesis. Neville has the cure to the disease. He represents the last vestige of the old world that once dead, will secure Matthias and his group’s future.
But Matthias is not your typical villain. You can see his point. Before the world ended, Jonathan Matthias was a news anchor. In flashback, we see the lead up to the war that released the germs that destroyed the world. People are dropping dead where they stand. Matthias is on the postion of being able to see the entire picture as it unfolds. He could see the tensions boil over into the disaster that unfolded.
He looks exhausted as he delivers the doom laden message to the world.
“Now, the question is survival. Is this the end for technological man? Is this the conclusion of all our yesterdays? The boasts of our fabled science, the superhuman conquests of space and time, the age of the wheel? We were warned of judgement. Well, here it is. Here. Now. In the form of millions of microscopic fusilli. This is the end.”
Matthias the news anchor is the man that tells the people what is going on, the one that tells us exactly how this happened. Millions tune in to him every night, listening to his every word so it only seems fitting that he becomes the one to led them all into this new world. He has seen what technology mixed with human stupidity can do and in his mind now, only fire can begin a new world. To be fair, it isn’t the greatest of new societies he promises because humanity now cowers from sunlight and comes out at night. No more days at the beach or happy families enjoying days like that.
His followers are devoted and follow his every word. His view of the the dark side of humanity is justified but whether his brain is distorted by the biological weapon. Maybe his view is that humanity should rermain in darkness as a sort of penance because he allowed the entire race to die because of petty squabbles about territory and power.
However, Neville discovers he is not alone after all when he meets Lisa and her brother Richie. Richie has the disease. They are part of a group of survivors led by Dutch. Dutch was a medical student when the war happened. Using Richie as a test subject, Neville is able to cure him of the disease.
His stark determiantion is shown when young Richie, cured by Neville’s serum, goes to Matthias to show him that he is normal again. He says that the cure will bring back the world they have lost. Such is his fury, that Neville finds young Richie dead, killed at Matthias’ hand to stop the return of the old world. A child should be a hope for the future but Matthias’ act shows no one is safe. We see no children in his group. Indeed, the design is simple and effective.
They wear dark hooded robes and sunglasses even at night. Neville’s apartment is their target and he beats them off with msssive bright lights and traps every night. It isn’t until Neville’s new found girlfriend Lisa turns, does Matthias finally gain entrance to the apartment.
The Family then smash it to pieces. Neville escapes but grabs his cure to give to Dutch. He and Lisa are guardians to a group of kids, one of which was Richie, all normal and unaffected by the germ warfare. There is a rumour of a sanctuary in the mountians where people are normal. Dutch takes the cure from Neville’s dying hands and leaves with the kids and an infected Lisa to hopefully a better future. As they drive off to Los Angeles, Neville lies dead but it has not been in vain. It is fitting that Matthias threw the harpoon that killed Neville, who died in a fountain, the water red with his blood.
The irony is that they have avoided Matthias’ minions but such was the focus on Neville, it may well be the reason they have survived. Matthias as a news anchor would have been fully aware of who Neville was and his part in the war so it makes sense that he would take him out as a priority target. But it is more than likely that Matthias and his cult will die in the ruins of the city. They do not have any children it seems and cannot, we assume, procreate. So, hope isn’t lost because it lies with Dutch and the others. The darkness and the light lie equally in the balance but given that the members of the Family never seem to leave the ruibns of the city. I think the ending gives us hope that we can come back from this and learn to build a better world.
Maybe Matthias and his group will become mythological figures of ghosts and boogeymen in the days to come. Only time will tell.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 