Adaptation of Richard Matheson's book "I Am Legend", previously filmed as "The Last Man on Earth" with Vincent Price, features Charlton Heston as seemingly the last healthy man left on the planet. Most everyone else is either dead or one of an army of night-dwelling, light-sensitive zombies with bluish-white skin. "The Omega Man" catches one off-guard with its grimly violent and serious scenario. There are many tightly-composed, thoughtful sequences, such as Heston sitting in a deserted movie theater watching "Woodstock" for the 100th time; fending off attacks by 'The Family' in his townhouse, where his only companion is a bust of Caesar; or saving a young boy from certain death. Anthony Zerbe is positively commanding as the leader of the undead, Rosalyn Cash very fine as an unusual love-interest for Heston. Some of the dialogue is silly (a child asking post-Moses Charlton Heston if he's God...); nevertheless, though the picture is ultimately too much of a downer, it isn't a cop-out and has a powerful finish. *** from ****
Review of The Omega Man
