John Chard

Kill em or cure them. Robert Neville appears to be the sole survivor of a biologically waged war. That is except for the mutant night creatures that thirst for Neville's death. Known as the family, they represent the scientific downfall of mankind. Can Neville survive? Is it worth him surviving even after having found a vaccine to the plague? The Richard Matheison novel, I Am Legend, is proving a really hard book to adapt successfully, even now after a CGI laden modern take starring Will Smith, we are waiting for a film to do this incredible premise justice. The Omega man isn't a bad film at all, the first half is quite simply very intriguing stuff, Charlton Heston is Neville and he has to battle with mental solitude whilst worrying about the albino creatures of the dark that want his blood. But once the story kicks on, the plot wears thin and drifts off into horror conventions purely as a means to up the entertainment value of the piece. It's also not helped by a quite ludicrous score from Ron Grainer, even allowing for the 70s nature of production, it's jaunty when it should be menacing and detracts from the darker moments of the story. Heston does fine, and easily carries the picture well enough to keep it from mundane average hell, but once the final credits role and the ending sinks in, you kind of feel you have been cheated out of a good movie, which is sad because it promised so very much early on. 6/10 (mainly for the first half).