Friday, July 8, 2011

The garlic is no longer pungent by Sasha Slaughter

Heyy! Sasha Slaughter here...did you miss me??? I'll take that as a yes =) Zane and I are back and getting into the swing of things by bringing you Vincent Price week, part of classic horror month! WHAT WHAT??!! For your absolute reading pleasure I'll be doing a review of the 1964 classic The Last Man on Earth. It was directed by Sidney Salkow and stars none other than Vincent Price. The movie I am Legend, which came out in 2007, was based on The Last Man on Earth and also Omega Man (1971..starring Charlston Heston) Enjoy! And don't forget to check out Zombie Zanes review of Return of the Fly (Starring Vincent Price)

In 1965 a plague started in Europe and was slowly making it's way to the states. Fast forward 3 years later and Dr. Robert Morgan is the only human being left in the world...or so he thinks. He's got some company at night though, blood thirsty vampires intent on killing him. He tries daily to reach someone, anyone on the radio, but to no avail. He spends his days replacing the garlic he hangs on the door of his home to keep the vampires away. He also replaces the mirrors he hangs on the doors, because he knows the vampires are repelled by their own reflection.

He also spends his days trying to stay alive and trying to find the vampires that stalk him at night. He goes into town daily and searches every street and every building, looking for sleeping vampires to stake in the heart and then burn. He watches home movies at night of his wife and daughter, laughing at first, and then crying. He begins to have a flashback of what happened before the plague hit his town. He and his wife were having a birthday party for their daughter Kathy when his good friend Benjamin brings a newspaper clipping to Roberts attention. It says that the plague is coming from Europe and spreading quickly, but Robert doesn't believe it. He and fellow scientists at the Mercer Institute of Chemical Research are trying to figure out what is causing the infection.

Soon after, he discovers that both his wife and daughter are sick. Before leaving for work, he finds that his daughter is blind, a symptom of infection. He warns his wife not to tell anyone because if they are infected, they'll be taken away. He comes home to find a truck and men in masks putting what looks like a body in the back of a truck and driving away. He goes into his house and his wife said she called a doctor and they came and took their daughter and are going to burn her body. They burn the bodies of those who are infected, so the infection cannot spread. Later he hears his wife screaming that she can't see, he runs into the bedroom and shes dead. He buries his wife in a seculded area because he doesn't want her body to be burned. He returns home and moments later he hears someone whispering "Let me in". He opens the door and his wife is standing there.The vampires outside are destroying his car which snaps him out of his flashback.

While he was downtown getting a new car, he sees a dog and follows it, trying to see where it came from, hoping there are others alive. He sees vampires lying dead on the ground, with iron stakes in them. He realizes he's not alone and wonders where the others are hiding. He goes home and hears the dog outside of his door. He brings the dog in but quickly realizes that it is infected when he tests its blood. He stakes the dog in the heart and buries it. As he finishes, he sees a woman approaching him, she sees him and runs away. He chases her and convinces her that he is not infected. She agrees to go back with him to be safe.

Robert takes Ruth back to his house but is paranoid that she is infected. He puts garlic infront of her and it makes her sick, so he's convinced that shes infected. She tries to tell him that she hasn't eaten in days and everything makes her sick. He asked to test her blood to see if she was infected and she refuses. He reveals to Ruth that while in Panama he was bitten by a bat that was infected, but the infection was weakened and because of that, he thinks he's immune to the virus. She goes into a room and is getting ready to inject herself with something when Robert walks in. She tells him that the shot keeps her from turning into a vampire and that shes infected but the shot prevents her from turning.

Robert finds out that there are more people like Ruth. They are in a large group and want to start their own society. She tells him that he is seen as a monster by these people because he's been killing the infected, who are still alive and happen to be loved ones of her group. She then tells him that she was sent there to spy on him and to keep him from leaving because her group wants to kill him. He leaves the room and she passes out. She wakes and finds Robert taking an IV from her arm. He was transferring his blood into her, to try cure her of the infection because he is immune. The transfusion works and shes cured.

He goes to test her blood again to make sure, and comes back to find her outside being bitten by his good friend Benjamin, who is now a vampire. The people from Ruths group come to kill him and he runs. He ends up at the church and is trying to hide. More people from the group are filing into the church as the rest are looking for Dr.Morgan. He eventually makes his way to the front of the church and begins to tell the group that they are mutations and as he does, he gets an iron stake right through his heart.

Booo!! He died!! This was the first time I've ever seen this movie, as it was recommended by my partner in crime, Zombie Zane. Good choice! I liked it. It is definitley old school but it was good. Not a lot in the special effects department, but it was the 60's soooo!! Vincent Price is an amazing actor and really made the movie interesting. Some of it was kind of amusing, but then again I'm not really used to classics. I'm more of a modern horror movie kind of person, but I'm definitley starting to like the oldies. Overall I'd give this movie a 3 out of 5. It kept me interested, the acting was good, Vincent Price's voice kept my attention throughout the movie, the vampires were ok (At least there was none of that sparkle in the sun shit) and plot was good also. Yay!! As usual, don't forget to check back next week for new stuff here at Dead End Horror!! Thanks, we definitley appreciate it!

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