The Omega Man 1971

As I mentioned on Friday, the novel I am Legend spawned three major movie adaptions. 

So after the 1964 movie The Last Man on Earth,  it was not long before a more Hollywood style movie appeared, filmed and set in Los Angeles in the seventies, just like in the novel . So grab you 70's retro fashions we are watching.

 The Omega Man 1971 – starring Carlton Heston

Much of the storyline has changed in this version. Neville is now an biowarfare scientist and in the military which gives him access to a test vaccine that grants him immunity from the plague. Now a virus. There is no backstory about his family so he appears as a bachelor living in his classy apartment equipped with state of the art gear, like a vinyl record player. 

And just admire the groovy fashions we had back then! I particularly loved his brown leather utility belt equipped with chunky flashlight, tape record and other tools. Really complemented his safari suit.

This is more of an action movie. Neville’s apartment is equipped with sandbags, barbed wire and machine guns. He battles with “The Family”, a new social order of infected humans. The Family are just out to kill Neville, which borrows from the original novel. There are no vampires in this version but for the first time there are other humans who have not succumbed to the disease. 

In a bid to make it current with the times (back then) these human survivors include the African American woman Lisa and the counter culture medical student Dutch. The dialogue is filled with the African American and hippy slang of the time. In the end Neville dies but due to his immunity he gives the human survivors a chance to live. Humanity is saved. Yay!

Wikipedia cites this movie as Tim Burton’s favourite, being one of the first movies to feature cheesy one liners. It is also the first movie to feature an interracial kiss. Without CGI, I was impressed how they managed to film panoramas of an empty deserted Los Angeles. 

This movie is available on DVD and I paid the extravagant price of $10 to own a copy. 

Bite off more one liners than you can chew.

Mr Rimsky

The Last Man On Earth 1964

As I mentioned on Friday, the novel I am Legend spawned three major movie adaptions. 

Seeing the movies span four decades, is interesting to review these in terms of how this story of mass plague and monsters has changed over time. So grab the popcorn and let's start with the first movie!

 

 The Last Man on Earth 1964 – starring Vincent Price

Being over 50 years old this movie is in black and white and the special effects leave a lot to be desired. Still it has it's own charm. To save money the movie was filmed in Italy so the city does not look much like Los Angeles. Vince Price, with his distinctive voice, plays Dr Robert Morgan (rather than Robert Neville) and unlike the book, he a scientist working on a cure for the disease. It is also set in 1967 rather than 1976. 

This movie still sticks close the original book with Richard Matheson having worked on the screenplay until he had a falling out with the producers. Many of the novel's elements are there, like Robert losing his family to the disease, his wife becoming a vampire and his immunity the result of a vampire bat bite he got while working in Panama. 

There is also the vampire Ben who taunts Robert every night. The creatures are called vampires and we see the three groups portrayed in the book, Robert the only human with immunity, the infected living and the vampire dead. As in the novel, Neville is the only human alive and is killed by a new social order of infected humans. Mankind dies with him - maybe. He does a blood transfusion with Ruth to cure her so maybe she can save mankind.

What is of interest is that the vampires move slowly, zombie like. If it was not for the garlic, mirrors and stakes used in the film you could easily think is was a zombie movie. Looking at the scene above you can see the parallels with George A. Ramero’s Night of the Living Dead 1968 a scene of which is below. It looks like Ramero was inspired by both the book and this movie.

I gather Last Man on Earth has entered into the public domain and therefore not subject to copyright. The Internet Archive has a copy for free. 

Bite off more garlic than you can chew.

Mr Rimsky

 

Apocalypse Hal - Contemporary Zombies

Where do zombies come from Mummy?

Everywhere!

Popular culture has allowed the original Haitian zombi to evolve into a range of contemporary zombie types. There is a huge range of influences on these fictional zombies. Too many to discuss here but the above is what most zombie experts regard as the main lineage of zombies.

What is interesting is that most of these are not zombies. Richard Matheson stripped back the vampire legends to give us I am Legend which George A Romero used as a basis for his horror flick Night of the Living Dead. Romero's creatures were never called zombies. They got tagged that way when his sequel Dawn of the Dead was released as non English versions. The distributor added "zombi" to the titles.

Fast zombies are not really zombies either, as they are living people who have been infected. Danny Boyle was influenced by the real life disease rabies when he created the "rage" virus for 28 Days Later. Rabies is Latin for "rage", as aggression is one of the symptoms of rabies. However, the general public decided that infected people were close enough to "zombies", so the name stuck. 

No doubt we will see the zombie continue to evolve into new types. 


Bite off more rage virus than you can chew.

Mr Rimsky

I Am Legend

Where to modern zombies come from? Vampires!

And it is all because of this book.

Richard Matheson was a budding science fiction writer when he decided to give the old vampire a bit of a modern makeover, but without the sparkles. In 1953 Matheson published the novel I am Legend. It is a vampire book set in a post apocalyptic Los Angeles during the late seventies. Considered by some to be the most influential horror book of the twentieth century, I Am Legend has inspired great writers like Stephen King and Ray Bradbury. 

Who cares, I hear you say. I've seen the movie.

Which one? There have been three official movie adaptions and they all take liberties with the original storyline - (I will be reviewing the movies soon).

In the novel Robert Neville is apparently the only survivor of a bacterial plague that infects the human population. Those that die come back from the dead as vampires and throw rocks at Robert's home every night. Robert fights back with science, but mainly with garlic and lots of wooden stakes. 

 

An old vampire bat bite gives Robert his immunity to the disease which killed his wife and daughter. Now Robert must come to grips with his new environment as the last man alive. 

The novel builds to a climax as Robert realises there are still infected humans around. Alive but carrying the disease that can kill them. They are creating a new world order and the three worlds of vampires, infected humans and Robert collide.

I won't tell you the ending. If you haven't read the book go grab a copy. Despite being over 60 years old it is still a thrilling read. I particularly loved how, with just one sentence at the end of a chapter, Richard Matheson could leave you shocked and wanting more.  

So how do these vampires become zombies. Well that is another story involving a budding film producer who based his low budget horror movie on I Am Legend.


Bite off more garlic than you can chew.

Mr Rimsky

Five tips on...preparing your office for Zombies

Five tips on…preparing your office for Zombies

Before launching into my Dead Planet zombie travel series, I thought it would be good to take a look back and share some ideas on zombie proofing the office. I’m not sure how these tips will roll in South East Asia, but in an Australia workplace they should help keep you stay safe during the worst 8hrs of the day:

• Start selling chocolates and other lollies to your colleagues. Tell them it’s for a ‘good cause’…just don’t tell them that the cause is them getting fat so you have a better chance of outrunning them when the outbreak occurs. If you’re the baking kind you can even go a step further and tempt them with delicious cakes and pastries! 

• Speaking of out running co-workers, compliment them whenever they wear clothes that are counterproductive to survival during the zombie apocalypse, e.g. THAT MINI-SKIRT IS TOTALLY WORK-PLACE APPROPRIATE AND IT DOESN’T RESTRICT YOUR MOVEMENT AT ALL! This will re-enforce the foolish attire and add to your advantage during the sprint-for-your-life stage of the zombocalypse. 

• Hide weapons around the office. If someone finds them, make sure you can explain their presence by linking them to an office task - this way you can make a case for why they should be allowed to stay, e.g. I use that Samurai sword to open the mail…do you want me to stop opening the mail?...or I use that assault rifle to frighten away mice…you don’t want mice in your office do you? 

• Also be prepared to use everyday office supplies as weapons. Go ahead and take more than your fair share of scissors, kitchen knives, those terrifying heavy-duty staplers and anything else that will result in serious zombie brain death. Having 16 ginormous staplers at your desk may be hard to explain, so have a few good lines ready in case you get questioned. For full effect, keep it vague and throw in some good office buzzwords, e.g. ‘this isn’t a problem, it’s a solution’, ‘taking them away would be a disincentive for me to staple’, ‘it’s a 16 point stapling plan’. If all else fails, just say a tried and true acronym…'all these staplers are a direct result of the KPIs’. 

  

• And finally, know your escape plan…office folk are often burdened by business plans, risk management plans, stakeholder engagement plans, work plans, section plans, planning plans…but the one plan that will always be worth your while is a zombie escape plan! Think about your exit options, sensible supplies and be mentally prepared to staple your (zombified) co-workers in the head.

Rise against the risen!

Miss ace

The Serpent and the Rainbow

With a title like The Serpent and the Rainbow this book doesn't sound like a real life zombi hunting adventure featuring secret societies, deadly poisons and exotic locations. But it is.

One day in 1972, Wade Davis, tired of his studies in anthropology at Harvard, jabs his finger on a map adorning the wall of a cafe. His finger lands on the upper Amazon and so starts his journey into the Amazon rainforest. He joins an expedition to cross the Darien Gap, trying not to get lost or murdered along the way. There in the depths of the jungle, and in the depths of despair, he encounters his spirit guardian who appears as a Jaguar. And that is just chapter one.

After this introduction the book settles quickly on Wade's quest to discover how zombis work. It is 1982 and the story of Clairvirus Narcisse was sweeping the world. Narcisse is a Haitian who claims his brother hired a bokor to turn him into a zombi. Wade's mission is to determine how zombis are made. His knowledge of biological drugs used by various indigenous tribes could help him unearth the secret of the zombi powders.

The tale that follows takes you through the history and culture of Haiti. In his own lyrical words Wade enters the heart of the vodou (voodoo) religion where the zombi lurks. As a white man in a black society he slowly gains acceptance by the people and discovers the secrets. The ingredients of the dreaded zombi powders, the secret societies who judge those condemned to become zombis, and why zombis are needed in the first place.

Originally published in 1985 this book is considered essential reading for any zombie expert. (Who would have thought that preparing for the zombie apocalypse would involve so much reading?) It is a gripping read that will take you back to the zombi roots and even explain what a zombi's cucumber really is.


Bite off more zombi's cucumber that you can chew.

Mr Rimsky

Apocalypse Hal - Checklist

Seeing it is Zombie Awareness Month, the first thing everyone should know is how to identify a zombie. It is not easy as zombies come in all shapes and sizes but this handy checklist should help you spot a zombie.

Print out a copy an place it on the fridge, the fridge at work. You can never be too careful with your work colleagues!


Bite off more than you can chew. 

Mr Rimsky