Guest Author - Kirsten Olsen-Keyser

The Omega Man is based on the 1954 novel by Richard Matheson entitled, I am Legend. Both tell the story of the last man alive in Los Angeles, Robert Neville, after a bacterium has infected the city turning the inhabitants into vampire-like creatures. While I am Legend focuses on the more traditional aspects of vampirism, Omega Man writers chose to make the victims of the plague pale skinned and sensitive to light. The movie was released in 1971 and was set somewhere between 1976-78.

Our hero Neville is masterfully played by sci-fi veteran actor Charlton Heston. During a battle between China and Russia, the west coast is victim to chemical fallout of biological weapons. Most people die. A few are turned into photosensitive madmen bent on destroying technology. They form a mystical alliance, The Family, that calls for anything representative of the past to be burned in the cleansing primordial fire. They struggle to destroy Neville after the sun goes down each day and each night Neville, who himself is immune to the bacteria, struggles to fend them off to live another day.

Neville is a scientist and military man who managed to create a serum for the bacteria, but too late to stop the spread of the plague. He lives in two worlds, those of science and survival. One might ask themselves, “Why not leave the city?” but to Neville, it is better that he stay in the place he knows surrounded by enemies than to live completely alone in unfamiliar territory. He perseveres, talking to himself, playing chess with a bust of Caesar, and driving around town during the day hunting down The Family. He may be physically fit, but living alone is taking its toll on Neville. Paranoid psychosis ensues brought on by the psychology of the survivor, the stress of just getting through each day intact.

Its not long however, before Neville discovers that he is not alone, others have been spared from the plague. Some carry it but have not changed, others are on the verge of changing. It is Neville’s blood that can rescue them and he decides that he must help preserve the remnants of humanity. Among those fortunate enough to survive is Lisa played by famed actress, Rosalind Cash. Passions are revived within Neville as romance blossoms in the corpse filled streets of LA.

Above all the fighting and chaos is Lisa’s younger brother Ritchie, played by a young Eric Laneuville. After Ritchie is cured by Neville’s serum, he seeks an audience with The Family’s leader John Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), a TV anchor turned zealot. Ritchie representing the idealistic goodness of man, finds himself no match for the fanatic Matthias who is bent on destroying Neville, “the creature of the wheel”. Thus begins the final showdown and an unexpected turn of events.

The Omega Man is a dazzling film, not because of special effects, but because of its message. It is the quintessential fight of the primitive versus the technologically advanced. It is light against dark – the scientist opposed to the mystic. There are many religious undertones as well. Neville as the Omega Man is a reference to God being the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. There is the messianic leader, Matthias who bills Neville as a devil to be cast out of the new Eden before The Family can rebuild civilization. The most obvious is Neville himself, willing to give his own blood to save what is left of humanity.

The Omega Man is a film for the ages, an enduring cult classic and a must see sci-fi film.

Trivia: The cast and crew had to film on Sundays and Holidays to produce the scenes of empty city streets of LA.

Director: Boris Sagal

Writers: John William
Joyce Corrington

MPAA Rating: PG for violence and nudity