Release
Although The Last Man on Earth was not considered a success upon its release, the film later gained a more favorable reputation as a classic of the genre. As of November 2011, The Last Man on Earth holds a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Phil Hall of Film Threat called The Last Man on Earth "the best Vincent Price movie ever made." Awarding the film three and a half stars out of four, Danél Griffin of Film as Art said, "Directors Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo Ragona and star Vincent Price (giving a poignant, straightforward performance) are able to conjure up some genuine chills here, mainly in the use of stark, black-and-white images and the underlining mood of the piece."
Among the less favorable reviews, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique felt the film was "hampered by an obviously low budget and some poorly recorded post-production dubbing that creates an amateurish feel, undermining the power of its story", while Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader remarked, "Some would consider this version better than the 1971 remake with Charlton Heston, The Omega Man, but that isn't much of an achievement."
Among the film's creators, Price "had a certain fondness for the film" and felt it was better than The Omega Man. Richard Matheson co-wrote the film's screenplay, but was unhappy with the results. In order to keep receiving residual income from the film, though, he had to be credited, and so used the name "Logan Swanson" - a combination of his wife's mother's maiden name and his mother's maiden name. Matheson remarked, "I was disappointed in The Last Man on Earth, even though they more or less followed my story. I think Vincent Price, whom I love in every one of his pictures that I wrote, was miscast. I also felt the direction was kind of poor. I just didn’t care for it."
Read more about this topic: The Last Man On Earth (1964 Film)
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