The Ωmega Man

The Ωmega Man is a 1971 American science-fiction horror film directed by Boris Sagal, whose many TV credits include directing episodes of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. It stars and starring Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash and Paul Koslo. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by the American writer Richard Matheson.

The Ωmega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson’s novel, the first being The Last Man on Earth (1964) which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend starring Will Smith, was released in 2007. The same year, The Asylum also released a low-budget straight-to-DVD version, I Am Omega, featuring Mark Dacascos.

The film differs from the novel (and the previous film) in several ways. In the novel the cause of the demise of humanity is a plague spread by bacteria, turning the population into vampire-like creatures, whereas in this film version biological warfare is the cause of the plague which kills most of the population and turns most of the rest into nocturnal albino-mutants. Screenwriter Joyce Corrington holds a doctorate in chemistry and felt that this was more suitable for an adaptation.

In March 1975, biological warfare between the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union kills most of the world’s population. U.S. Army Col. Robert Neville, M.D. (Charlton Heston), a scientist based in Los Angeles, begins to succumb to the ensuing plague but manages to inject himself with an experimental vaccine just in time, rendering himself immune. Meanwhile, the plague’s surviving victims, join together as “The Family,” a cult of crazed nocturnal albino mutants who seek to destroy all technology due to science being the instrument of humanity’s downfall.

Two years later in August 1977, Neville believes he is the plague’s only survivor. Struggling to maintain his sanity, he spends his days patrolling the deserted city, hunting and destroying members of the Family. At night, living atop a fortified apartment building equipped with an arsenal of weaponry, he is a prisoner in his own home. The Family wants to kill him, believing him to be a last remnant of the old culture.

One day, as Neville is in a department store helping himself to new clothing, he spots a woman who quickly runs away. He chases her into an overgrown park, but later decides he is seeing things and dismisses the sighting…

Wikipedia | IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes

“The Omega Man also thrives as a good old fashioned action film. There’s an exhilarating motorcycle escape in a football-stadium, scored heroically — again— by Granier, and culminating in a slow-motion jump. It’s sort of refreshing and eye-opening how basic and well-staged it is, with no digital effects or CGI backgrounds or herky-jerky camera work and editing. To quote Neville, “they don’t make pictures like this anymore.” John Kenneth Muir

“The Omega Man is fairly entertaining, if only in a kitschy ’70s sort of way. It’s not nearly as horrific as it should be, considering the book (I Am Legend) had the hero fending of vampires. Although granted, seeing a 50-ish Charlton Heston shirtless could give anyone nightmares.” Blaxploitation Pride

“While it remains a pacy, suspenseful and endlessly watchable sci-fi adventure, The Omega Man has some definite flaws. While Zerbe is a great foil for Heston, I would have preferred the mutants be more frightening in design and execution. As it stands, they’re basically just random people in white pancake make-up, sporting freaky contacts and bad skin blemishes.” Jeff Flugel, The Stalking Moon

“There will always be a modicum of entertainment value to be had in watching Heston begin chased by blaxploitation mutants, and the few thematic threads left over from Matheson’s original story still possess some intrigue. The Omega Man also boasts some decent production values for the time, with many of the sets and costumes still impressive. None of this is enough to elevate the film anywhere above the level of guilty pleasure…” High-Def Digest