1964 horror film Rating: 14/20
Plot: Some kind of plague has seemingly killed everybody but Vincent Price, a man who apparently has some kind of back problem. He lives a lonely and monotonous life during the day hanging rings of garlic and mirrors, cleaning zombies out of his driveway and taking them to the local zombie-burning pit, whining about his dead daughter and wife, and making stakes to drive through hearts. At night, the zombies attack his home and say really menacing things like "Morgan, we're going to kill you." Then he decides to get a dog.
Ok, I love Vincent Price. Movies are automatically better with Vincent Price in them. He's one of the greatest actors of all time. But even though his performance here (most of the time completely alone) could be described as flawless, he does have difficulty making everyday activities look normal. Throwing things across the room in anger? Nope, looked completely awkward. Staking zombies? Nope, looked like he's suffering from rheumatism or something. Getting in a car? Come on, Vincent! How difficult could that have been to pull off? This is a pretty good little movie, and it's hard to imagine what the I Am Legend author didn't like about it to insist that his name was not used in the screenplay credits. I can't compare it to the new one which I've not seen (or even Omega Man since I've not seen that one in a while). The zombies were comedic, for some reason armed only with flimsy two-by-fours and their menacing grunts. I'm also curious to know whether stores that sold mirrors and nothing but mirrors were pretty widespread in the 60's. This had some of those typical science fiction problems where the science part makes very little sense, but the fiction part was at least absorbing. I could have done without the early narration (it's not necessary when you've got Vincent), and the flashback really slows down stuff. It's a flashdrag. Still, definitely worth watching, and I'll watch those other two later on this year to see how they compare. I doubt Moses or the Fresh Prince can hold a candle to Vincent Price's performance though! At least they couldn't hold a candle as awkwardly!
Scared:
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