what are the monsters called in i am legend

Matheson’s infected evolve to become the embodiment of each decade’s fear: proto-zombies in The Last Man On Earth, an albino Manson Family-like cult in The Omega Man, and finally cannibals caused by a cancer cure in I Am Legend. Romero admitted he borrowed from I Am Legend to create the creatures from The Night of the Living Dead in 1964.Ĭonsidering this connection, it’s surprising that none of the film adaptations of I Am Legend are zombie movies. Up to this point, zombies had been individuals cursed by voodoo, but George A. Divorced from their original carnal connotation, these shambling hoards were the beginnings of modern zombies. Matheson’s vampires were scientific instead of supernatural in origin. Where I Am Legend stood out was its new take on the undead. Neville kills himself before his execution, thinking as he dies that he is “…a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever. Neville is captured by the vampires, and he realizes that in this new society he is the monster. This bleak pattern is eventually interrupted by the appearance of Ruth, an infected woman who reveals to him that the vampires he assumed were monsters have actually been building a new society. Robert Neville is the last remaining human, and he details the lonely monotony of his daily fight for survival as he kills vampires by day and barricades himself in his house at night. Matheson’s original story is set in the ruins of Los Angeles after an airborne virus (possibly the product of germ warfare) has wiped out the majority of the world’s population, and turned the rest into vampire-like undead. Most likely, I Am Legend is best known through its three fairly successful film adaptations: The Last Man On Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and I Am Legend (2007).

Even with all of these credits to his name, Matheson’s most famous work is the 1954 story I Am Legend. Some of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone were his, including the infamous “Terror at 20,000 ft,” and my personal favorite “Once Upon A Time.” He wrote the Jekyll-and-Hyde episode of Star Trek where Kirk splits in half, as well as the spooky thriller Hell House. Though he is not as well known as his mid-century sci-fi contemporaries, Matheson’s work in TV, film and fiction is directly responsible for the enduring popularity of zombie and post-apocalyptic films in the latter half of the 20th century and today. Author Richard Matheson passed away this week at age 87.

What are the monsters called in i am legend