The Last Man on Earth

(7/23/07 laptop, archive.org, 1:00am, just me)

1) Vincent Price was definitely not a physical actor. Why the hell would you put your hand in your pocket before throwing a burning torch? And his attempt to casually lean back onto an outdoor table has got to be one of the creepiest bits o...(read more)f forced nonchalance I've ever seen. The fact that he actually outruns somebody is probably the least believable thing in the whole movie.

2) In the flashback scene, I just couldn't tell if Price was married to the younger hot lady or if he was her dad. It looked like he was trying to kiss her on the face, but it's hard to tell really what the hell he was doing, and all of his other contact with her looked very paternal.

3) When Vincent Price's little granddaughter or daughter was dying on her bed, the half-assed way the little girl didn't even bother to pretend she was acting blind while saying, "Mommy, I can't see you!" actually kind of made the scene more interesting than it would've been if they'd used a competent child actor. I think more movies should use kids who aren't interested in acting like they're in a scene for little bit parts like that.

4) "No. I won't let them put you there, Virg. I promise. No. I won't let them put you there." If only he'd stood there shaking his head and repeating himself over and over again, as the camera zoomed in slowly so you could see with ever-increasing clarity his jowls flabbing back and forth, until the camera finally did that thing where it gets so close to his face that it loses its focus, and then faded out. That would have been amazing.

5) "There was a time when I shopped for a car. Now I'm looking for a hearse." It's somewhat disorienting when a well performed line pops up out of nowhere after half an hour of poorly written dialogue being poorly performed. This film definitely suffers when there's not a voiceover. Price's voice is so good for it that it almost makes sense why he'd be cast in the lead here.