If you love film, you likely have been to a repertory screening at some point in your life. The chance to watch an older movie, on the big screen, with a crowd as in love with the opportunity to watch a movie in theatres, maybe for the first time, or maybe to recapture that sense of wonder of when you first saw it. The idea of repertory showings of movies still exists, but it’s also become corporatized through Fathom Events and their annual TCM series. That’s not inherently a bad thing (it’s how I finally watched “Vertigo” and “Jaws” on the big screen), but it also takes away some of the pleasure of going to an art house theatre like Atlanta’s The Plaza, which constantly has older films on tap, as well as special showings; my experiences with “The Crow” and “The Shining” there are unmatched.
This year, I’m going to lean a lot into my favorite genre of all-time, science fiction, for this year’s entries in this series. Films I haven’t seen. Films that are overdue for review. And I’m even going to try to watch some classic TV series I haven’t before. Our bookend filmmaker had to be a fitting one, and though he’s most known for horror, John Carpenter has done plenty in this genre, starting with our first film for 2026, his 1988 satire, “They Live”.
Next up, I watched 1971’s “The Omega Man” for the first time.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
“The Omega Man” (1971)- B+
“The Omega Man,” as you are probably aware, is an adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic novel, I Am Legend, and that becomes very clear from the opening shots of Charlton Heston, driving around a desolate city, in the daylight, exploring the remains of a world now gone. Matheson’s novel is a huge inspiration on the zombie genre that George Romero helped invent with “The Night of the Living Dead,” and you can see that more clearly in the 2007 adaptation of the book, starring Will Smith. “The Omega Man” has a weird slant on the material, one that does make sense for the early 1970s, but also one that is out of step with other adaptations. The changes make it compelling.
Heston is Dr. Robert Neville, one of the scientists who was working on a cure for the pathogen that led to the end of the world. In Matheson’s book, the creatures are described in a way that points toward vampirism; one of the ways the screenplay by John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington (“Battle for the Planet of the Apes”) deviates from the source material is that the creatures in “The Omega Man” have a voice. Led by Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), formerly a news anchor, The Family- as they are known- is a cult of plague victims who blame technology for the apocalypse that came. Neville drives around during the day, avoiding being out at night, as the victims are unable to stand the daylight. It is basically Neville vs. Matthias’s Family until Neville sees someone who is still living on his checkpoints. The woman is Lisa (Rosalind Cash), who is part of a group of survivors looking for a cure, and doing what they can to keep living. Maybe Neville, who is immune, is the key.
From that general description, you can see the blueprint that Matheson had laid out in I Am Legend, and which was used in the Will Smith version. The fact that Matthias’s Family can speak, rather than simply being inhuman monsters, adds a dynamic to the film that does feel right out of the ’70s. In a weird way, they represent the counterculture that is against war, government intervention, and the status quo of humanity that led to their demise. Meanwhile, Neville and the other survivors hope for something of a return to the way life was, and they are our rooting interest in the film. When you think about Heston’s personal politics, that makes sense, but it’s a unique inversion of how we would normally view a film like this politically. Director Boris Sagal does not really have anything else particularly noteworthy on his filmography- at least, nothing more known than this- and he does a serviceable job with the film, getting good performances out of the cast (I like that this isn’t just about Heston’s character), and directing the set pieces in the film- the moments with Heston on his own at the beginning are terrific in how they set up the atmosphere of the film. I like that “The Omega Man” doesn’t try to be too far into the future- the film takes place in 1977- so the distinctly ’70s aesthetic of the city and clothing isn’t too far removed from reality. For a somewhat kitchy ’70s science fiction film, there’s a lot to ponder, and appreciate, in this film, even if it doesn’t match the profundity of Heston’s more iconic “Planet of the Apes” a few years before. If you’re a fan of the source material (or the Will Smith film), it’s worth a watch to do some compare and contrast.
Previous “Repertory Revue” Films
“They Live” (1988)
“Starship Troopers” (1997)
“Welcome II the Terrordome” (1995)
“Battledream Chronicle” (2015)
“Born in Flames” (1983)
“Testament” (1983)
“Things to Come” (1936)
“When Worlds Collide” (1951)
“Metropolis” (2001)
“Soylent Green” (1973)
“Fire in the Sky” (1993)
“Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979)
“The Fly” (1958)
“Forbidden Planet” (1956)
“Capricorn One” (1977)
“Atlantis: The Lost Empire” (2001)
“Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” (2001)
“It Came from Outer Space” (1953)
“The Omega Man” (1971)
See Brian’s list of 2009 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2010 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2011 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2012 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2013 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2014 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2015 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2016 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2017 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2018 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2019 “Movies a Week” here.
See Brian’s list of 2020 “Repertory Revues” here.
See Brian’s list of 2021 “Repertory Revues” here.
See Brian’s list of 2022 “Repertory Revues” here.
See Brian’s list of 2023 “Repertory Revues” here.
See Brian’s list of 2024 “Repertory Revues” here.
See Brian’s list of 2025 “Repertory Revues” here.
Your point about the aliens taking human form connects the budget limitations neatly to the sense of unease. Familiar faces can be more unsettling than a creature reveal, especially when the townspeople are unsure whom to trust. That seems a good reason to revisit these films beyond their effects.