The OMEGA MAN

   Film (1971). Warner Bros. Dir Boris Sagal, starring Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash. Screenplay John William Corrington, Joyce H. Corrington, based on I Am Legend (1954) by Richard MATHESON. 98 mins. Colour.

   This is the second film version of Matheson's ultra- PARANOIA novel, the first being L' ULTIMO UOMO DELLA TERRA (1964; vt The Last Man on Earth). "The first one was very poorly done," said Matheson, himself a screenwriter, "but it did follow the book. The Omega Man bore no resemblance to my book . . . I had absolutely nothing to do with the screenplay." A survivor of a biological war battles (with a machine gun rather than Matheson's sharpened stakes) against a group of mutated, albino fanatics haunting the almost dead city. The film sacrifices the claustrophobia and nightmare of the novel for fast-moving action. The true cinematic heir to Matheson's story, though not directly based on it, is the far superior NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968).

   JB/PN