Will Smith as Dr Robert Neville

One of the biggest shining stars in I Am Legend was Will Smith, who portrayed Dr Robert Neville, a scientist and the only living human in New York City in the aftermath of a worldwide vampirism epidemic.

Smith began his acting career in an episode of ABC After School Special as Hawker. His first film role was in Where the Day Takes You, released in 1992, as Manny. A few major roles came along in the following years, including as Paul in Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and as Mike Lowrey in Bad Boys (1995). However, it was his appearance in Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day (1996) as Steven Hiller that established Smith as a prime name in Hollywood. Nearly every year since then, Smith has been in numerous well-known movies including but not limited to Men In Black (1997), Ali (2001), Shark Tale (2004), and I Am Legend.

Following his performance in I Am Legend, he reprised his role as Agent J in MIB3 (2012). He starred in After Earth (2013) alongside his son, Jaden, but the film was almost universally regarded as a disappointing feature. Smith himself said the film was a painful failure. When the offer came to do a sequel for Independence Day, he declined and instead took the role of Deadshot in Suicide Squad (2016), a big Box Office success that received mixed critical reviews. Smith portrayed The Genie in the live-action adaptation of Aladdin (2019).

A true highlight in his decades of acting came in 2021 with King Richard. For his performance as Richard Williams, he received the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. The next big project for Smith is Pole to Pole, a National Geographic series. He is also set to come back for the sequel to I Am Legend.

Alice Braga as Anna

In the critically acclaimed City of God (2002), Alice Braga had her breakthrough role as Angelica. For her performance, she received the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared in such South American films as Lower City (2005) and Only God Knows (2006). Braga’s first English-language film was Journey to the End of Night (2006), an independent crime thriller in which she portrayed Monique. Wider recognition came with her role as Anna in I Am Legend.

Braga was cast in two 2010 films, including Beth in Repo Men and Isabelle in Predators. The 2013 sci-fi movie Elysium featured her as Frey Santiago. Braga has been busy since her days in I Am Legend; her other film credits include The Duel (2016), The Shack (2017), The New Mutants (2020), and The Suicide Squad (2021). She has at least two upcoming movies currently in post-production.

Charlie Tahan as Ethan

I Am Legend proved to be a huge stepping stone for the young actor, Charlie Tahan. It did not take long before he made more appearances on small and big screens. He was cast as Tom Taylor in Burning Bright (2010) and as Sam St. Cloud in the supernatural drama Charlie St. Cloud (2010). In Disney’s stop-motion horror comedy Frankenweenie (2012), he was the voice of Victor Frankenstein. From 2017 to 2022, Tahan portrayed Wyatt Langmore in Netflix original Ozark.

Emma Thompson as Dr Alice Krippin

While having his breakfast at home, Neville watched a recorded TV show where Dr Alice Krippin mentioned that an experimental drug could be the cure for cancer. Little did she know the drug would start a global vampirism outbreak. Portraying Dr Krippin was none other than Emma Thompson. The cast of I Am Legend might be small, but her presence made a huge impact. Largely regarded as one of the world’s finest actresses, she had a minor role in the film and therefore was uncredited.

The little screentime does not diminish her charm at all. Throughout her long and impressive career, Emma Thompson has received numerous accolades including two Oscars, two Golden Globe Awards, an Emmy Award, and three BAFTA Awards. Among her recent projects was the comedy-drama What’s Love Got to Do With It? scheduled for release in the United Kingdom in late February 2023.

Salli Richardson as Zoe Neville

Best known for her role as Angela in A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) and as Dr Alison Blake in Eureka (2006 – 2012) TV series, Salli Richardson was also in I Am Legend as Zoe Neville, wife of Robert Neville. She had a leading role in several independent films, such as Pastor Brown (2009), Black Dynamite (2009), and I Will Follow (2010). Richardson has been a TV director since the 2010s.

Dash Mihok as Alpha Male Darkseeker

It was difficult to see if the actor behind the scary makeup of the Alpha Male Darkseeker actually was Dash Mihok. Long before I Am Legend was made, Mihok appeared as supporting characters in films like Romeo + Juliet (1996) as Benvolio Montague and The Day After Tomorrow (2006) as Jason Evans. He is best known for portraying Bunchy in the Ray Donovan series and its subsequent feature film.

Willow Smith as Marley Neville

Will Smith’s daughter, Willow, was featured in I Am Legend as Robert Neville’s daughter, Marley. The then little girl didn’t have much screen time and dialogue, but her name kept coming up throughout the film partly because his father liked Bob Marley’s music. Willow also appeared in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008).

Acting doesn’t seem to be her true passion as more recently she focuses on a musical career. Her debut album, Ardipithecus, came out in 2015 and was certified double platinum. In 2021, Willow released her fourth album titled Lately I Feel Everything of which the Transparent Soul single was certified gold in the United States.

We think all the above-mentioned cast members could return if they made a sequel to I Am Legend. We don’t know what happened to them except for the mom and her son who made it to the safe place in Vermont. Would you like to see a well-done sequel? Would you like to see the previous cast back in action against the vampire problem?

Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

Other things you might want to know about:

Trivia about the movie “I Am Legend”

According to IMDb here are some interesting things about I am Legend.

• Will Smith loved the dog, Abbey, so much that he wanted to adopt her. The dog’s trainer would not give her up.
• Will Smith talked to former prisoners to find out what it was like to be totally alone. They told him the key to survival is to stick to a strict schedule.
• New Yorkers did not appreciate the closing of New York City to make this movie.
• All the paintings in Dr Neville’s house were on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
• The Center for Disease Control taught Will Smith how to use all the equipment in the lab correctly.
• Some of the mannequins in the video store were played by real people. If you look closely you can see them move their heads very slightly.
• Plants were transported from Florida to make the streets look like weeds had overtaken them.
• When Sam and several “infected” dogs get into a fight, a shot of Sam was filmed ahead of time. The fight was then computer generated.
• It took about 300 people 14 months to create all the computer-generated creatures.

Go to IMDb to find other trivia about I Am Legend.

What are some quotes from “I Am Legend?”

According to quotes.net here are some quotes from the movie.

• My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York City. I am broadcasting on all AM frequencies. I will be at the South Street Seaport every day at midday when the sun is highest in the sky. If you are out there…if anyone is out there…I can provide food, I can provide shelter, I can provide security. If there’s anybody out there…anybody…please. You are not alone.

• This is Ground Zero. This is my site. I can still fix this. —Robert Neville

• I promised my friend I would say hello to you today. Hello. Hello. Please say hello to me. {Crying}Please say hello to me. —Robert Neville is completely alone

• Neville: {while watching a video of Shrek, softly recites all of the dialogue of an entire scene south as the lines are spoken on TV. Anna and Ethan stared at him.} I like Shrek.
• Anna: You’re not so good with people anymore, are you?

• {Anna looks at the pictures of the Darkseekers Neville has experimented on}

Anna: Did they all die?

Neville: Yes.

Anna: My God.

Neville: God didn’t do this. We did.

Go to quotes.net for more quotes from the movie.

Is the dog that played Sam in I Am Legend still alive today?

According to storiesatworldsend.com the German Shepherd that played Sam is named Abbey. She is enjoying her retirement days with her own family in California. Abbey was 3 years old when she was in the movie with Will Smith. She had hardly had any training. But it only took 3 weeks for Abbey to be ready to play Samantha.

She is now 18 years old and lives with Steve Barrens and his family. She enjoys her life every day.

The post Cast of I Am Legend: Who Starred? What Have They Done Since? What are they doing now? appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

Neville thinks he is the last human alive in the world, and following the tragic death of his beloved pet, he goes on a rampage in what appears to be a suicide mission and attacks a group of vampires. Outnumbered and out-powered, he is rescued surprisingly by another human. His unlikely savior is Anna from Maryland. She is traveling with her young son, Ethan, to Vermont in search of a survivors’ camp when she bumps into Neville. 

 I Am Legend controversially offers two endings:

·      the theatrical ending depicts Robert Neville as sacrificing himself in an explosion to save Anna and Ethan when hordes of vampires get him cornered in his basement laboratory.

·      the alternate ending, included in the 2008 two-disc special edition release, offers a more positive conclusion in which Neville, Anna, and Ethan are going to Vermont together.

After more than 14 years since its release in December 2007, the development for I Am Legend 2 has already started. It will likely serve as a direct sequel. There is no word yet about a release date, and the plotline remains a closely-guarded secret at this point. That said, few details have been made public.

Will Smith is Back

Over the years, Will Smith has shown a reluctance to reprise his role as Robert Neville in the sequel. Back in 2012 during a promotion tour for MIB 3, he hinted that involvement in an I Am Legend follow-up would be quite a stretch. Smith said the producers were working on it and at the time he was not part of the development. However, he was willing to change his mind given the proposed idea turned out to be good enough.

One of the main reasons he declined working on the second film was the notion of being in a sequel only for the sake of it. Now things have changed. At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in March 2022, Smith admitted he had considered leaving the offer for a sequel, but then he decided to come back upon hearing a more detailed concept.

Michael B. Jordan Comes Along

Smith gave another important detail, saying that Michael B. Jordan was part of the idea. I Am Legend 2 will be the first major feature for them to work on together. Not only are they starring in the film, but producing it as well. Since the plot is still shrouded in secrecy, no one outside the core production team knows about Jordan’s character.

Director of the original, Francis Lawrence, is not attached to the sequel project. Lawrence believed I Am Legend was supposed to be about the last man on Earth, and so the theatrical ending did its purpose well. Because Robert Neville died at the end, a sequel seemed like a bad idea until the alternate version surfaced. Lawrence is not involved, but Warner Bros. is bringing back Akiva Goldsman—who wrote the screenplay adaptation for the original film—to the sequel project.

According to Lawrence and based on his conversation with Goldsman, the ideation process for the sequel is still pretty much in the brainstorming phase. He thinks at this point the project has a long way to go until everything comes together and actually resembles a follow-up. Without any name attached to the director’s seat, it is safe to assume I Am Legend 2 will not finish production anytime soon. It will not hit theaters this year, but perhaps the next. Both Lawrence and Goldsman are also working together on an upcoming sequel to Constantine.

Question on Continuity

If Robert Neville is set to return in the sequel and does have a major role again, the theatrical ending can be quite a problem from a narrative standpoint. In such a case, the sequel has to rely on everyone getting familiar with the alternate version and ignoring the inconvenient theatrical cut altogether. It is a good thing no one knows what the plotline is for the sequel; the events might be set during the same time as the original but in a different location, and there might be a strange time jump or an unlikely connection between Neville and Jordan’s character. Otherwise, there has to be some magical plot wizardry to reanimate a dead character. Robert Neville may even come back as one of the undead, which will render the alternate ending pointless. 

Warner Bros. has not yet given any confirmation about the director. It is possible (although not probable) that the studio may give the job to Lawrence, which can undoubtedly deliver a true sense of continuity. Since the announcement for the sequel came up, not much has been said about the development. Everything is mere speculation, but I Am Legend 2 is certainly a work-in-progress despite all the development standstill, potentially complicated storyline continuity, and of course, the infamous Will Smith – Chris Rock slapping incident at the Oscars.

We’re hoping for a sequel where Will Smith’s character survives, but it must be brilliantly written or the whole thing could tank. Are you hoping for a sequel? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

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What other movies have changed the plot line due to a test audience?

According to denofgreek.com, there have been over 30 movies that have changed because of a test audience.

• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
• Army of Darkness (1992)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• Brazil (1985)
• Clerks (1994)
• Deep Blue Sea (1999)
• The Descent (2005)
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
• Election (1999)
• Escape Room (2019)
• Final Destination (2000)
• Fatal Attraction (1987)
• First Blood (1982)
• Freddy vs Jason (2003)
• I Am Legend (2007)
• The Invasion (2007)
• Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
• Layer Cake (2004)
• Limitless (2011)
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
• Misery (1990)
• Pretty in Pink (1986)
• Pride and Prejudice (2005)
• Seven (1995)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
• Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)
• Snake Eyes (1997)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1980)
• Titanic (1997)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• 28 Days Later (2002)
• WALLL-E (2008)

Go to denofgeek.com to read more about the original endings and how they were changed. The article is called 32 Movie Endings that were Changed by Test Screening by Mark Harrison.

Movies of Michael B Jordan

Michael B Jordan has been linked to being in the sequel of I Am Legend 2 with Will Smith. Here are 12 of his best-ranked movies. (slashfilm.com )

12. Fantastic Four

11. That Awkward Moment

10. Blackout

9. A Journal for Jordan

8. Pastor Brown

7. Without Remorse

6. Hardball

5. Creed II

4. Just Mercy

3. Black Panther

2. Creed

1. Fruitvale Station

Go to slashfilm.com to read more information about each of these films.

What do we know about Akita Goldman?

Akita Goldman has been linked to being the director for I am Legend 2 which is now in pre-production or maybe even production. Things are very secretive about the movies at this point. Here are some movies and shows that Goldman has been involved with. (memory-alpha.fandom.com)

Goldman was born in 1962 and is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He has been heavily involved in the Star Trek world being an executive producer on the first season of Star Trek: Discovery and a consulting producer on the second season. He was also the executive producer of Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

He also wrote and directed episodes of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard. He has made cameo appearances on some Star Trek shows.

He won an Oscar for writing the screenplay of the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind. One of his first screenwriting projects was the 1994 film adaptation of The Client (John Grisham). He also adapted another Grisham novel for A Time to Kill. He wrote the screenplay for two Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin.

He has worked with Ron Howard on Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man. He continued with screenplays for The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons (Dan Brown). He has written two screenplays starring Will Smith; I Robot and I am Legend.

Go to memory-alpha.fandom.com for more details about Akita Goldman.

The post I Am Legend 2: Will it Happen? Who’s in It? What’s the Release Date for this Sci-Fi Thriller Movie? appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

Events in the film are set in a devastated New York City where houses are abandoned and the streets are empty, except for the occasional wandering Darkseeker-like creatures at night. Neville spends his days with a German Shepherd named Sam, sneaking around the neighborhood for food and supplies. At home in his basement laboratory, he works to find a cure for the Darkseeker epidemic.

Cast

·      Will Smith as Robert Neville

·      Alice Braga as Anna

·      Charlie Tahan as Ethan

·      Dash Mihok as Alpha Male Darkseeker

·      Joanna Numata as Alpha Female Dakrseeker

·      Salli Richardson as Zoe Neville

·      Willow Smith as Marley Neville

·      Darrell Foster as Mike (the military escort)

Dr Alice Krippin is portrayed by Emma Thompson (uncredited). Samantha is portrayed by Abbey and Kona. 

Crew

·      Director                       : Francis Lawrence

·      Screenplay                  : Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich

·      Executive Producers   : Bruce Berman and Dana Goldberg

·      Producers                    : Akiva Goldsman, James Lassiter, David Heyman, and Neal H. Moritz

·      Cinematography         : Andrew Lesnie

·      Fil Editor                     : Wayne Wahrman

·      Music                          : James Newton Howard

·      VFX                            : Sony Pictures Imageworks

Notes on Special Effects

Events in the novel are set in Los Angeles, but the film puts Robert Neville in New York City. Director Francis Lawrence believed NYC would make for more striking imagery of a city in ruins compared to LA. The director knew from the beginning the film needed hundreds of special-effect shots, but he did not want to rely too much on CGI for the ghost-town look and feel. According to the director, extensive computer imagery in a live-action feature film could make the background appear like a painting. The number of computer-generated objects had to be limited. 

One of the first scenes filmed involved Neville walking on the streets of Manhattan brandishing an M-16. Lawrence was pleased because the location helped build the psychology of the character. The result could have been much worse if Neville actually was in a studio in front of a green screen. The special effects team from Sony Pictures Imageworks did quite an extensive post-production process to remove any other signs of life from the scene. The destroyed Times Square and bridges were of course computer-generated.

Among the trickiest sequence was the scene where Neville drove around the city. It was not difficult from a CGI standpoint, but it was a bit of a handful because Lawrence wanted to include real windblown leaves all over. Big elements like the deer, rabid Darkseekers, and fire were CGI. To achieve the desired effect, the only effective option was to get the shots done before the leaves disappeared from the location. It turned out to be a massive rush job, yet the result was as good as expected.

The overall VFX approach to the Darkseekers’ appearance took a drastic change during the principal photography. Lawrence initially intended to create the monsters using real people in prosthetic makeup. They had to be aggressive, menacing, and basically scary. Many things went wrong in the costume and cosmetic applications, and Lawrence thought the monsters were just too pale to be horror-inducing. Much of the failure could be attributed to the lack of development time. In the end, the finished makeup could not capture the director’s vision. A decision finally came to ditch the generic approach and resort to CGI instead. Since the decision came a little late, the special effects team at Sony Pictures Imageworks had to make some serious adjustments to resources and schedules.

Every shot that included Darkseekers was postponed until much later in the production timeline. When the production was finalized, the pitfalls became apparent. The VFX team had the freedom to design the creatures, but they didn’t have the time to perfect them. As a result, the hordes of Darkseekers ended up being too artificial-looking. They failed to introduce any real sense of dread. The Darkseekers were portrayed by the same group of actors, however, they were now wearing skater suits with plenty of dots rather than organically-designed outfits and makeup; everything was designed for performance capture. 

The CGI worked well to deliver the illusion of a devastated city devoid of life, but it fell short in the Darkseeker creation. Bear in mind, the computer-generated monsters were created near the end of the production schedule. A final rush resulted in the variability of VFX quality. Using CGI seemed like a better (and more time-efficient) idea at the time because some of the Darkseekers’ action sequences were simply too difficult, if not impossible, to do with prosthetics. As the production went on, the CGI modelling for the Darkseekers had to be treated as a rush job.

There is no denying that I Am Legend proved to be a huge success, earning a worldwide total gross of more than $585 million against a production budget of $150 million. It did not change the fact that Lawrence himself felt the CGI aspect, particularly on the Darkseekers, was a big downfall. With the sole exception of the Darkseekers—which had extensive screen time—everything in the film, even the lab rats, was beautifully created and shot throughout.

We really enjoyed the I Am Legend movie, despite its storyline being so drastically different from the book. Admittedly, though, the Darkseekers did seem fake. What do you think? How ’bout those Darkseekers?

Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

Other things you might want to know about.

What are the movies that used the best CGI?

According to stuff.tv here is 25 of the best movie CGI effects ever.

• District 9 (2009)
• Transformers (2007)
• Avatar (2009)
• Tron (1982)
• Gladiator (2000)
• The Matrix (1999)
• The Last Starfighter (1984)
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• Hollow Man (2000)
• Westworld (1973)
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
• Starship Troopers (1997)
• Labyrinth (1986)
• The Abyss (1989)
• Looker (1981)
• Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
• Willow (1988)
• The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
• Death Becomes Her (1992)

Go to stuff.tv to read more details about each of these movies. The article is called 25 Best movie CGI effect ever written by Dan Grabham.

What do we know about Frances Lawrence?

According to rottentomatoes.com Lawrence was born in Vienna and raised in Los Angeles since he was three. He began his career making music videos and shooting movies on Super-8 while in high school. He went to Loyola Marymount University and majored in filmmaking. He continued producing his own projects. After graduation, he began shooting music videos for a friend who owned his own independent label. Five years later, he was making videos for Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Will Smith and Gwen Stefani.

His most notable works are Constantine (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Hunger Games: Catching Fire and the sequels.

Go to rottentomatoes.com to see more details about Frances Lawrence and his films.

What are some interesting facts about Will Smith and I Am Legend?

According to cinemablend.com here are 10 facts about the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.

1. An early version of I Am Legend was to star Arnold Schwarzenegger and be directed by Ridley Scott.
2. Michael Bay was set to direct Will Smith at one point.
3. I Am Legend was moved from LA to NYC because it was easier to make the Big Apple feel empty.
4. The I Am Legend crew went to great lengths to make NYC look devoid of human life.
5. Director Frances Lawrence made a push for silent scenes after watching a movie with no sound to not awakened his newborn son.
6. The actors playing the Darkseekers were replaced with CGI partway through the production.
7. The Brooklyn Bridge flashback scene alone cost Warner Bros. $5 Million.
8. The Batman V. Superman Easter Egg was included to honor Akita Goldsman’s unproduced DC crossover.
9. Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton helped bring the Darkseekers to life in I Am Legend.
10. The I Am Legend production assistants were so aggressive that even Frances Lawrence had trouble getting back on set.

Go to cinemablend.com to read more details about each of these facts about I Am Legend. The article is called I Am Legend: 10 Behind-the-Scenes Facts About the Will Smith Movie by Phillip Sledge.

If you enjoyed this then try: https://storiesatworldsend.com/planet-of-the-apes-movies

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Infection Source

An unknown disease turns an otherwise healthy person into a monster hungry for human blood. It is highly infectious, and soon enough the human population is on the brink of extinction. The film cannot even agree with the novel’s idea of the infection source. 

Film Version

Robert Neville, who thinks he is the last surviving human on Earth, is working on a cure for the infectious disease. If he succeeds, the cure will kill “only” the disease and everyone reverts back to being a normal human. He is working inside a basement laboratory, using captured monsters as test subjects for any drug he develops. The monsters are like vampires, with a strong aversion to sunlight and garlic.

In the opening sequence of the film, Dr Alice Krippin (portrayed by Emma Thompson) is depicted as having an interview with a news anchor about an experimental drug. The conversation ends with Dr Krippin claiming she has developed a cure for cancer. It is a scientific breakthrough; the drug is developed from the measles virus and is capable of killing cancerous cells. But then a global-scale vampirism happens. Later on, Neville mentions the disease is caused by the Krippin Virus, referring to the doctor behind the drug. As it turns out, the newly developed virus becomes unstable and mutates inside the human body, transforming the hosts into monsters known as the Darkseekers.

Novel Version

The monsters in Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend are simply referred to as vampires. During the day, Neville finds a safe hiding space inside his well-fortified house. When the night comes, he becomes a fierce hunter, killing as many vampires as possible. Like in vampire myths, Neville kills them by driving stakes through their hearts.

As the storyline progresses, Neville decides that he has to do more than just survive. It is true he can stay perfectly safe under the light of day and hunt down vampires at night, but none of those things can bring back normalcy. Pure survival mode doesn’t solve the problem, so he is determined to find a cure. On the mission to find an antidote or vaccine, he discovers that vampirism is caused by a germ. In the wake of the bombings during the most recent war, the germs spread all across the world via dust storms. To make things worse, the mosquitos carry and transfer them to humans. 

Monsters’ Behaviors

As mentioned earlier, the film’s monsters are known as Darkseekers; the novel calls them vampires. They are different creatures with distinctive sets of behaviors.

Darkseekers

A person infected by the Krippin Virus will be either killed or transformed into a Darkseeker, an aggressive monster with a high heart rate and body temperature. During the early days of the outbreak, a healthy person can only get infected via a Darkseeker’s bite; it has to be a direct injection into the bloodstream. The infection then becomes airborne, attacking everyone in its path. Darkseekers retain some of the intelligence from their human forms but lose their ability to speak.

Matheson’s Vampires

There is barely any physical transformation involved. The vampires in Matheson’s novel are nearly indistinguishable from humans, so they basically are the same as the modern interpretation of the blood-sucking monsters. Furthermore, they can speak. 

Impacts of the Differences

As a consequence of the distinction, the film does not really grasp the novel’s true intention. Matheson’s storyline, with all the vampire-hunting and last-survivor vibe, carves the path for Neville to be a boogeyman to the monsters. In the end, Neville comes across a female vampire named Ruth, a high-ranking member of the newly-formed society of transformed humans. She also is a spy, sent by the society to help capture Neville. To all the vampires, Neville is the biggest threat to their existence. He has killed countless vampires and will be executed once apprehended. Neville comes to realize that he is part of an obsolete species, a brutal hunter feared by the ruling society. He ended up committing suicide, knowing in his mind that all those vampires will forever remember him as a legendary human.

Either with the theatrical or the alternate ending, the screen adaptation essentially depicts Neville as a legend to all humans. He also hunts and kills, but the Darkseekers never really display any sign of hesitation to attack him; they do not fear Neville. When Neville dies as the theatrical ending shows, he does it to save Anna and Ethan, who in the end find a refuge for many other survivors in Vermont. If Neville survives as the alternate ending suggests, he also is a legend to humans for he has fought for so long without help from anyone and managed to stay alive.

It seems that the Darkseekers are more in line with the types of monsters Hollywood likes. They are zombies with an insatiable hunger for human flesh, and the hero will prevail. A human cannot end up being the monster in a world full of undead. On the other hand, Richard Matheson retains many human characteristics and qualities in his vampires. Robert Neville comes to realize he is the last remaining piece of the old world and has no place in a new world ruled by vampires.

If you’ve seen the movie and read the book, you probably have an opinion about which is better. Or maybe you just want to ask the age-old question, why can’t Hollywood produce a movie like the book instead of making it unrecognizable?

Got an opinion? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

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What do we know about author Richard Matheson?

According to mentalfloss.com Matheson is best known for his novel I Am Legend which was written in 1954. Here are 8 facts about his life and works.

1. Dracula (1931) inspired Richard Matheson to write I Am Legend.
2. He served during World War II.
3. Matheson’s writing career began with short stories.
4. Many of his works were adapted into films.
5. Matheson was disappointed with the movies based on I Am Legend.
6. He was a prolific television and screenwriter, notably for The Twilight Zone.
7. I Am Legend inspired Stephen King, Anne Rice, and George A. Romero.
8. Three of Matheson’s four children became writers.

Go to mentalfloss.com and read more about these interesting facts about Richard Matheson. The article is called 8 Fascinating Facts About Richard Matheson by Lorna Wallace (April 2022)

Could the measles virus cause a pandemic?

According to the World Health Organization (who.org), measles is one of the most contagious diseases humans have ever faced. It remains a worldwide epidemic disease to this day. Antibiotics help control complications but are powerless against the virus itself. Some of the complications are bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, croup, diarrhoea and encephalitis. There are about 30 million cases and over 2 million deaths each year.

Vaccines have been instrumental in drastically reducing disease rates worldwide. A minor setback happened in 1998 when a research paper was published stating that the MMR vaccine and autism were linked. The influence of this paper caused a resurgence of measles cases in England, Wales, parts of the USA and Canada. In 2010 the British General Medical Council ruled that the study’s lead author was engaged in misconduct and the author was banned from practicing medicine. Between 2000 and 2020, measles vaccinations prevented an estimated 31.7 million deaths worldwide.

So even if the I Am Legend movie depicted the vampire outbreak of the measles virus, this disease is still a very serious illness for babies and young children.

Go to who.org to find out more details about the measles virus and how the vaccinations came about.

What are other books by Richard Matheson?

According to thriftbooks.com here is a list of other books by Richard Matheson.

• I Am Legend and Other Stories
• What Dreams May Come
• Hell House
• Bid Time Return
• Vampires: Two Centuries of Great Stories
• A Stir of Echoes
• Hot Blood: Tales of Erotic Horror
• The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories
• A Treasury of American Horror Stories
• Duel: Terror Stories by Richard Matheson
• The Shrinking Man
• Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
• Hunted Past Reason
• 7 Steps to Midnight
• The Best of Richard Matheson
• Other Kingdoms
• The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok

If you enjoyed this then try out this afterwards! https://storiesatworldsend.com/odd-thomas-books-in-order

The post I Am Legend Zombies: What’s Their Story and How Close is the Movie to the Book? appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

Appearance

For nearly 30 minutes into the movie, Samantha – or simply Sam, is pretty much Robert Neville’s only true living breathing companion. There are indeed plenty of deer and few lions on the streets as well as infected rats at home, but Sam is friend and family. Except for the flashbacks that depict the early phase of the zombie-inducing pandemic and the subsequent chaos in NYC, the first present-day part of the film is all about Sam and Neville. Her appearance is refreshing, even if it doesn’t conform with the source material, but sadly her role comes to a close a little too soon. Based on film’s timeline, Sam ends her part on Day 1,001 of the pandemic.

In a flashback scene where Neville gives a farewell talk to his wife and daughter, it is revealed that Sam has always been part of the Neville family. His daughter, Marley, wanted the then-puppy Sam to keep her father company. 

Role

As the pandemic rages, everything goes as expected in their day-to-day circumstances, at least in a city overwhelmed by monsters, or the “Darkseekers” as the film calls the mutated aggressive humans. During the day Neville and Sam patrol the city and make a stop at the South Street Seaport during high noon. Sam helps Neville make sure there is no danger lurking around the corner or hiding behind the door as he scours houses in the surrounding neighborhood for resources. The two have to be home before dark. They eat, exercise, hunt, sleep, and fight the Darkseekers together.

Immunity to Virus

There is no explicit explanation about how Neville is immune to the mutation-inducing infection by the Krippin Virus (KV) – named after Dr. Alice Krippin, whose discovery of a miracle cure for cancer inadvertently evolves into a new strain that triggers a catastrophe of biblical proportion. KV has a 90% kill rate; only 1% of the population is immune to the virus, whereas the remaining 9% turn into Darkseekers. 

It is believed the virus is transmitted by air and through a bite from an infected human or animal. Both Sam and Neville show no sign of infection from airborne transmission. In an interaction with Sam before Neville sets a trap for a Darkseeker to be used in his drug tests, he confirms the immunity issue. He cannot get infected, but Sam remains susceptible to contact strains.

The Trap Backfires

Neville captures a female Darkseeker using the trap. However, a male Darkseeker uses a clever trick to lure Neville into the same trap the next day. Neville is hanging upside down out in the open, which starts the sequence of events leading to Sam getting injured and infected. As soon as he walks into the trap, the mechanism flings Neville’s head down to the road and renders him unconscious. Sam is by his side, trying to wake him up throughout the day.

Although Neville is able to release himself from the trap just before dark, he is injured in the leg and cannot run. There is now little time to get back to the car and make an escape from the nocturnal Darkseekers. As soon as the sunlight disappears, three infected large dogs charge forward. Neville shoots and kills one immediately, while Sam is struggling to keep another at bay. It is a relief to know that Sam is able to defeat an infected beast, but there is yet another now standing on top of Neville. Once again Sam launches herself toward the attacking dog and ends up getting bitten. Sam and Neville barely survive. She suffers multiple bite wounds and is unable to stand up.

Death

Back at home, Neville rushes Sam to the underground lab for treatment. He gives her an injection of serum in the hope of preventing the infection from spreading, to no avail. When Sam develops symptoms of aggressive mutation, and in probably the saddest moment in the movie, Neville has no choice but to end her suffering. He buries Sam the next day during daylight in Central Park.

Real-life Sam

I Am Legend is, after all, a sci-fi film. There is no real Samantha wandering around a post-apocalyptic NYC. She is a just a character, portrayed by a real German Shepherd named Abbey. Now still alive and well, Abbey is enjoying her retirement days with her own family in California. Abbey is under the care of Steve Barrens – as she has always been for much of her life – an animal trainer with more than three decades of experience in the field.

Barrens understood well from the beginning of the production that Samantha was a demanding role for Abbey. It did not help that she was only about 3 years old at the time and didn’t even know her own name. The dynamics between Will Smith (the actor portraying Robert Neville in the film) and Abbey also had a difficult start. When he walked up, she barked at him. The good thing is that it only took Abbey three weeks of training until she became ready to play Samantha. Smith eventually earned her respect, and the six-month-long shoot ran without meaningful challenges. Abbey is now 18-years-old, and according to Barrens, she can barely hear anything. Nevertheless, she enjoys her life and spends every day with Barren’s daughter and her children.

When we watched I Am Legend, the saddest part for us was when Sam died, but for two reasons. The obvious one was the dog dying after protecting her human. But we felt badly for Neville, too, as he was now entirely alone.

Did you see the movie? What was the saddest part for you? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this, then check out I Am Legend: The Book—If This Is the Future of Humanity, the End of the World Is Going to Suck!

Other things you might want to know about.

In the movie I Am Legend, did the vaccination cause the zombie outbreak?

According to reuters.com the vaccination did not cause the zombie outbreak in the movie. It was the genetically engineered measles virus that caused the plague and the zombie-like creatures in the sci-fi film.

Go to reuters.com for more information about this fact check on the I Am Legend movie. 

What are other animals that have starred in popular films?

According to movies.allwomenstalk.com here are 7 of the most popular animals in movies.

1. Simba The Lion
2. Sebastian The Crab
3. The Tiger in The Hangover
4. Beethoven The Dog
5. Mr. Tinkles The Cat
6. The Shark in Jaws
7. Babe The Pig

Go to movies.allwomenstalk.com for details about each of these animals and the movies they were in. 

7 movies that inspired animal trends.

According to deseret.com animals have become trends over the years. Here are 7 such trends.

1. Lassie Come Home (1943) Collie registration went up 40 per cent the first 2 years this movie came out. 
2. The Shaggy Dog (1959) After this film’s release Old English Sheepdog registration increased 100 fold.
3. 101 Dalmatians (1961, 1996) After each of the films released the amount of families wanting Dalmatians increased dramatically. The breed of Dalmatians can be hard to handle and families were taking the beautiful Dalmatians to animals shelters.
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) After this movie kids wanted turtles as the new pet of the families. The problem here led to abandonment of turtles in rivers, lakes, dumpsters, or flushed down toilets. 
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) Many fans sought owls, especially in England. Eventually hundreds of owls were abandoned .
6. Finding Nemo (2003) The demand for clown fish soared, dropping the clown fish population in some reefs by 75 percent. 
7. Zootopia (2016) The sales of the native Africa fox took off around the globe. 

Go to deseret.com to read more information about how animals in movies sets trends around the world. The article is called 7 movies that inspired animal trends by Emilee White. 

The post The I Am Legend Dog: The Saddest Moment in the Movie—Who Played the Dog? Who Trained It? What’s the Dog Doing Now? And More appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

Vampire Novel of the Century

In 2012, a century after the death Bram Stoker, the Horror Writers Association considered 35 books published over the last 100 years for the Vampire Novel of the Century Award. Among the strongest nominees were such popular titles as Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, and Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. The award went to I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. It was a one-off Bram Stoker prize; nobody knows if there is going to be a similar thing in the future.

Vampire Killer

Robert Neville inevitably becomes a vampire killer. During the day when the creatures are vulnerable, he hunts them down and kills as many as possibly manageable. Every now and then, he reinforces the barricade around the house and uses a combination of garlic, mirrors, and crucifixes as repellents. Through experimentations to study the creatures’ biology and conditions, Neville learns that vampirism is caused by a strain of bacteria, and he has developed immunity against the infection.

Kill or Be Killed

From the experiments, Neville figures out vampires’ fears of light and immunity to bullets. Part of the horror is made up of every fight against the undead, but the scariest part comes from the way Neville is forced to live his life. It is a “kill or be killed” routine, forcing him to commit barbaric slaughters from dawn to dusk. He wants to stay alive, but at the end of the day a human no longer has a place in this altered world. 

Human Loneliness

Neville is not alone; he is lonely. It is still a crowded world full of the undead, but I Am Legend is hardly a novel on vampires. Some argue it is not even a horror story at all. Instead, the novel offers a study of human loneliness. Although the premise includes many killings and good scares, everything points to an in-depth insight into one man’s inner struggle to defend humanity for himself. He is the only human left on a planet now dominated by non-human inhabitants. In a way, Neville is archaic. 

A Revolutionary Take on an Old Archetype

The I Am Legend book also marks a departure from Richard Matheson’s own literary style. His previous works, mostly comprised of short stories, range from simplistic to competent. The 1954 novel, on the other hand, demonstrates a notable leap toward a much greater sophistication and showcases a careful yet undeniably creative artistic approach.

In one section of the novel, Neville is depicted as reading and then putting down Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Any keen reader will notice how the seemingly simple act makes for a perfect symbol to represent a revolutionary take on an old vampire archetype. The novel describes the vampires not as folklore creatures or mythical figures from Victorian supernaturalism. It gives rational causation to the emergence of the undead. In fact, the novel brings in the germ theory as a scientific rationalization of vampirism to modern popularity.

Vampires or Zombies

The undead creatures are called “vampires” in I Am Legend, but their traits and how they spread the infections share more similarities to zombies than to traditional vampires. They are still cannibalistic blood-sucking monsters, but the infection is not always triggered by a bite in the neck. Matheson’s take on the origin story of vampires and their characteristics therefore end up being used as the basis for modern zombie genre or zombie apocalypse in general.

Of the “Night of the Living Dead”

Case in point is George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential zombie films ever. According to Romero himself, Night of the Living Dead is based on a short story ripped off from Matheson’s I Am Legend. They share plenty in common, such as the planet-wide infection and storytelling point of view from a fixed location. 

Becoming a Legend

The well-organized and calm writing style does nothing to lessen Neville’s ordeal. In addition to dealing with deadly vampires daily, he still has to find a way to cope with loss of his wife and daughter. Drinking does not help, and killing the undead will not bring his family back. As the storyline progresses, Neville’s sanity takes a toll just as readers begin to get a grip on how much he can possibly endure. Everything he does since the early days of the outbreak leads to a conclusion that he is an outdated form of life, a legendary killer in the eyes of the new breed.

How It Ends

Matheson’s I Am Legend gives a bleak look on the fate civilization amidst a vampire outbreak. Neville has come to accept that he is a mere remnant of humanity. In a world overrun by vampires, he is nothing but a boogeyman. He is a monster to the vampires, a strange elusive killer with an intention to erase the new society. As an admittance of defeat, Neville gives up and takes his own life. If this is the future of humanity, the end of the world is going to suck.

We felt badly for the character Neville in I Am Legend. Let’s face it, how tough would it be to live as the last human on the planet? And in a world of vampires, no less! We LOVE bleak and hopeless scenarios like that! What do you think? Would you like to be in Neville’s position if it means you get to remain human and alive? Or would you rather join the majority and rule the night? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this then you might also like The I Am Legend Dog: The Saddest Moment in the Movie—Who Played the Dog? Who Trained It? What’s the Dog Doing Now? And More

Other things you might want to know about.

Vampire Killer books

According to womansday.com here’s a list of 25 vampire books that will keep you up all night.

1. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
2. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
3. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
4. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
5. The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig
6. The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
7. Enter, Night by Michael Rowe
8. The Keep by F. Paul Wilson
9. The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
10. Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
11. Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
12. The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh
13. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
14. Vlad by Carlos Fuentes
15. The Passage by Justin Cronin
16. My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
17. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
18. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
19. Morrigan’s Cross by Nora Roberts
20. Children of the Night by Dan Simmons
21. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
22. Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
23. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide
24. Dead Until Dark by Charmaine Harris
25. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Go to womansday.com for more details about these vampire books. Keep the light on when you start reading!

Five vampire traits that exist in the natural world.

According to theconversation.com here are some vampire traits that you may want to be on the lookout for. 

1. Drinking blood
2. Immortality
3. Avoiding sunlight
4. Heightened senses
5. Morphing

Go to the conversation.com and read Louise Gentle’s article for more details on these vampire traits. 

What are the best vampire movies?

According to indiewire.com here are the best vampire movies ever made. 

15. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

14. The Addiction (1995)

13. Near Dark (1987)

12. Thirst (2009)

11. Daughters of Darkness (1971)

10. Gangs & Hess (1973)

 9. What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

 8. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

 7. Isle of the Dead (1945)

 6. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

 5. Cronos (1993)

 4. Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

 3. The Hunger (1983)

 2. Let the Right One In (2008)

 1. Nosferatu (1922)

Go to indiewire.com to read more details about each of these movies. The article is called The 15 Best Vampire Movies Ever Made and is written by Alison Foreman. 

The post I Am Legend Book—If This Is the Future of Humanity, the End of the World Is Going to Suck! appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.