University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

'The Omega Man: Dead End!

By PAUL CHAPLIN

At a poignant moment in "The
Omega Man," a little waif asks
John Neville if he's God. You
almost expect the answer to be yes,
realizing that Neville is played by
Hollywood's tragic hero, Charleston
Heston. What can't this man do?
This time around, he's the last man
alive—or so he thinks.

The year is 1978 and germ
warfare during the Russia—China
border dispute has wiped out the
world's population. At least that
appears to be the case as we watch
Heston wandering through a dead
city for 20 minutes. This is a
poor way to start off a thriller;
there's nothing exciting or even
curious about these 'opening shots,
except the fact that "Woodstock"
was apparently still running in
1975.

Hunted Down

Finally, the plot enters—namely,
we discover Heston is not alone.
Horrors! It seems the plague simply
makes people lose all pigmentation
in their skin and eyes. Naturally,
Heston cannot be permitted to live
in this society, and the creatures
attempt to hunt him down.

Surprise, surprise however, for
there are still a few survivors. At
last the world can be saved, for
Heston has developed a serum from
his own immune blood. Naturally
I'll not reveal the thrilling
conclusion, namely because it
would take at least six more
paragraphs to explain the rest of
the plot.

Sci-Fi Script

The script by John Williams and
Joyce H. Corrington is at best
laughable and better suited for a
spoof of a sci-fi film than an actual
attempt at entertainment. My
favorite line occurs when Heston is
being saved by a "normal" creature.
Holding a gun to his head, a sexy
black girl orders him to drive a
motorcycle, saying "And don't pull
no James Bonds, or I'll dump your
ass." Ah, this film is full of such
wicked dialogue. Unfortunately it's
hilarious, as it doesn't fit the

characters. Shame on the casting
director.

The acting is (you'll never
believe this) not all that inspiring.
Rosalind Cash plays the girl with
gusto, and seems to be enjoying
herself in the role. Anthony Zerbe
as the leader of "the Family," is
hardly terrifying, even with his
white contact lenses.

Boris Sagal's direction is dull
and lackluster; there's simply
nothing to talk about, it's a
non-style. I, at least expected a few
stock fright tricks, like those used
by Alan J. Pakula in "Klute," or a
beautifully photographed film, like
George Lukas' "THX 1138." "The
Omega Man" has neither of these,
and further suffers from efforts to
make the film, as Heston said in an
interview, "Seem as real as
possible." I will simply say the
efforts don't work and suggest
H.G.Wells' "The Shape of Things to
Come" as one film I've seen which
successfully creates a realistic
feeling of a chaotic future, from
which a better world is built.

See, "The Omega Man" only if
you're a real Charlton Heston freak
and have seen him in everything
from "The Ten Commandments"
through "The Hawaiians."
Otherwise I'd avoid it and go to
Chancellor's to get serum 93B-17,
just in case.

(Now at the Cinema)