The first thing wot I ever wrote for this here website was a little number about dystopian science fiction films. You know the kind I mean; films in which the future is depicted in ultra-pessimistic fashiom, with society having collapsed in on itself in a varying variety of savage post-apocalyptic worlds. Well, an interesting subgenre growing out of that subgenre (a sub-subgenre?) is, what I like to call, “The Last Man on Earth” film. What generally takes place in films belonging to the ”Last Man on Earth” genre should be pretty self-explanatory, but where these films differentiate from typical dystopian Sci-Fi is that they feature only one, although often a handful, of survivors in a savage post-apocalyptic world.

The most famous examples of “Last Man on Earth” films are those adapted from Richard Matheson’s incredibly influential 1954 novel I Am Legend, which concerns the fate of the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust battling strange vampiric mutants in the crumbling remains of the world around him. The first adaptation arrived in 1964, and was retitled, appropriately enough, The Last Man on Earth. The story would be filmed again some seven years later as The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston (who also appeared in the vaguely “Last Man on Earth”-ish Planet of the Apes), before eventually hitting the screen under the I Am Legend title in 2007 as a Will Smith vehicle. Other examples of the subgenre could include 1959′s bizarre The World, the Flesh and the Devil (starring Harry Belafonte!), creepy 70s TV movie Where Have All the People Gone?, George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (and perhaps Day of the Dead, too), and 1984′s brilliantly trashy Night of the Comet.

My personal favourite “Last Man on Earth” film, however, is a relatively little-known effort from New Zealand. The Quiet Earth begins with nuclear research scientist Zac awakening from a troubled sleep. Apparently unsettled by something, he straightens himself out, and gets ready for work. On his way to the lab he is increasingly spooked by the absence of any other people on his journey; there is no traffic on the road, his local petrol station is unattended, and most disturbingly of all, he stumbles upon the site of a horrific plane crash, but can find no traces of any persons, dead or wounded, anywhere around. After arriving at work it soon becomes apparent that the top secret and highly dangerous nuclear experiment he and his colleagues have been working on has malfuctioned and activated, resulting in every single living person being wiped off the face of the earth. Every single living person, that is, except Zac.

Part of what makes The Quiet Earth so special is that it is by far the most credible and realistic depiction of what it might actually be like to be the very last person on earth. The most realistic depiction that I’ve ever seen, anyway. Zac is brilliantly played by legendary Kiwi character actor Bruno Lawrence, and we can’t help but be riveted by and identify with the range of emotions he experiences in the wake of his grim discovery. At first he is eerily bewildered, frightened and helpless. Then, when it slowly dawns on him what must have happened, he becomes determined and pragmatic, and sets out to ensure his own survival, with the lingering hope that he just might find someone else. These feelings soon give way to painful loneliness, and then in turn to laissez-faire thrill-seeking as Zac reasons that he can at least do whatever the hell he likes (this is beautifully illustrated in a sequence in which Zac grows bored of playing with a humongous train set in a shopping mall before we cut to him gleefully piloting an actual humongous freight train, clad in full driver’s garb and smoking a cigar). Madness follows ecstasy, however, with our isolated hero declaring himself emporer of the quiet earth of the title in a ridiculous pomp and circumstance ceremony before a vast crowd of cardboard cut-outs (Hitler, Nixon etc.). Despair triumphs, finally, as Zac goes on the rampage, vandalises a church and blasts Christ off the cross with a sawn-off shotgun, demanding God himself make his presence be known.

A few other survivors turn up eventually, of course. The “Last Man on Earth” film that only has one man (or woman!) in it is a surprisingly rare thing, or perhaps not surprising, as that might be a bit boring. When Zac actually does find some other people, The Quiet Earth loses it’s way a little, and goes from frenzied fantasy to more conventional Sci-Fi. It is, of course, still highly watchable, and the tension soon mounts between guilty Zac (who feels partly responsible for the disaster) and the other survivors; tough but sensitive Joanne and a rugged Maori named Api. The three also attempt to work out how it came to be that they somehow managed to cheat the explosion, and whether or not there is anything they can do to somehow reverse it’s devastating effects. There is also the small matter of both Zac and Api developing feelings for Joanne. All this builds up to an unforgettable finale that is as chilling and cryptic as anything else in modern science fiction.

So yes, The Quiet Earth is a film of two halves and, as exciting and ultimately haunting as the second half may be, it’ll more likely be the first that will stay with you. In fact, I distinctly recall watching the start of The Quiet Earth on television as a small child. I didn’t know what it was, and of course I shouldn’t really have been watching it at such a young age, but the scene in which Zac shoots Jesus off the cross lingered in my subconcious for years afterwards, finally prompting me to seek out the film in question a few years ago. One of my favourite things about “Last Man on Earth” films (we’re going to have to think up a buzzier name for them than that) is that I often fantasise about being the last person left on earth myself, precisely so I can go mad and ransack a deserted shopping centre like Zac does in the film. Every film of this kind should have a sequence of the protagonist endulging in some unfettered plundering of tinned foods, expensive goods and fancy gadgets, and for my mind The Quiet Earth boasts the best of them all (although I do love the survivors holed up in the shopping mall in Dawn of the Dead, as well. Incidentally, I’m not the only one who feels a tiny pang of regret when Stephen blows their cover, am I? I could have watched a film were the characters simply go wild in a variety of retail outlets for hours and hours quite happily).

But allow me to reiterate that although it is the first half of the film that is noticeably better, the whole thing is still fantastic, and it is superbly directed by Geoff Murphy (keep an eye out for the mesmerising visuals in that finale). The director found initial fame with another Kiwi cult classic in the early 80s, wacky road movie Goodbye Pork Pie, but following The Quiet Earth he sadly became little more than a jobbing Hollywood helmer, finding himself behind the camera for Young Guns 2, Under Siege 2, and the appalling, Mick Jagger-starring, big budget Sci-Fi disaster, Freejack. As already noted, Bruno Lawrence is something of an icon in his native country, and appeared in many of New Zealand’s biggest homegrown hits. It’s just a shame that this likeable and extremely capable performer is not more well-known internationally, and who knows whether or not he may have appeared on more screens worldwide had he not passed away prematurely in 1995.

What better way of paying tribute, then, than by watching a clip of Bruno in his prime? Below for your enjoyment is the chilling church sequence in it’s entirety, and any suggestions for an alternative to “Last Man on Earth” film would be welcome. See ya!

Tags dystopian sci-fi film of the day geoff murphy science fiction the quiet earth