I Am Mr Bungle

I Am Legend is a great film for the first 70 minutes and a rubbish film for the last 30 minutes. There’s all you really need to know, except for one thing.

All the “zombie sounds” in the film - you know, like when one of the infected gets a spike in the eye or tries to eat Will Smith’s face - were provided by Mike Patton, one of my musical heroes. For some reason that makes me happier than the idea of Will Smith saving the human race at the end of the film (ooh, spoiler). It would suck to be a zombie/vampire/rabid post-human, but at least you’d have the chance for some mad beatboxing.

I should point out that the book on which the film is based was written by Richard Matheson, one of my writing heroes. Needless to say, the film removes the key element which distinguishes the book from the usual run of post-apocalyptic movies, but I’ll leave you to read the book, watch the film and judge for yourself.

Oh, and avoid like the plague (chuckle) the 1971 version starring Charlton Heston, The Omega Man, where - in a radical move - they ditched the vampires and cast Sly and the Family Stone as the bad guys.

They are clearly not scary in the least; Charlton Heston, on the other hand, makes me want to run a mile.