FAQ

Following the use of germ warfare in a 1975 apocalyptic war between China and the Soviet Union, a plague has wiped out most of the human race, killing everyone except a "family" of deformed, light-sensitive, albino mutants, led by former newscaster Jonathan Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), In Los Angeles, another survivor, U.S. Army Colonel Robert Neville (Charlton Heston), who previously immunized himself with an experimental vaccine and now finds that he is immune to the plague, struggles to find a cure while attempting to stay alive against the constant nighttime attacks of the family, who are hellbent on destroying all remnants of the prior science- and technology-driven civilization that led to the holocaust, ...especially Neville.

The Omega Man is based on the 1954 novel I am Legend by American author Richard Matheson. The novel was adapted for this film by screenwriters John and Joyce Corrington. The Omega Man is the second of three films to be based on Matheson's novel, preceded by The Last Man on Earth (1964) and followed by I Am Legend (2007).

Omega (Ω or ω) is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Because of its position in the alphabet, it is often used to denote the last or the end, in contrast to Alpha, the first or the beginning of the Greek alphabet. In the case of the film title, Omega indicates that Robert Neville is the last remaining human on earth.

It is an infrared lamp. The gun is equipped with an early nightvision scope that detects infrared light projected by this lightsource and reflected by the objects.

Preparing the leave Los Angeles, Neville returns to his apartment to pick up Lisa only to find that she has turned and brought the family with her. Neville is captured and made to watch while the family destroys everything in his apartment. Neville breaks free of his captors, grabs the bottle of blood from his refrigerator, and escapes, taking Lisa with him. Although it is still dark, they run outside. Matthias calls to Lisa, and Neville tries to shoot him, but his gun jams. Noticing Zachary's spear near his feet, Matthias picks it up and hurls it at Neville, severely wounding him in the middle of his chest and sending him reeling backwards into a fountain. Bleeding profusely, Neville calls to Lisa for help, but she collapses on the ground, unable to break her bond with the family. After the sun has risen, Dutch (Paul Koslo) and the children arrive to pick up Neville and Lisa. Dutch finds Neville hanging onto the fountain, the water red with his blood. Wordlessly, Neville gives Dutch the bottle of his blood. With his dying breath, he whispers, "Lisa". Dutch lifts Lisa from the ground and places her in the truck. "Well, let's move, kids", he says, "We've got a long way to go." In the final scene, one of the children fetches Neville's cap from the water and lays it respectfully on the side of the fountain. The camera then pans to Neville, revealing him hanging from the fountain in a manner similar to that of Christ on the cross.

No. Matthias does not appear in Richard Matheson's original novel. He was invented for this film.