The Omega Man is at its strongest in the beginning. The scenes of Heston driving across a deserted Los Angeles (scenes that were shot on actual L.A. street) continue to haunt thirty years after they were first filmed and, for all its inherent camp value, there's something undeniably powerful about seeing the half-mad Heston passing the time by sitting in an empty music theater and watching Woodstock. As well, Mathias' siege on Heston's apartment is also well handled. After this, the film loses its way slightly with Heston predictability getting trapped outside after dark and much of the film's action falls flat. However, uneven as it may be, it all builds up to a truly powerful ending that will shock those raised on the sci-fi films of the '80s and '90s and the final visual image of Heston still packs an incredible amount of power. Despite the fact that Charlton Heston's performance here (and Soylent Green) provided the inspiration for many impressionists, he actually gives an excellent performance. While he spends much of the film gritting his teeth NRA-style, he also brings a very believable sense of fear to the night scenes. Heston doesn't make his hero an obvious hero -- instead of being a standard good guy, mankind's last hope is instead presented as having been driven almost mad by his responsibility.

When it was initially released, the Omega Man got mixed reviews and unfortunately, it has retained some of that negative stigma. When I was a kid and this movie used to play nearly every Sunday afternoon, I thought it was the scariest film ever made. The images of Mathias and his followers with their black robes and pasty faces used to give me nightmares. Now that I'm older, the movie no longer terrifies me but it still carries an undeniable and admirable power. Instead, it is an uneven film that, like many so-called B films of the 1970s, sticks admirably true to its darker than dark designs. For all the critical sniping that the Omega Man has suffered over the years, it is still a film that could teach today's Hollywood directors a thing or two about making an effective movie.

"The Man" has screwed up and destroyed mankind with his weapons of mass destruction. All that remains is a scientist (Heston) who discovered a vaccine against the deadly virus that has either killed people or turned them into mutant psychopaths. Also alive are a handful of children and a couple of adult free spirits; but unless they are vaccinated they will turn into mutants with time. ("Don't trust anyone over 30!") Can the Omega Man use his blood as a vaccine to save what is left of mankind? Can the Omega Man survive the night when all the mutants come out to try and kill him?

This is a fun movie! Sure "The Omega Man" is dated; but that is part of its charm: the music, the clothes, and those afros. Some parts are priceless such as sight of Chuck Heston watching the movie "Woodstock" and knowing all the dialogue by heart. Or a black mutant trying to convince the head mutant, Anthony Zerbe, to allow him to use artillery to blast Heston out of his "honky paradise." (On a serious note: This movie did feature one of the first interracial movie romances in which race is considered inconsequential.) Heston is at his hammy best here, and he does utter his trademark line: "Oh, my God!" The ending is a hoot with Chuck as Christ- "The blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven."

"I was like Charleton Heston in "The Omega Man." Beauty movie, eh?"- Strange Brew