"The Ωmega Man" by Boris Sagal (1971)

OK so in my mind I somehow mixed this movie with 1962 "The Day of the Triffids" and now the time has finally come to view them properly and compare.

Where Triffids actually fall completely into 1950s monster-out-of-space genre, "The Omega Man" is much, much darker apocalyptic world where after some biological/nuclear disaster all the survivors turned into albino zombies and only one man, one and only über macho Ben Hur Charlton Heston lives by day, while the rest of monsters go out at night taunting him from down bellow his well protected house. As a scientist himself, Heston secretly works on serum that might turn zombies back to normal state but it appears they don't believe him and even consider him evil leftover from previous society that destroyed the whole world, therefore he must be destroyed himself. Practically the only living man around, Heston works hard at keeping his sanity and often talks to himself while roaming the empty streets, always careful to be safe at home before the dark. 

Although "The Omega Man" shows its age and rusts at almost every scene, the story itself is gripping enough to keep the viewer glued to the screen. Personally I find it actually much creepier than celebrated 2007 blockbuster remake that relied too much on special effects - by not having all these technical wizardry at his disposal, Boris Sagal goes for old fashioned torches burning trough the night and occasional sound in the dark, though his zombies are not really so scary, they look more as Spanish inquisitors than anything else. The whole essay could be written about Heston's posturing, his solitary talks with himself and unnecessary shirtless scenes but he actually did a great job of being badass and completely uncharacteristic scientist who actually shoot, fights and basically knows how to survive. The whole old fashioned aesthetic of the times makes it really entertaining, unforgettable and likable cult favorite. The movie is also memorable for having legendary interracial kiss and its interesting to check out Whoopi Goldberg's TV interview with Heston, when she asked him about it - unexpectedly, Heston than kisses Goldberg who falls to pieces and actually blushes.