You’re in the director’s chair…
It’s late on a Friday night. You and a couple of friends have just revisited a horror oldie. You’ve all dispensed with the nostalgic analysis, waxing poetic about what you liked, what you didn’t like, the trivia, history and now the conversation is bleeding into candid “what ifs.” That’s what “Re-Cast This!” is all about – capturing that dialogue amongst like-minded genre fans. Every Monday, we’re taking a horror film of arguable caliber and opening up our comment boards to a discussion concerning who you would have cast in the all of the major roles. On Friday, we’ll take some of the most frequent or best suggestions and do a recap.
This week, we kick the column with 1971’s The Omega Man, an adaptation of Richard Matheson’s seminal “I Am Legend.” Here’s the rub: We don’t care if The Last Man on Earth and I Am Legend exist. Your task is to re-cast this film: The story of a man struggling to stay alive in Los Angeles after a war and world-wide plague. His day-to-day business? Cruise L.A., forage for supplies, find others like him and stay out of the clutches of “The Family,” albino plague victims who wear cool sunglasses and dark robes. Here’s the character breakdown followed by the actors who played them in the original.
⢠Robert Neville (Charlton Heston): U.S. military colonel and scientist. Tough. Lonely. Resourceful and savvy with a machine gun. Talks to himself, loves to play chess, can quote Woodstock like nobody’s business, but he a man’s man. Let’s not forget he’s immune to the plague.
⢠Jonathan Matthias (Anthony Zerbe): Former news anchorman and leader of “The Family.” Wants Neville – who he considers a “creature of the wheel,” a vestige of the old society – dead.
⢠Zachary (Lincoln Kilpatrick): Matthias’ right-hand man. Sports one mean white afro.
⢠Lisa (Rosalind Cash): The first non-infected woman Neville meets. She’s classy and can protect herself. Like Neville, good with a machine gun.
⢠Dutch (Paul Koslo): Former med school student. Another survivor of the plague and schooled in the ways of Neville’s work. Not a fan of wearing shirts, but he loves his jacket and hat.
⢠Ritchie (Eric Laneuville): Lisa’s teenage brother who is afflicted with the plague and is slowly turning albino (gasp!).
Okay, now put yourself in the director’s chair and have fun. Which actors today would you position in these roles? Tell us below!
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
