The Omega Man (1971)
A former Colonel hunts mutated humans in a deserted Los Angeles.
Genre
Characters/Groups
Woman in Cemetery Crypt - Anna Aries
Family Members - DeVeren Bookwalter, John Dierkes, Monika Henreid, Linda Redfearn and Forrest Wood
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
In August of 1977, Neville is driving his car in Los Angeles listening to an 8 track tape when he sees a member of The Family creeping behind a window and he shoots at them. He crashes his car avoiding a parked armored car, which pops one of his tires. He goes to a car dealership and sees a calendar from 1975 with a pin up girl and rips it down. He gets into a new car and then drives away. Neville then stops at a movie theater and watches Woodstock. The movie finishes and as he walks out, he hears the sound of phones ringing, but realizes the sound is all in his head. He hurriedly returns home and is attacked by members of The Family when he arrives home. He fights them off and then refills his generator and starts it, turning on bright lights that shine from his home. He has a flash back of rockets being launched and a news report by Matthias telling viewers about the war between China and Russia and finally of an abort order for missiles. He walks into the main room of his home decorated with nice furniture and busts of Roman Emperors. He hears laughing and watches as members of The Family burn relics from what once was including paintings and books. Zachary tells Matthias that Neville managed to kill three members of The Family when they attacked him. Zachary wants to use technology to kill Neville, but Matthias insists they don't use technology. A past news report by Matthias discusses the increasing crises as hospitals are overwhelmed by bacterial plague victims and martial law is declared nationwide. In the past, Neville receives a phone call and he suggests they test vaccine 93B71. He takes a helicopter, but as they are flying the pilot succumbs to the plague and they crash land. Neville takes the needle with the vaccine and administers it to himself as he starts to come down with symptoms of the plague.
Neville continues to talk with the bust of Julius Caesar while he makes dinner. The Family starts to fire burning projectiles at Neville's home until he shoots and kills a few of them. The next day he is jogging while also marking on a map where he finds evidence of The Family foraging. He goes into a hotel and finds two dried corpses in a bed embracing. He finds a newly discarded sardine can in the trash and finds a Family Member dead from natural causes. While looking for new clothes in a department store he sees Lisa and chases after her. He loses her and he thinks she was just in his imagination. He goes to a bar and hears a noise. While he is exploring the wine cellar, he is attacked by members of The Family and captured. He is brought before Matthias and tried for the crimes of humanity's past technology. Neville asks why Matthias doesn't organize The Family to find a cure, but Matthias refuses to believe there can be a cure. Matthias tells Neville that he realized that the survivor's job was to destroy the remaining pieces of technology. A dunce cap is placed on Neville's head and he is brought to Dodgers Stadium and placed upon a pyre of wood and books. All of a sudden the stadium lights come on causing The Family to panic. Dutch runs to Neville and cuts his bonds and they run away. Dutch pushes him into a room where Lisa holds a gun to Neville and tells him to put his arms up. Dutch uses explosives to confuse The Family and Lisa has Neville get on a motorcycle. They escape from the stadium and arrive at Lisa and Dutch's hide out.
Lisa tells Tommy who is pointing a machine gun at Neville, that Neville is okay. A group of young adults and children walk out of a building and Neville stares in amazement. He reaches out to a Little Girl, who runs away from him. Dutch arrives and after introducing himself, they go inside to see Lisa's brother Richie who is showing signs of the plague. Neville goes to see Richie who is pale looking and sensitive to light. He suggests they take Richie to his place where he can work on him and tells Lisa that he is immune to the plague. He tells them he once used a makeshift vaccine on a member of The Family he caught, but the vaccine failed to work. Dutch goes back to take care of the kids with the Little Girl who before leaving asks Neville if he is God. The Family appear outside of Neville's house and taunt him by calling his name over and over. Neville and Lisa are about to start kissing when the generator runs out of fuel. He climbs down into the garage through the elevator shaft. Zachary takes a spear and a grappling hook and uses it to climb up to the open window in Neville's home. Neville refills the generator and shoots Zachary off of the balcony and Zachary falls and becomes impaled on an iron fence. Neville and Lisa make love and they go to a grocery store for supplies. They then go to a hospital where the decaying husks of the dead are lined up in rows. They gather some medical supplies and then when they are back at Neville's home, Lisa takes a blood sample from Neville which he uses to try and create a cure. He gives the possible cure to Richie who starts to regain some of his pigment. They decide to make one more batch of serum before meeting up with Dutch and the kids to leave somewhere else.
Lisa goes out to get some more supplies. Richie asks Neville if the serum might work on The Family, but Neville tells him he doesn't know and wouldn't give it to them anyways. Richie tells Neville that The Family are located at the Courthouse building, but Neville decides he no longer feels the need to kill them. Neville drives and tells Dutch the serum works and to get the kids ready to leave tomorrow. Richie leaves a note on Neville's old hat and then leaves. Neville returns and then finds the note Richie left. Richie goes to the courthouse and is captured by The Family and Matthias accuses him of being a trick sent by Neville. As Lisa is walking she sees The Family and she reveals herself to now be a tertiary plague victim. Neville arrives at the courthouse and finds Richie dead. He drives back to his home and breaks through a Family barricade before crashing his vehicle. He makes it back to his house and finds Lisa transformed and members of The Family inside of his home. He manages to escape after with Lisa after The Family destroy the relics in his home. Matthias calls out to Lisa who slowly walks towards him. As Neville calls Lisa back, Matthias throws a spear at him, impaling Neville in the chest. Dutch arrives with the children and find Neville nearly dead. Neville hands Dutch the jar of serum and then dies. The Little Girl picks up Neville's fallen hat and places it on the fountain and then Dutch and the children leave with Lisa.