9 Remakes That Were More Influential Than The Original

I Am Legend is a classic novel by the late, great Richard Matheson, and told the story of the last man on earth having to deal with a planet load of vampires. The book was a huge inspiration on everyone from Stephen King to George Romero, who used it as the basis for Night Of The Living Dead.

The book was given a glossy big budget adaptation with 1971's The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. The film is fun in a guilty pleasure sort of way – apparently, it’s a personal favourite of Tim Burton – but it hasn’t aged well, and it's too campy to take seriously.

Finally, Will Smith came along with his take on I Am Legend, which featured a nightmarish look at an empty New York. The CGI was dodgy in places, but the atmosphere was undeniable. Soon a bunch of movies with similar themes and visuals would pop up like Book Of Eli, The Road and even World War Z. Director Francis Lawrence even rippid himself off with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2; the sewer sequence is almost a total copy of I Am Legend’s empty building search.