English
In the year 1968, every day is the same for Dr. Robert Morgan (Price): he wakes up, gathers his weapons and then goes hunting for vampires. Morgan lives in a world where everyone else has been infected by a plague that has turned them into undead, vampiric creatures that cannot stand sunlight, fear mirrors, and are repelled by garlic. They would kill Morgan if they could, but fortunately, they are weak and unintelligent. At night, Morgan locks himself inside his house; during the day, he kills as many vampires as he can, burning the bodies.
A flashback sequence explains that, three years before, Morgan's wife and daughter had succumbed to the plague, before it was widely known by the public that the dead would return to life. Instead of taking his wife to the same public burn pit used to dispose of his daughter's corpse, Morgan buried her without the knowledge of the authorities. When his wife returned to his home and attacked him, Morgan became aware of the need to kill the plague victims with a wooden stake. Morgan hypothesizes that he is immune to the bacteria because he was bitten by an infected vampire bat when he was stationed in Panama, which introduced a diluted form of the plague into his blood.
One day, a dog appears in the neighborhood. Morgan chases after the dog but does not catch it. Some time later, the dog appears, wounded, at Morgan's doorstep. He takes the dog into his home and treats its wounds, looking forward to having company for the first time in three years. He quickly discovers, however, that it too has become infected with the plague. Morgan is later seen burying the dog, which he has impaled with a wooden stake.
While out on his daily rounds, Morgan spots a woman in the distance. The woman, Ruth, is terrified of Morgan at first sight, and runs from him. Morgan convinces her to return to his home, but is suspicious of her true nature. Ruth becomes ill when Morgan waves garlic in her face, but claims that she has a weak stomach.
Morgan's suspicion that Ruth is infected is confirmed when he discovers her attempting to inject herself with a combination of blood and vaccine that holds the disease at bay. Ruth initially draws a gun on Morgan, but surrenders it to him. Ruth then tells him that she is part of a group of people like her — infected but under treatment — and was sent to spy on Morgan. The vaccine allows the people to function normally with the drug in the bloodstream, but once it wears off, the infection takes over the body again. Ruth explains that her people are planning to rebuild society as they destroy the remaining vampires, and that many of the vampires Morgan killed were technically still alive.
While Ruth is asleep, Morgan transfuses his own blood into her. She is immediately cured, and Morgan sees hope that, together, they can cure the rest of her people. Moments later, however, Ruth's people attack. Morgan takes the gun and flees his home while the attackers kill the vampires gathered around Morgan's home.
Ruth's people spot Morgan and chase him. He exchanges gunfire with them, and picks up tear gas grenades from a police station armory along the way. While the tear gas delays his pursuers somewhat, Morgan is wounded by gunfire and retreats into a church. Despite Ruth's protests to let Morgan live, his pursuers finally impale him on the altar with a spear. With his dying breaths, Morgan denounces his pursuers as "freaks," and declares that he is the last true man on earth.
Español
Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) es un sobreviviente que vive en un mundo post-apocalíptico. Las calles de la ciudad donde vive están desiertas, con excepción de algunos cadáveres que yacen en el suelo. Lleva cerca de tres años viviendo solo, refugiándose de unos vampiros que solo pueden salir de noche. Para proteger su casa instala ajo y espejos en las puertas. Todos los días sigue la misma rutina, examinando la ciudad en busca de las criaturas, que durante el día duermen alejados de la luz del sol. Morgan aprovecha esto para matarlos clavándoles estacas, y quemando posteriormente sus cuerpos, pero el proceso es lento. Su rutina diaria finaliza al anochecer, cuando regresa a casa y se esconde de las criaturas.
Una noche tiene un racconto, en el cual se muestra la vida de Morgan antes de la plaga que ha arrasado al mundo. En aquel entonces era un científico y estaba casado con una mujer llamada Virginia (Emma Danieli), con quien tenía una hija, Kathy (Christi Courtland), de siete años de edad. Morgan trabajaba para el Dr. Mercer (Umberto Raho), en cuyo laboratorio estaba investigando un virus mortal que se transmitía por aire. Tanto su hija como su esposa fueron infectadas posteriormente. Su compañero de laboratorio, Ben Cortman (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart), creía que el virus convertía a las personas en criaturas similares a los vampiros, lo cual explicaría que los cuerpos de los muertos estuvieran siendo quemados por las autoridades en vez de enterrados. Sin embargo, Morgan no creyó su teoría. Tanto su hija como su esposa murieron producto del virus; la primera fue quemada por las autoridades junto al resto de los cadáveres, mientras que la segunda fue enterrada por el propio Morgan en secreto. Esa misma noche, Virginiavolvió a la vida y regresó a casa, atacando a Morgan.
Tras el racconto, Morgan encuentra un perro
herido, al que adopta para hacerle compañía. Sin embargo, tras analizar
la sangre del perro, Morgan descubre que está infectado con el virus, y
lo mata. Mientras entierra al animal, el científico descubre a una
mujer llamada Ruth (Franca Bettoia),
el primer ser humano que ve en años. En la casa, Morgan nota que Ruth
es alérgica al ajo, uno de los síntomas del virus, pero la mujer le
explica que simplemente tiene el estómago débil. El científico
posteriormente le revela que él cree ser inmune al virus, ya que
mientras trabajaba en Panamá hace algunos años, fue mordido por un murciélago, lo cual a su juicio fortaleció su sistema inmunitario.Más tarde, Morgan descubre que Ruth estaba realmente infectada, pero que gracias a una vacuna ella pudo evitar que el virus se multiplicara. La mujer le revela además que había otros sobrevivientes, también infectados, pero que se habían mantenido gracias a las vacunas. Esos sobrevivientes le tenían miedo a Morgan, ya que él se había deshecho de los cuerpos de sus seres queridos, muchos de los cuales aún estaban vivos. Ruth saca un arma, pero es incapaz de dispararle.
Morgan realiza una transfusión de su propia sangre a Ruth, traspasándole parte de sus anticuerpos y curándola. Ella le advierte que el grupo de sobrevivientes al que pertenece llegará en cualquier momento a atraparlo, pero el científico se niega a salir de la casa. Cuando los sobrevivientes llegan lo persiguen hasta una iglesia, donde es herido de muerte. Agonizante, Morgan tilda a los sobrevivientes de mutaciones y fenómenos, y es atravesado por una estaca de metal. Ruth llega al lugar y lo sostiene entre sus brazos mientras él muere.
Italiano
Il dott. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) è l'ultimo sopravvissuto di una tremenda epidemia che ha sterminato l'intera umanità.
Per qualche strano motivo egli è immune al virus. La sua solitudine è però legata al periodo diurno della giornata. Dopo il tramonto infatti, le vittime della malattia escono dalle loro tombe e vanno a caccia di sangue, minacciando la vita e la sanità mentale dell'ultimo uomo sulla terra. Di giorno, il dott. Morgan divide le sue attività tra il lavoro in laboratorio per scoprire un vaccino efficiente e il rogo dei cadaveri, unico modo per fermare i non-morti.
Quando Morgan trova una spaventata Ruth Collins (Franca Bettoja), vittima della malattia, egli la cura trasformandola nell'ultima speranza per il futuro del pianeta. Il film si chiude con l'assassinio in una chiesa di Robert Morgan da parte di un gruppo di uomini parzialmente contaminati (come lo era Ruth), rimasti a lungo nascosti, che lo uccidono in quanto vedono in Morgan un "diverso".