I Am Legend (aka My Stamina is shot)

James and I have not had a "date" for quite some time. So, this afternoon Ian and Janet took care of the girls and we decided to go to the cinema to see I Am Legend. The film stars Will Smith and is based on Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name. Smith plays a character called Robert Neville living a post-apocalyptic-type New York. He is possibly the only human survivor in the world following a man-made virus to which he is immune. The rest of the human race has turned into zombie-like mutants, and accompanied by his faithful dog, Neville who is a soldier/scientist is trying to stay alive and find a possible cure for the virus.

Let me start by saying that while I had seen a trailer for the movie I hadn't done enough research before going to the cinema. I did not realize it was a zombie movie. So there I am sitting in the cinema with James, watching trailers before the movie started, thinking how good it was to be getting a break from the girls because I've been feeling somewhat over-stimulated.

Well, as you can probably imagine the film did not help my levels of stimulation. I used to be a big horror movie fan when I was younger. From the age of about 10 I started watching George Romero's zombie movies with my parents. Throughout my teens and early 20s I watched Halloween, The Exorcist, Friday the 13th, all the Nightmare on Elm Street films and many more horrors. I loved them. Then I started to enjoy them less and, for about the last 5-10 years I have been pretty much avoiding this genre.

Then along comes I Am Legend. I had a vague memory of hearing the name in the past (some residual memory from my horror-loving days no doubt), but I enjoy watching Will Smith and I thought he was just surviving in a New York gone wild after an apocalypse of some sort. I thought he'd be fighting wild animals or some such thing. And again, it's Will Smith. How hard can it be to watch a film with Will Smith???

Well, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that after an hour I had to leave the cinema. My chest was tight with tension and I just couldn't take it any more. Yes, I stuck it out for an hour (and it's only 1hr 40mins long) because the film is really well made, the effects of a desolate New York are excellent and Will Smith's acting is superb. The script does a fine job of drawing you into sympathy with Smith's character, Neville. After I left, I still wanted to know what happened to him. Once we arrived home I searched online until I had a feel for what we'd missed. Armed with this information I may even watch the ending on DVD when it's released. But for now I have to face the fact that my stamina is shot. My ability to watch horror has completely left me. I will certainly do a little more research before I go to the cinema again.

And I'm grateful to James. I had a book along with me and offered to read it in the lobby while he watched the end, but he wouldn't hear of it. So we arrived home early, much to the girls' delight. I hope my next cinema trip is more successful.