There will be a clearer, sharper theatrical trailer for I Am Legend posted shortly (and we’ll link that here, too), but for those of you who can’t wait to see the vampires/cannibals/bitey things in action… would you settle for a dog running on a treadmill???
We do get a few glimpses of the bloodsucking beasties here, and they bear a disappointing resemblance to Bat Boy. The creature effects are courtesy of Mark Rappaport and his Creatures Effects Inc., which split makeup duties on 300 with Shaun Smith and his team. This is a solo effort for Rappaport, and, to not be entirely snarky, it looks like he’s chosen a design not too far removed from The Descent (in theory, that is). There’s nothing wrong with this; it’s just that the effective teaser trailer seemed to be setting the stage for something a little cooler. Personally, I kinda prefer the albinos from The Omega Man at this point.
The film still looks like an above-average holiday event flick, if a little dour for December; I mean, Christmas and Hanukkah are depressing enough without having to pay ten bucks to lose yourself in a last-man-on-Earth scenario. But Big Will and ‘splosions mean happy things (and probably the happiest ending imaginable to Richard Matheson’s tale). We’ll find out for sure on December 14th.