I am Legend (2007)

Intense, delightfully scary, and somehow very real, I enjoyed every step of this movie. I really liked that it was not about what happened to the world. That was just the back story. What happened to the world was just the environment in which our protagonist, Robert Nevill, had to live and survive.

I also like the way that the intensity and suspense was created and maintained. Most of the time you saw shadows and highlights, instead of outright monsters. When you did see the monsters, they were more scary than gross.

I liked the level that Robert went to in order to protect himself. The story also gained a ton of reality by not making him a super hero. He only did as well as he did by luck or thinking ahead. And when he was in major danger, he was scared out of his mind.

But most of all, the realism in the story was gained by the way Robert was dealing with his situation. How he interacted with his dog, things he did to try to keep his sanity, and the level of sanity he actually managed to keep, all contributed to the rich tapestry of the story.

Now if you don't like scary stories, don't see this one. It was quite frightening. This wasn't just Shyamalan-scary, it was the stuff of nightmares. And if you are only looking for a horror flick, skip this movie. It took a luxurious amount of time creating a story and character that you could believe. However, if you like compelling stories, detailed characters, and intense, freakily frightening films, this might be right up your ally.