Matheson, Part 4: The Shrinking Man.

Richard Matheson’s fourth novel was the first to be adapted for the silver screen. The Shrinking Man tells the story of, well, a man who shrinks. It was made into two feature films. The first, written by Matheson himself, was the cult classic The Incredible Shrinking Man. The second was a more comedic take directed by Joel Schumacher entitled The Incredible Shrinking Woman. 

This week, Max and Mike are joined by their friend Matt Hammer to talk about Matheson’s original novel and the two motion picture interpretations. We discuss the novel’s structure, the first film’s lack of depth, and the second film’s lighthearted tone. We also touch briefly on making it to the final round of the Parsec Awards.

Matheson, Part 3: I Am Legend.

At the age of 28, Richard Matheson published the novel that would later be considered his masterpiece, I Am Legend. The story follows the only survivor in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by vampires.

The book was adapted into three films over the span of 43 years. The first, in 1964, was Sidney Salkow’s The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price. The second, in 1971, was Boris Sagal’s The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. And the third, in 2007, was Francis Lawrence’s I Am Legend, starring Will Smith.

This week, Mike and Max are joined by Ben Munaretto to discuss Matheson’s novel and all three adaptations. We look at the historical significance of the book, the accuracy of the first adaptation, the liberties taken by the second adaptation, the changes made to the ending of the third adaptation, and Steven Seagal’s ancestry.

Matheson, Part 2: Someone Is Bleeding.

In 1953, “a brilliant new master of the macabre” made his debut in the literary world. Someone Is Bleeding was the first novel in Richard Matheson’s sixty-year career. In the book, a young writer falls madly in love with a woman who may or may not have killed her husband. Now, he’s torn between his undeniable attraction to her, and his desire to not be stabbed with an ice pick.

Twenty one years later, a French director by the name of Georges Lautner adapted Matheson’s novel into a movie called Icy Breasts. We don’t know what the title refers to, but we love it.

This week, Mike and Max examine both the novel Someone Is Bleeding and the movie Icy Breasts. We discuss Matheson’s style, how believable the characters are, how well the book was translated to the screen, and whether or not murder is a deal-breaker in a relationship.

Matheson, Part 1: Trek.

Richard Matheson is one of the most influential genre writers of our time. He has written countless novels and short stories, including I Am Legend. He is responsible for numerous movies and TV shows, including sixteen episodes of The Twilight Zone. And he also wrote the sixth episode of Star Trek, “The Enemy Within.” 

This week, we begin a new series looking at a cross section of Matheson’s career. Specifically, we will examine his novels that were adapted into movies, comparing those films to their source material. 

In Part 1, Mike is joined by Trek.fm’s very own Christopher Jones and Drew Stewart to look at Matheson’s work on “The Enemy Within.” We discuss how Matheson’s style translates to episodic television, how the episode stacks up against Voyager’s “Faces,” whether or not the B-plot works, and how Matheson may be the perfect writer for William Shatner.