Yor, the Hunter From the Future

Yor, the Hunter from the Future struck with a vengeance in 1983.  It is widely considered to be one of the most enjoyable bad movies ever made, especially among my generation-kids of the 80’s.  Part prehistoric adventure, part sci-fi, and all fun, this beast of a movie has it all for fans of campy B-movie fare: a silly plot (and I use that term loosely), questionable acting, hilariously bad dialog, and laughable effects.  These components are not meant in a derogatory way; it’s part of the immense charm.  Without movies of this stature, I would probably be writing about something boring!

Our movie follows the exploits of Yor, a barbarian hero who travels around bearing a constant wide grin and toting an axe, which he uses frequently when he crosses dinosaurs, giant bats, and purple cavemen, while on a quest to discover his people. I will discuss the film with specific plot points, so if you do not want to read any spoilers…you are probably at the wrong site.  You should skip to the bottom of the article where I grade the film.  Suffice to say, you should locate a VHS or burned copy of this ASAP, especially if you enjoy movies like those you would see on a typical episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The choppy narrative of the film is often attributed to it originating as a mini-series in Europe, and then edited down to its theatrical length.  While I have not confirmed this, it would explain the odd tone and pace of the story.  As he marches around, he meets up with a clan of hapless but friendly cavemen.  They are being attacked by a triceratops, which is actually an herbivore, but go figure.  He swings his axe, and saves the day.  In return for saving them, he is granted a new wife, in the form of Ka-laa, played with great 80’s big-hairiness by Corrine Clery. Yor travels around with her and her adoptive father for the rest of the movie, encountering strange and entertaining threats.

At one point, our hero gets in a skirmish with the purple cavemen, who steal Ka-laa in hopes to populate their purple clan with beautiful big-haired people I guess. Yor and Ka-laa’s guardian Pag try to figure out a way into their cavern without being overwhelmed.  As fate (and script) would have it, they are attacked by a giant bat creature. They shoot an arrow at it, and it dies immediately, falling to the earth with instant rigor mortise.   Yor gets an inspiring idea, and what follows is perhaps the greatest single scene in movie history.

Yor decides to hoist the dead rigor mortise bat over his head and use it like a hang-glider to enter the cavern, taking the cavemen by surprise and kicking much butt to the tune of his awesome theme song.  I love that.  I wish that every time I did something epic, I’d have my own theme song blaring. He flies in, and all you hear is “YOR’s WORLD! HE’S THE MAAAAN! YOR’S WORLD!”  If the energy of hearing your own theme doesn't inspire you to accomplish great things, something is wrong with you!

I won’t divulge the whole movie in this review, but I have to tell you about the final act. Yor and his friends travel to a mysterious island to search for clues about his origins.  While there, he encounters The Overlord, who runs things with his army of androids.  These guys look like a love child between Darth Vader and one of his Storm Troopers.  Yor battles the Overlord, who we’re told is the bad guy, although, come to think of it, I never really saw him to anything particularly evil.  We just know he has a dark cloak, and a beard; so, these two factors are enough to communicate to audiences that he is the bad guy.

Yor and his friends meet up with some other blond good-looking people who are decedents of his relatives.  They stage an uprising, and Yor and his caveman friends demonstrate an amazing mastery of futuristic weapons and technology, firing laser cannons and using time-bombs as if they were trained by Seal Team Six. Hey, if you’re looking for logic you are not in the right place! Yor has to swing across a chasm to deliver the bomb which is going to go off in 8 minutes. Unfortunately, he lets the cable he swung on go, and can’t swing back.  What follows here is the second most awesome scene ever, right behind the bat-glider incident.

Gal, despite being in his 60’s, grabs the cable and literally swings out to Yor, and flips upside down, allowing Yor to jump out and grab his wrists. They swing back, land safely, and Gal flips back up and jumps down, too.  This movie is flipping awesome.  Naturally, they escape just in time to not be blown up, and the narrator tells us how they live happily ever after, but he doesn't tell us how the caveman knows how to fly the star ship. Who cares, this movie is the greatest thing ever.

Yor was played by Reb Brown, a former athlete who boxed professionally and also played football at USC.  Here, he kind of looks like a cross between Steve Oedekerk from “Kung Pow” and He-Man from Masters of the Universe.  His acting is not real deep, but it is not a requirement in this project. He handles action scenes well, and is likable.  The film was directed by Antonio Marghereti, a prolific film maker who is also known for “War of the Planets” and “Hercules Against Karate”….man, how have I not reviewed that last one? Note to self: Locate “Hercules Against Karate”, like, now.  Marghereti made too many movies to list here, and his influence is wide, as noted by Quinten Tarantino’s film “Inglorious Basterds”, when a character shouts ‘Marghereti!  Marghereti!”.  It’s kind of a subtle reference, kind of a gift for the small group of the population who even know who that is.

Overall, this movie is great.  It has everything for people like me who like Bad Cinema.  It is mostly clean, with some bloody violence involving Yor hacking up the occasional dinosaur, but violence with other humans is fairly bloodless.  My only beef is the way some of the characters dress.  Their loin cloths do not hide much, so you see a little more of Yor than you would probably like to when he jumps around. It’s not anything you don’t see at the beach, but…yikes, it’s not my thing. Oddly enough, the women are better covered than he is.  The special effects are about what you would expect from a low-budget indie movie.  The dino’s are animatronic, and the sci-fi elements are pretty basic; not the same level you’d see in Star Wars, that’s for sure.

Still, I’d recommend this to anyone who is already a fan of B-Movie’s with a sci-fi/fantasy theme. 3 out of 4.