Ka-Laa - A brown-haired beauty with a prehistoric perm. Ka-Laa is Yor's main squeeze and is highly protective of her man; so much so that she'll gladly resort to murder in order to stamp out the competition.

Pag - Ka-Laa's father figure and master of the bow and arrow. This delightful old fellow helps Yor out of several scrapes throughout the film.

Roa - A gorgeous blonde-haired girl that happens to be a member of Yor's race. Once they meet, Roa and Yor naturally hit it off and fall briefly in bed... err... love. Sadly, Roa gets clubbed in the head by a malevolent caveman and dies from her seemingly superficial wound.

Kay and Tarita - Kay is the leader of a tribe of Mormon fishermen and Tarita is his gorgeous daughter. (At least I think she's his daughter.) Kay is incinerated by an attack from the evil Overlord, leaving Tarita and the remaining tribe to fend for themselves.

The Overlord - The evil tyrant who rules over the last remnants of a scientifically advanced race. He plans on conquering the now prehistoric, post-apocalyptic world with his army of androids, so he can start his very own master race. The evil Overlord dies in an atomic meltdown, mere moments after being impaled on a barber pole by Yor.

The "Vader-bots" - The Overlord's android followers. I call them "Vader-bots" because each automaton bears a striking resemblance to Darth Vader from Star Wars! All of them are wiped out of existence by the end of the movie. (The Force was not with them.)

The Desert People - A race of men who live in a desert (duh!) and worship Roa. They're all destroyed by Yor when they try and stop him from taking their beloved queen. Way to go Yor, that's yet another civilization that you've totally decimated!

Reb Brown (the star of such films as Captain America (1979), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), and Space Mutiny (1988)) is no stranger to the world of cult cinema, and over the years, he has sort of become a lesser cult icon. Reb is definitely not the best actor you'll ever see (but he gives it the old college try every time), and his screaming and yelling during action scenes is borderline feminine (see Space Mutiny to see what I mean), but dang it, you just can't help but like the guy!

In this film, Reb plays Yor, a nomadic blonde-haired, axe-wielding hunter. When we first see Yor he's wandering through a rocky wasteland to the tune of a pretty damned cool 80's synth rock theme song. ("Yor's World" by "Oliver Onions!") In the meantime, a group of prehistoric people have settled in a nearby piece of land and are celebrating the bounty of the area's food by hunting piggy-saurs. (The special effects artists augmented a pig with fake spikes and a tail!) One such piggy-saur is captured by Ka-Laa and Pag, but before they can revel in their first catch of the day, they are attacked by a Stego-ceratops! (Just imagine a Triceratops with a spiky tail and a row of bony plates running down its back.) Just when it seems that they're about to become dinosaur fodder, Yor suddenly shows up and battles the mighty beast.

After a few good swipes of his axe, Yor manages to kill the creature and save the day. (Afterwards he lets out one of his patented non-manly yells of victory! Hahahaha!) Yor's heroic act is followed by a celebration, with lots of tribal dancing, and delicious roast Stego-ceratops flesh for everybody! However, a rival tribe of extraordinarily hairy cavemen led by Ookahn, violently crash the party. During the ensuing chaos, Yor, Pag, and Ka-Laa escape and find a safe hiding spot. Pag decides to return to the settlement to look for survivors, while Yor and Ka-Laa head for a designated rendezvous point. Pag silently sneaks back to the scene of the attack and discovers that the entire tribe was destroyed. All of the men, children, and elderly members of the tribe were killed, while all of the women were kidnaped during the assault.

With a saddened heart, Pag heads back to the designated meeting place. He arrives just in time to see Yor and Ka-Laa get ambushed by some of Ookahn's cavemen. After Yor is knocked unconscious, tossed over a cliff, and left for dead, Ka-Laa is dragged off to Ookahn's lair. Unbeknownst to the cavemen, Yor didn't fall very far, and soon comes to his senses. He climbs to safety, takes a breather, then teams up with Pag to seek out the lair of their hirsute foes. Their search leads them to a large cavern where Ookahn and his fellow tribesman are having a grand old time. (Apparently their tribe has been severely lacking female members for some time.) As Yor and Pag spy on their quarry, a huge bat-like creature suddenly flies overhead. Yor borrows Pag's bow and shoots said creature out of the sky, leading to one of the most awesomely ridiculous scenes in the film!

Yor uses the giant bat's corpse to glide into the nearby cave, while the "Yor Theme" blares! (I'm actually starting to laugh just thinking about it! You can download a clip of this scene over at Badmovies.Org.) Yor rescues Ka-Laa, battles his way past the malevolent cavemen, and heads deeper into the cavern, only to discover a dead-end. However, the ingenious Yor discovers that said dead-end is actually a dam that's blocking an underground lake, and he quickly breaches it. The resulting flood washes away Ookahn and his men, and allows Yor and Ka-Laa to escape. With his woman saved, Yor embarks on his mission to discover his true origins. On a hunch, Yor and his companions travel to the realm of the "desert people." It is there that a woman with a gold medallion around her neck (not unlike the on Yor has) is worshiped as a goddess by the local tribe.

Yor and his friends make their way to the desert people's realm, where Yor is assailed and captured by a handful of desert folks. (Jeez, these guys look like second-rate mummies!) It is here that Yor meets Roa, the aforementioned desert goddess. Though they become infatuated with each other almost immediately, there's a slight problem. Apparently the desert tribe believes that Yor must be sacrificed to "The Fire God" because he is a stranger. But have no fear, because Yor easily manages to break free from his captors and single-handedly wipe them out. (The last guy really gets the worst of Yor's wrath and is impaled by a flaming sword!) His prize for his genocidal behavior is Roa, who happily joins Yor in his quest. Naturally, Ka-Laa becomes jealous of Roa as she pretty much had dibs on Yor first.

Fortunately for Ka-Laa, Roa isn't around for too much longer. As the four travelers rest for a bit by a stream, Ka-Laa tries to kill Roa in a jealous rage. (Woohoo! Catfight!) As they struggle, Ookahn gets the drop on them and captures both of the feuding women. Yor soon comes running to the rescue but is too late to save Roa (she got bopped on the head with a club) and kills Ookahn and the last of his tribe in bitter vengeance. (Jeez, that's two entire civilizations wiped out and we're only halfway into the movie. They should've named this film "Yor, Genocidal Maniac of the Future!") Now the film has largely remained as a somewhat prehistoric epic and continues on that path a little bit longer as Yor, Pag, and Ka-Laa discover a small peaceful seaside village.

They easily make friends with the locals after saving some children from a voracious Dimetrodon. The village leader, Kay, tries to pawn his daughter (?) Tarita off on Yor for his act of heroism (even though it was Pag who slew the beast), but Yor declines because he "already has a woman." (And yes, Ka-Laa loved hearing that!) So instead, Yor enjoys the hospitality of the peaceful fishing village and learns about a visit from the gods over dinnertime. Apparently a "bird of fire" crashed on the beach and a man got out from the wreckage. When one of the locals tried approaching the man, he cast the fisherman down with a beam of fire before being destroyed by the rest of the villagers. Later that evening, the village is destroyed by a series of laser blasts from across the sea and... wait huh?! Lasers?! Isn't this a prehistoric planet? Well it was until we hit this part of the movie my friends. From this point on we're going to go into almost full-blown Star Wars mode.

At daybreak, Yor, Pag, and Ka-Laa leave the charred village to go across the sea and face the "Gods" responsible for the destruction. But wouldn't you know it, when they get near their destination a storm kicks in and.... "The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. Despite the courage of the fearless crew, the grassy boat was lost!" (Serves them right for sailing in a boat made of hay, hemp, and dried reeds!) Luckily, Yor and his friends have made it to shore on a strange island where a goofy despot called the Overlord holds sway over all. This is where the movie gets really, really weird. Apparently Yor's world is a post-apocalyptic land where fertility isn't a very common thing, (Which explains by Ookahn's tribe and the desert people's tribe consisted only of men.) and the Overlord plans on wiping out what's left of humanity and replacing them with a "master race."

Of course, Yor is obligated to throw a monkey wrench into Overlord's operation, and joins a rebellion against the evil dictator and his robotic soldiers. During the laser battles between Overlord's "Vader-bots" and the blonde-haired rebels, Yor and several others rush to the atomic power station deep inside the Overlord's domain. The bridge to said power station is removed by an android, forcing Yor to swing across on a conveniently placed wire. He makes it across and throws a timed bomb into the nuclear reactor but is now trapped because the wire is out of reach. Yor implores his friends to leave but Pag will have none of that! The stubborn old man grabs onto a nearby wire, and swings to Yor's aid.

But the rescue is not as simple as that folks, because Pag and Yor do some amazing trapeze stunts in this scene, via unconvincing miniatures! (HAHAHAHAHA! Oh my God, that is awesome! This is even goofier than the "bat-gliding" scene!) After Yor's incredible rescue, the "blonde bomber" impales the evil Overlord with a huge barber pole, then escapes with his friends in a "futuristic jet," mere moments before the Overlord's island blows up. As they head toward the mainland in their toy vessel, a narrator suddenly delivers a prologue to wrap things up. (Wait, where the hell was the narrator earlier?!) According to this newcomer, Yor is destined to head back to the mainland and rebuild civilization with his "superior" intellect. While this is supposed to be good news, I have to say that this planet's future looks pretty bleak.

Film Review: Yor, The Hunter from the Future is a total blast to watch, especially for anyone who loves extremely cheesy Italian post-apocalyptic fantasy films. Director Antonio Margheriti (who is now, sadly deceased) has created one of the most memorable films of this particular genre, with some of the goofiest effects sequences I've ever had the pleasure of watching. While the "bat gliding" and "trapeze rescue" scenes stand out as my favorite scenes (mainly because they are so unbelievably ludicrous), I have to say that I really enjoyed the two main "dinosaur" attacks in the film as well. The "Stego-ceratops" and the Dimetrodon that are seen in the film are both rather impressive, as they are "life-size" (not life-like) mock ups of prehistoric beasts.

Despite the dinosaurs' obvious lack of mobility, Margheriti and family (his son and daughter aided in the effects for the film) showcase some fun old school effects, that are far from realistic, but definitely noteworthy. Yor's cast of characters is led by Reb Brown, who is clearly having a blast playing the hero of a post-apocalyptic world. Reb is not known for his acting ability (from what I can see, he can only convey joy, triumph, and happiness. Even when he's angry he smiles!), but I doubt anyone else could've really filled his shoes for the role. (Except for Miles O'Keeffe, star of the atrocious Ator films.) Corinne Clery, who portrayed Ka-Laa, isn't too hard on the eyes and performs well as Yor's love interest. And I'm sure Corinne was right at home in this flick, especially during the last half hour, since she's been in several Star Wars inspired rip-offs.

And lets not forget Pag, who was played by Luciano Pigozzi, a staple of Italy's horror, fantasy, and sci-fi film industry. While Pag comes off as a generally likeable character, he seems like a third wheel during much of the film. But Pag proves his worth several times, especially at the film's climax where he calls upon his acrobatic powers to save Yor. Finally there's the ee-vil Overlord who is portrayed by John Steiner. Though he gives it his all, I think John was a bit out of his depth in his villainous role. No matter how hard he tried, John just didn't come off as a threatening bad guy at all. (I was thankful to see this lousy villain get barber-poled moments before he was incinerated in a nuclear explosion. I usually cheer the bad guys on, but not in this case!)

Yor, The Hunter from the Universe is rarely dull, and the plot rolls along at a brisk pace. Though the sudden sci-fi elements at the film's final act may seem out of place at first, it is something that is easily forgivable. Truthfully I felt that the inclusion of robots and lasers fit in well with the rest of the pseudo-prehistoric adventures of Yor and his comrades. And the film's fun factor is ramped up even more by the completely absurd "Yor Theme" that blares at key moments in the film. (Said song is probably the most memorable and notable thing about this flick!) This movie truly belongs in the "so bad its good" category and I recommend it to anyone who loves Italy's seemingly endless quantity of post-apocalyptic fantasy films.

---

So how radioactive is this goofy post-apocalyptic adventure?

Geiger Counter Reading:

- THREE AND A HALF 'RADS' -

WARNING: This film is RADIOACTIVE! Reb Brown, prehistoric beasts,
gorgeous cavegirls, wacky acrobatic hijinks, and a cool "Yor's World"
theme song make for a fun cinematic experience!

---

DVD Review: As if you already didn't know, Yor, The Hunter from the Future is currently out of print and has yet to make a legit debut on DVD. Used tapes and DVD-Rs of of the movie can be found on the web, but here's hoping that this cinematic oddity is released on DVD in the near future.

Yor: "The blood of your enemy makes you stronger! Drink!"
Pag: "I'd rather stay weak."
(Reviewer's Note: It turns out that the mutant dinosaur blood would have an adverse effect on Reb Brown in years to come: It eventually turned him into a bulky chunk of man-meat with a high-pitched soprano scream! See Space Mutiny for further clarification.)

Yor: "They are not gods. Gods couldn't be this cruel! I will find them. I'll avenge Kay and his people!"
(Reviewer's Note: Actually Yor, the Gods can be damned cruel at times, just ask the ancient Greeks or Romans. I'm sure there's a tribe of each wandering around somewhere in your world.)

Narrator: "Yor returns to the primitive tribes on the mainland. He is determined to use his superior knowledge to prevent them from making the same mistakes as their forefathers. Will he succeed?"
(Reviewer's Note: Ok, so the film ends and then a narrator, who hasn't said anything up to this point, suddenly makes his presence known. And he doesn't have good news for us either: Reb Brown is supposed to reboot humanity! How could fate be so cruel?!)

• Beginning - "Yor's World! He's the man! Yor's World! He's the maa-an!" This song rocks!
• 3:39 - A planet where dinosaurs have evolved from pigs?!
• 4:10 - I guess we can classify this creature as a Stego-ceratops?
• 8:01 - A planet where apes evolved from men?!
• 18:00 - "His power is now mine."
• 19:05 - This is one awesome bachelor party! Just a bunch of guys eating meat off the bone and lusting after captive cavewomen!
• 23:25 - HAHAHAHA! Yor glides into a cave on the corpse of a giant bat creature!
• 30:09 - Hahahaha. These guys blend in so well with their surroundings that I barely noticed them all huddled together by that wall.
• 38:16 - Yor unleashes the fury of the giant, fatal, flying, flaming, letter-opener of death!
• 43:00 - Woohoo! Cat fight! I hope these two girls manage to fall into a mud pit at some point!
• 47:38 - What the hell is this? The Yor Swimsuit Calendar photo shoot?
• 49:34 - Yor gets some tongue action from a hungry Dimetrodon.
• 53:08 - Baby monitor of the Gods!
• 54:50 - Originally I intended to blame Pag for the destruction of this village, but after a repeat viewing I discovered that he was innocent... sorry Pag.
• 56:05 - "DAMN TALKING BOX!"
• 60:41 - Wha?! Suddenly we're on the set of Star Wars!
• 63:54 - Yor gets an MRI.
• 72:30 - Reb Brown is Yor in "Enter the Overlord!"
• 80:50 - Hahahaha! Clearly Pag's descendants were trapeze artists! (Next to the giant bat hang-gliding scene, this has to be one of the movie's best moments!)
• 83:00 - Yor impales the Overlord on a barber pole.
• 86:33 - Woohoo! "Yor's World! He's the best he's the best! Yor's World! He's a man of mystery! Yor's World! Better than, Disney world! Yor's World! Reb Brown is my hero!"
• 87:07 - The End Credits.

Recommended Viewing:

• Yor was made during a "post-apocalyptic renaissance" in the Italian film industry. (Said boom in "PA" flicks wasn't limited to Italy as the United States, Canada, and Australia were also churning out numerous post-apocalypse films in the early 80s.) Some of the more notable Italian post-apocalyptic movies that were released around the same time as Yor include: 2020 Texas Gladiators (1982), 1990: Bronx Warriors (1982) and its sequel, Bronx Warriors 2 (1983), Exterminators of the Year 3000 (1983), The New Barbarians (1982), Rats: Night of Terror (1984), and Warriors of the Lost World (1983).
  
  
• Yor's leading man, Reb Brown, has had a pretty brutal career in film and has starred in numerous b-movies starting with 1973's snake-man "classic" Sssssss, where Reb plays, of all things, a bully! However, Reb's career would never reach a high point as he ended up starring in a lot of awful movies like Captain America (1979), Captain America II (1979), Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985), Robowar (1988), Space Mutiny (1988) (which had the honor of appearing on Mystery Science Theater 3000), and (the not-too-terrible) Sword and the Sorcerer (1982).
  
  
• The late Antonio Margheriti was obviously a big fan of science-fiction and fantasy tales, as a good chunk of his directorial work focuses on those particular genres. Starting in 1960, Antonio would direct various sci-fi films, including Assignment Outer Space (1960), Battle of the Worlds (1961), and War of the Planets (1966). Antonio would later branch out and do some horror flicks, particularly a giallo film called Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye (1973), and an awesome horror film (starring John Saxon!) called Cannibal Apocalypse (1980)!
  
  
• The Overlord and his robotic minions (a.k.a. "The Vader-bots") are reminiscent of the villains from George Lucas' original Star Wars Trilogy, which consists of: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983). Lucas would end up nearly killing his heralded sci-fi films with the infamous "prequel trilogy" which is made up of the awful Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and finally Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) which turned out to be the best film in this new trilogy by far!

Useless Trivia:

• The Overlord's garb and the "Vader-bot" costumes used in Yor, the Hunter from the Future were leftovers from a film called The Humanoid (1977) which director Antonio Margheriti did the effects for.
  
  
• This film marked the first and last screen appearance of Ayshe Gul (Roa) and was the screen debut of Marina Rocchi (Tarita), who would go on to star in only one more film, namely Getting Even (1988).
  
  
• In The Ring (2002), look closely at the shelf where Naomi Watts' characters discovers the film's accursed video tape. One of the movies on said shelf is Yor, the Hunter from the Future!
  
  
• Actor John Steiner (The Overlord) retired from acting in 1991 and has since become a successful real-estate agent in Beverly Hills, California.
  
  
• Luciano Pigozzi (Pag) and Antonio Margheriti were very good friends. In fact, Luciano starred in seventeen of Margheriti's films!
  
  
• Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis both worked on the soundtrack for Yor and also wrote, and performed, the film's insanely catchy theme song "Yor's World!" (They are accredited as "Oliver Onions" on the soundtrack listing.) CLICK HERE for more information about the soundtrack!
  
  
• Yor is based upon a graphic novel that was written by Ray Collins and Juan Zanotto.
  
  
• Ready for a shock? Apparently the 88-minute long version of Yor that we are all familiar with is actually a watered down version of a four-part sci-fi mini-series made for Italian television! The original running time for Yor was roughly one-hundred and ninety minutes (if you exclude commercial breaks)! Now how cool would it be to have both versions of the movie in a nice deluxe, two DVD set?!

Download(s):

• DOWNLOAD THE "YOR'S WORLD" MP3!
  Filesize: 5.65 MB | Song Length: 2:28 | Bitrate: 320 kbps
  To download the song, right click on the link and click on "Save Target As."
  
  
• "Yor's World" Song Lyrics
  "Yor's World, he's the man! Yor's World, he's the man! [Yor's World!]
  Lost in the world of past, in the echo of ancient blast. [Yor's World!]
  There is a man of future, a man of mystery. [Yor's World!]
  No tribe to lead the way, in his search for a yesterday. [Yor's World!]
  Misty illusions hiding, his famous destiny. [Yor's World!]
  
  Yor, the touch of fire. Yor the proud and free desire.
  He never sees the sun, he's always on the run, him and his days are gone.
  They say he will go on, his search goes on and on.
  Yor's World! He's forsaken the name! Yor's World! And the world was like fire!
  
  He's gonna make all the wild things look tame tonight, in his fight!
  Yor's World, he's the man! Yor's World, he's the man!
  
  Yor's World! He's forsaken the name! Yor's World! And the world was like fire!
  Yor's World! On the sun there's a soul(???)! Yor's World! And the world was like fire!
  Yor's World! He's forsaken the name! Yor's World! And the world was like fire!

---

LEAVE YOUR OWN COMMENTS ABOUT THIS MOVIE IN...

And feel free to e-mail me at vault_master[at]bmoviefilmvault[dot]com if you have any questions, personal recommendations, or information about the films reviewed here on the site! Don't be shy! Your feedback helps make The Vault better!

---

Review posted on April 12, 2006.
(Review last updated on January 9, 2008.)

B-MOVIE REVIEWS

CAPSULE REVIEWS

DISCUSSION FORUM

MAIN PAGE [FRAMES]

MAIN PAGE [NO FRAMES]