Il mondo di Yor (Yor's World) Episode 1

Directed by Anthony M. Dawson (Antonio Margheriti)

Written by Robert Bailey and Anthony M. Dawson, based on the Argentinian comic book Henga, el cazador ("Henga, the Hunter", 1974, reprinted in the Italian fumetti Lanciostory in 1975)

Music by John Scott
Theme song by Guido De Angelis & Maurizio De Angelis

Special effects by Antonella Margheriti, Edoardo Margheriti and Antonio Margheriti

Stunt coordinator: Arnaldo Dell'Acqua

An Italy/ Turkey co-production

Better known to English-speaking audiences as Yor: The Hunter from the Future, this project began life as a four-episode mini-series on Italian TV station Rai Uno. A 98-minute version was released in Italian cinemas in 1983, and a further ten minutes was cut out of it for its release in the USA. I have the new blu ray release of that film, and will blog about it soon, but I wanted to get the full four-episode TV show done first to make some sort of comparison as to what is missing in the film version possible.

I have been unable to find any information about when this was broadcast on Italian TV, or how it was received at the time. We are fortunate that someone has gone to the trouble of providing English subtitles for the version that appears online, although there are some moments when whoever it was doesn't seem be keeping up and whole sentences of the expository voiceover are missing. Luckily it's not too hard to guess what is being discussed.

Episode 1 begins with the disco anthem "Yor’s World," (click here to read the lyrics) over footage of the muscular, loincloth-clad Yor (Reb Brown, who played Captain America in two TV movies in 1979) running around the bizarre mountains of Cappadocia in Turkey. He’s happy to be alive, seemingly without a care in the world. After the credits we see a montage of a tribal village, accompanied by a dry, factual voiceover, like an anthropological documentary, which introduces the tribe and their traditional ways.

Yor (Reb Brown) to the rescue!

Once that is over we cut to Pag (Alan Collins, aka Luciano Pigozzi) and Ka-Laa (Corinne Clery) who are having fun trying to capture a small reptile. It appears to be a real animal with dinosaur fins attached, like a throwback to old Hollywood dinosaurs pre-Harryhausen. Just when they have it roped a huge Stegosaurus appears and swipes it away with its tail. This is possibly the mother. Either way, it's annoyed about something. This is one fierce animal, and a fairly impressive full-size model is used; no stop-motion or miniatures here. This unfolding scene was being observed by Yor from above, and when he sees they are in peril he leaps to the rescue. We then spend about five minutes watching them battling with the beast.

Ka-Laa (Corinne Clery) giving Yor the eye

Pag joins in as Ka-Laa screams from behind a rock. Eventually the noise brings over some curious villagers, who only come to their assistance once they are sure the thing is actually dead. For a family film there is a lot of blood here, and we also get several shots straight up Yor’s loincloth, revealing he doesn't really go in for underwear. Reb Brown was quite the athlete, and he is leaping and tumbling around this relatively static Stegosaurus for all he's worth, helping create the illusion that it is really alive.

Pag (Luciano Pigozzi) looking pensive

Once The beast has been felled Yor gets to work drinking its blood. He believes you should always drink the blood of your enemies, so Ka-Laa, keen to impress her new friend, gives it a try. “It burns like fire!” she complains. Yor is then invited to party with them back at the village, where he reveals that he does not know who he is or where he came from. All he has is a huge blond mop of hair like a prehistoric Boris Johnson, and a strange medallion. The village wise man has seen this before on a crazy woman in the desert, who may be related to Yor. This is the quest he has been waiting for. To celebrate he eats from a huge hunk of meat whilst enjoying the dancing of the village girls. Ka-Laa gets jealous so puts on her own special dance to attract his attention.

The jealous dance

Just when things are starting to get interesting for Yor a band of hairy blue men with oversized eyebrows appear and start to slaughter everybody. Yor leaps into action but can do little to protect the village. Instead he gets Pag and Ka-Laa to safety whilst their leader Ucan (Aytekin Akkaya, who also played Captain America, this time in the notorious Turkish rip-off Three Giant Men (1973), and who would also appear in Margheriti's Ark of the Sun God (1984)) and his blue man group steal all the women.

Ucan (Aytekin Akkaya) wants all the women

Once they are safe Pag belatedly decides to go back to help the village, begging Yor to keep Ka-Laa safe. She has been like a daughter to him ever since the death of her own parents. They arrange a rendezvous point and then he’s off, trust bow in hand. When he gets back it’s too late, only one old man is alive, the rest having been killed or kidnapped.

Meanwhile, Yor and Ka-Laa set off towards a swamp, little knowing that there are some blue men in hot pursuit. It seems Ucan wants Ka-Laa for himself, and has also taken a fancy to Yor’s medallion. It would look great when he wears it to the local night clubs. Yor manages to trick these pursuers into wading into the swamp, where an unseen creature sucks two of them below the surface whilst one escapes and runs back to the boss.

Yor find himself a little tied up

We soon discover what all the fuss was about when Yor and Ka-Laa also try to go through the water: tentacles grab at them both as some sort of cyclopean octopus surfaces, it’s gaping maw illustrating exactly what it intends to do with these two. Yor is completely entangled by its tentacles, so quick-thinking Ka-Laa manages to hurl a stone knife straight into its only eye. It bleeds profusely and screams as it releases Yor and sinks slowly below the surfaces, possibly to rethink its life choices.

I'll be back...

Having left the dying old man in the village, Pag heads back towards Yor and Ka-Laa through a tunnel on the mountain, where he is followed by two blue men. This appears to be a shortcut, and one wonders why they didn't all go that way in the first place. A river of lava flows through the tunnel, and both Pag and his pursuers edge precariously along a narrow shelf of rock above. Pag shoots one of them with his bow, and he plunges into the burning lava below. The second guy panics and runs back to Ucan, tail between his legs. Pag exits the tunnel and climbs up to a small cave where he beds down for the night to wait for Yor and Ka-Laa.

The tunnel of love, but mostly hot death. That's Pag on the right

Meanwhile Yor takes Ka-Laa to sleep in a hollowed-out tree, allegedly where he used to hide as a kid. He’s got blankets in there, leaving one to suspect that he’s been here more recently than he’s letting on. Is this where he brings all the chicks?

After a good night’s sleep they set off for the cave to meet Pag. Unbeknownst to them, more blue men are after them, determined to bring Ka-Laa home. So keen is he that Ucan himself has joined the group. Pag sees his two loved ones approaching the cave from across the valley, but he also spots the danger and readies his bow. Yor and the men fight and he shouts at Ka-Laa to flee to safety, but it is too late. Despite Pag killing some of them with his arrows, Yor is knocked unconscious and his precious medallion is stolen. Ucan claims “Now I am the son of fire!” and demands his men throw Yor from the cliff as an offering to the gods whilst he heads back to the cave for some alone time with Ka-Laa. Despite another man being hit by an arrow, the last remaining man still manages to push Yor over. Is this the end for our hero? Given that this is the first episode, probably not.

Yor shows us what he thinks of democracy

A tree having broken his fall, Yor climbs back to the top of the cliff where a delighted and relieved Pag meets him. Pag claims that the law of their people means that Ucan has won Ka-Laa and she is now legally his woman. Yor is having none of this, and together they head off to rescue her, which is the end of this first episode. Will they save her? Tune in next time!

Why not watch the first episode of Il Mondo di Yor on YouTube and see what you think?

Both Antonella and Edoardo Margheriti are in the credits, making this very much a family affair. The IMDb claims that this series was constructed from leftover footage from Yor: The Hunter from the Future, but I feel it has to be the other way around. It was clearly planned as a mini-series for Italian TV, as the narrative works well for this episode and none of it feels like padding. The story is given more time to develop than in the movie, which by comparison flies along at breakneck speed.

The score appears to be credited to John Scott, a prolific British composer who is still working today. I am fairly sure that the opening song was the responsibility of Maurizio and Guido de Angelis though. The lyrics for that are hilarious, and maybe I will reproduce them in the blog post for Episode 2.

Another fun name to point out is the stunt coordinator Arnaldo Dell'Acqua. The Dell-Acqua family were all over the Italian stunt industry in the 1970s and 1980s. His brother Ottaviano was one of the lead zombies in Lucio Fulci's Zombie 2, aka Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979).

Come back soon for more Yor!

I recently made an appearance on the B-Moviecast to discuss all things Yor. You can hear the full episode below or find it in your usual podcast app: