Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Thundarr the Barbarian (1980): "Raiders of the Abyss" (October 25, 1980)

In “Raiders of the Abyss,” a tribe of rag-tag humans living in a capsized ocean liner from the twentieth century, face peril from a race of bat-like humanoids and their flying, giant rodents.  These “raiders” have, for generations, threatened the people of the ocean liner, and captured them for use as slaves.

Thundarr, Ookla and Ariel happen onto the scene, and realize that the bat people are taking the slaves to their subterranean cave, which exists behind the deadly waterfall known as “the Abyss.” 

Upon scouting out the cave, Ariel is captured and taken to a ritual chamber, where strange vapors threaten to sap her strength, youth and vitality…forever.

First off, I love the title of this week’s episode: “Raiders of the Abyss.”  The title captures perfectly the pulpy, heroic nature of Thundarr the Barbarian. 

All the titles of this series showcase a real Howard-esque imagination in terms of words and that’s just one real pleasure of re-watching this 1980 series in the year 2014.

Secondly, I must comment meaningfully once more on the series’ visualizations (courtesy of Alex Toth and Jack Kirby). Although the narratives are rather straight-forward in terms of their plotting and characterization, the imagery remains incredibly imaginative. More than that, the episode’s images really resonate.

For instance, here we meet another post-apocalyptic culture that, like the mutant city in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, seems to worship 20^th century technology.  The same culture is also based on bat biology.  These cloak-wearing, bald, pointy-eared creations are pretty creepy.   The moment when bat-people attack the ship -- astride the backs of giant bats and capturing unwitting humans in nets -- is likely worthy of a live-action blockbuster or two.

By the same token, the episode’s depiction of the good guy village -- a twentieth century ship “speared” on a rock --  is very inventive, and recalls The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).  I just wish the episode had more time to explore this setting, beyond the mere decks, where villagers are imperiled.

The stories, I must say, are falling into a bit of a rut. 

The formula goes like this: Thundarr and his friends discover a problem/injustice while riding through the post-apocalyptic landscape, and must rescue some humans, and destroy a villain.  The villains, meanwhile, boast some weapon or device related to the “destroyed” culture of the 20^th century.  In “Raiders of the Abyss,” that weapon is the life-sucking vapor, which is a deadly gas leaking from a bomber plane inside “the Abyss.”

I’ll be looking to see how much or how little this formula varies as we go forward.  But I’ll close with this thought: Thundarr the Barbarian is very lucky so much imagination goes into the visualization of the stories.  It is those visuals which, at this juncture, continue to impress.

Next Week: “Treasure of the Moks.”