| Land of the Minotaur | |
| Director: | Kostas Karagiannis |
| Producer: | Frixos Constantine |
| Starring: | Donald Pleasence Peter Cushing |
| Music: | Brian Eno |
| Studio: | Getty Pictures Corp. Poseidon Films |
| Distributor: | Cathay Films (United Kingdom) Crown International Pictures (United States) |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes |
| Country: | Greece United Kingdom United States |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $1,020,000[1] |
Land of the Minotaur (UK title: The Devil's Men) is a 1976 horror film directed by Kostas Karagiannis and written by Arthur Rowe. The film is also known as Minotaur and The Devil's Men.
Land of the Minotaur is actually the name of the shorter [86 minutes] U.S. edit of the film. When seen as The Devil’s Men, it is the full 94 minute European cut.
Tourists visiting a Greek archeological site are being abducted by a strange cult, intent on providing their God - the Minotaur - with sacrifice. Irish priest Father Roche (Donald Pleasence) enlists the help of Laurie Gordon, an archaeological student, and Milo Kaye, a private detective, to find out what has happened to them.
Critical response for Land of the Minotaur has been predominantly negative. TV Guide gave the film one out of four stars, calling it "[a] distinctly silly effort".[2] HorrorNews.net found the film enjoyable in spite of its contrived plot, commending its soundtrack (by Brian Eno) and chemistry between its two leads.[3] According to John Stanley, it is "a dreadful British-Greek production...Bereft of logic, characterizations, suspense and anything else that makes watchable cinema."[4] Del Vecchio and Johnson write that "The film itself is a preposterous labyrinth of false starts and dead ends. It's tediously predictable and gleefully flaunts scripter Arthur Rowe's total lack of imagination. None of his characters,unfortunately, were ever able to escape the first dimension and one becomes painfully aware that a five-minute plot cannot be stretched into a 94-minute running time. Technically [the film] fares even worse. The sound quality is literally a disaster and dubbing is so poorly done that even though Pleasence and Cushing are speaking English on film, their lip movements are off synch on the soundtrack! Editing is even worse, with scene changes cutting into dialogue...Both Donald Pleasence and Peter Cushing are hideously squandered..."[5] David Miller calls the film [a] "muddled story of ancient rites and blood sacrifice...The sound in the film is hollow and indistinct, the photography clumsy and the script feeble...far too much is made of the pagan idol, a pint-size statue of a minotaur with two gas-burners up its nose..." [though Peter Cushing] "looks formidable striding through the caves in his crimson robes."[6]
Praising the "suffocating ambiance and dream-like atmosphere", as well as Brian Eno's electronic score, Chris Alexander argues that the film is underrated: "Make no mistake, it's a lowbrow exploitation film, but it's one that’s filtered through a very stylised art house sensibility. Don't be swayed by the negative mainstream reviews and general fanboy silence."[7] Emanuel Levy rated the film three out of five.[8]