The Devil's Men
The Devil's Men
PG | 01 June 1977 (USA)
The Devil's Men Trailers

A satanic cult led by Baron Corofax (Peter Cushing) kidnaps three young people and Father Roche (Donald Pleasence) & Milo (Costa Skouras/Kostas Karagiorgis) must save them from the hands of this evil.

Reviews
BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?
Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Rainey Dawn I love the classic horror films like this one... they didn't have to show lots of blood and guts on screen back then, people were smart knew what was going on even if not shown directly on camera (this is when several things happened off camera was indirectly shown).We have Peter Cushing vs. Donald Pleasence -- two great actors in a good film, it's hard to get better than this! I'll admit that even if Cushing and Pleasence was not in this film I would have enjoyed it but to watch both of them in this film was a great treat - they were the icing on the cake! The film is about a satanic cult, they worship a Minotaur God, lead by Peter Cushing! It's strange to see Cushing as the "bad guy" he usually played the "good guy" in films - so that's another treat to watching this film. Donald Pleasence is the priest out to fight the evil when he learns about people missing in the area and about the cult itself.Great classic film! Lots of Gothic imagery with an interesting story and a good cast (not just Peter and Donald).8.5/10
Wizard-8 Horror fans may understandably think that "The Devil's Men" (a.k.a. "Land Of The Minotaur") must be something special, because the film's producers were able to get not only Donald Pleasence but also Peter Cushing to be in their cast. But if they were to actually watch it, they would probably conclude that those two stars only accepted in order to get a working vacation in Greece. The Greek countryside does indeed look spectacular and eerie in some shots, but that's about the only positive thing I can find in this cinematic yawn. Pleasence and Cushing look absolutely bored, and it's no wonder - this is a slow-moving story with plot elements handled in dozens of other movies and TV shows before. It's all made worse by some shoddy production values - frequently it sounds like someone is blowing in the microphone recording the actors' dialogue! Only worth watching if you are curious as to why the British film industry was considered essentially dead in the 1970s.
Coventry Donald Pleasance and Peter Cushing united in one horror film; that always sounds like a terrific plan. Two of the most versatile cult actors of their generation, who previously already starred together in terrific genre outings like "The Flesh and the Fiends" and "From Beyond the Grave", pairing up in a mid-70's satanic themed exploitation flick. How can this possibly go wrong? Well, unfortunately, it can. To my deepest regret "Land of the Minotaur" can hardly even be called mediocre, and that in spite of the cast, the exotic setting, the appealing title and the potentially great sounding premise. In a remote little area in Greece, more particularly near an archaeological site, multiple tourists vanish because Baron Peter Cushing and his docile followers keep feeding them to a fire-breathing Minotaur statue. Cushing, who never looked more bored and uninterested in any role he played before, owns a giant medieval castle and apparently in Greek this means you also own the complementary archaeological ruins and an underground network of caverns. That is of course quite handy if your hobby is the kidnapping of random campers and amateur archaeologists. When three of his young friends also mysteriously disappear in the same area, Father Roch - the priest of a couple of towns before) - decides to investigate. "Land of the Minotaur" is a boring and extremely slow-paced horror effort that never really undertakes any major attempts to generate a satanic atmosphere and doesn't bother to elaborate on all the potentially fascinating elements and pagan trivia details. The titular Minotaur, for example, is an intriguing creature of Greek mythology with the head of a bull and the body of a person, but for some inexplicable reason the script never deepens out the significance. Instead, the film focuses on tedious and overly talkative sequences and loud inappropriate music altered with experimental noises. The only reason to even consider giving this major disappointment of a film a chance is because of Donald Pleasance. His portrayal of rude, bossy and old-fashioned priest who criticizes everything that represents modern youth is powerful and reliable as always.
The_Void Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance are legendary actors, and director Kostas Karagiannis was the man behind the successful Greek Giallo-esquire thriller Death Kiss in 1974; and yet when you combine the three talents, all you get is this complete load of drivel! God only knows what drove the likes of Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance to star in this cheapie devil worship flick, but I really do hope they were well paid as neither one deserves something as amateurish as this on their resumes. The story focuses on a group of devil worshippers that kidnap some kids, leading another group to go after them. The pace of the plot is very slow and this ensures that the film is very boring. The plot is also a long way from being original and anyone with even a passing interest in the horror genre will have seen something a bit like this, and no doubt done much better. The obvious lack of budget is felt throughout and the film doesn't manage to overcome this at any point. This really is a depressing and miserable watch and not even a slightly decent ending manages to up the ante enough to lift this film out of the very bottom of the barrel. Extremely poor stuff and definitely not recommended!
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