I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Admirable film.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Several times, young people disappear in a Greek village. Private investigator Milo (Costa Skouras) starts a search for them together with a priest (Donald Pleasence), because something evil seems to be lurking around. Baron Corofax (Peter Cushing) is indeed running a satanic cult, namely for the ancient Minotaur, and performs human sacrifices in a nice red uniform. Everyone in the village seems to be part of it, even the police sergeant (Fernando Bislani). Milo and the priest make any possible mistake, though: they don't listen to a witness while she still could talk, ignore cult members walking by their inn fully dressed in black cloaks, they leave the blond girl alone (three times!) so she can be threatened, chased or abducted, and they always leave their weapons including silver crosses and holy water behind in their room. This must be one of the worst 'investigations' I have ever watched, basically the 2 heroes know from the start what they are looking for, and they behave so clumsily that you want to slap them. But the ridiculous flick develops a certain otherworldly atmosphere, surprisingly. They had great locations in Greece, impressive character actors like Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence, and the experimental soundtrack by Brian Eno is contributing a lot, with its lack of tonality and bass notes that linger on for minutes, aiming at the subconscious. If the story hadn't been so terribly weak, 'The Devil's Men' ('Land of the Minotaur' on USA DVD) could have been a recommendable oddity.

I recall a still from this depicting a bearded young man being prepared for a satanic rite in a book of my father's called "Horror Films" by Alan Frank. Being set in Greece, this one contrives to feature three actors from the recently-viewed notorious exploitationer ISLAND OF DEATH (1975)! The nominal stars, who make the film tolerable even if being themselves somewhat embarrassed by the material, are the ever-reliable Donald Pleasence (in his combating an evil beyond most mortals' comprehension, here he anticipates his genre-defining turn as Dr. Sam Loomis in the "Halloween" franchise) and Peter Cushing (almost contemporaneously, his frequent sparring partner Christopher Lee had had pretty much the same role – that of the leader of a Satanic cult, typically hiding under a veneer of respectability – in the far superior TO THE DEVIL...A DAUGHTER).I knew going in this did not have a good reputation (which had kept me from purchasing the R2 SE DVD or, for that matter, the R1 disc, where it was paired with the no-less execrable TERROR {1978}) but I was not prepared to have such a good time with the film (albeit mainly at its own expense!). The heroine tells the hero she was pursued by something in the woods (which we clearly see as men in black capes), he reassures her by saying it was probably just a cow on the loose! Pleasence also panics at the sight of the same men, passing by the window of the local inn and alerting his companion, he goes to look for himself but obviously sees nothing at first (a situation which is repeated throughout, eliciting unfavorable comparisons with a typical Abbott & Costello comedy routine!). Also, it always bugs me how the leading ladies of such fare always feel such a pressing need to take a bath but, here, even if she is almost abducted when doing so, a couple of scenes later she is at it again! When Pleasence and the hero come upon the murdered bodies of their friends they realize that one of the devil's men was attached to the back of a van they just happened to find hidden away while taking shelter – usually they travel in the hero's convertible, with Pleasence chiding him for being a "speed demon" – and whom they had carried behind them along a good stretch of road, except that the man concerned (who is revealed to be the local Police Chief who had obviously shrugged their stories of the town being under some evil influence!)...but when they meet him again the very next day and he acts as if nothing had happened, the hero beats the crap out of him but is finally stopped, not by Pleasence but rather by the timely intervention of Baron Cushing conveniently toting a gun (and occasioning Sergio Leone-type cross-cutting from one sweating brow to the other, complete with grandfather clock ticking away the seconds, until he hilariously decides to blow the latter's hands off)! By the way, the prime symbol of evil here is a giant Minotaur (the film was released in the U.S., cut by about 6 minutes, as LAND OF THE MIONOTAUR) which turns up from time to time just long enough to showcase its flaming nostrils and utter obvious portentous lines such as that the infidels who intrude upon its cave must die, ditto Father La Roche (surely, Pleasence's character ought to feel proud that the Devil knew him by name!) – likewise generic (and repetitive) are Cushing's incantations, when not grinning idiotically at the ongoing malevolence! The finale, then, has the hero keeping up his inefficient investigation (he is a private eye) by getting caught and added to the sacrificial altar (or, rather, ancient stone seats), while Pleasence purports to block the moon's rays from shining into the underground lair (since he insists the rites cannot start without this 'phenomenon'), flashes a jewel-encrusted cross in Cushing's face and throwing holy water in the direction of the caped creeps, at which the elders among them literally (and messily) explode! This leaves Pleasence to liberate the victims but also lead the town children (whom Pleasence deems innocent even if, during the ceremonies which incongruously seem to occur during all hours of the day, the deadly blow of the dagger had always been struck by the inn-keeper's teen daughter!) to safety. Perhaps the most notable thing about the film is the fact that Brian Eno (former member of "Roxy Music", then a solo artist and later a leading music producer) composed the score, but the result is largely undistinguished – in retrospect, who can blame him for this apparent lack of inspiration?!

The presence of Donald Pleasance and Peter Cushing two players well schooled in the horror film make Land Of The Minotaur an endurable feast. Speaking of feasting these two guys digested well a complete diet of ham to get through this film.Pleasance plays a priest and Cushing a local nobleman by day, but by night he's the leader of a cult of devil worshipers. The object of their veneration is the ancient Greek monster the Minotaur who according to this film is really just another name for the Christian Satan.The cult has captured some visiting young tourists and are using them of course for their own nefarious purposes. So if you can't figure out where this is going you haven't been exposed to too much the work of the two British players.Location photography in Greece helps also, but mostly watch it for these two thespian legends.

Granted this was a good movie if you wanted to see a flick about cultists kidnapping and sacrificing folks. But it's pretty misleading.I'll never forget seeing it as a kid, I was so disappointed waiting for the 'monster' to show and finding out there was only a statue.That's it.. just a statue. No, not a possessed statue, not a supernatural statue, not even a moving statue. (unless you count when it was raised out of the ground mechanically) Just a statue.The poster was truly misleading on this one.Anyway, it's a nice setting and not a bad tale, worth a rent as long as you're not expecting a 'monster'.