everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Best movie ever!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

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.

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.

Better than you might expect horror outing about a small Greek village succumbing to the old, Pagan ways and keeping alive the cult of the Minotaur, in this case a statue of a bull that shoots out flames from its nostrils and apparently speaks independent of any moving mouth. Young, crazy "kids" have been disappearing after they go searching for the site of the Minotaur. Father Roche( a Catholic priest living inexplicably in a remote part of Greek Orthodox country)has his suspicions that evil forces are at work and warns a group of teen travelers to stay away from the site. They ignore him and disappear. Soon Roche calls for a friendly detective from New York, who along with the girlfriend of one of the missing guys, aids Roche in discovering the secrets of the village and the nature of the evil. What makes this highly implausible, totally absurd story work is the acting. Pleasance is a very underrated actor and is able to make the most of his Van Helsing type role - battling the forces of evil and having a sort of sixth sense about it. Veteran horror icon Peter Cushing plays the bad guy, here a Baron Corofax from Carpathia, with his usual charm, grace, and stoicism. Cushing and Pleasance give very good turns in their roles and raise this film above the mire. As for the rest of the cast - don't expect too much. They are for the most part all Greek as this is a Greek production and directed by Costas Karagiannis. There are; however, two beautiful blondes that wear the shortest shorts possible - Luann Peters and Vanna Reville. Both are very attractive, but cleavage(from both ends) aside - their acting is only adequate at best. Costas does do some things very nicely. He creates some tension in the village by creating a sense that everyone is against the threesome. The scenes in the cave with Cushing presiding over sacrifices are pretty eerie until the bull shows up. By no means is this a great film, but Cushing and Pleasance show once again that good, solid acting can overcome most obstacles.

Low budget junk about bloodthirsty cultists in Greece headed by Peter Cushing. Its up to priest Donald Pleasance to stop them. Crown International released this crap in 1978, and it was "dog-of-the-week" on one of the episodes of Sneak Previews with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. I forget which of the two "dogged" it, but I see the point. Crappy movie has the worst Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance performances I've ever seen. There is a monster on the video box. No such beast exists in the movie. Instead you get a statue, but at least its atonomically correct. (Woo hoo!)The cultists look like the Klu Klux Klowns...if a group could exist. Skip it.