Land of the Minotaur

• Director: Costas Karayiannis
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Horror
• Release Year: 1977
• Country: US/UK
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• MPAA Rating: PG

Plot

Brian Eno composed the score for this horror tale about a cult (led by Peter Cushing) which kidnaps Greek tourists for their ritual murders. Also known as Minotaur and The Devil's Men. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Review

This film is a routine thriller from the satanic '70s, when the public's interest in devil-worshipping cults and other nontraditional religions was stoked by a glut of "priest vs. demon" features. Land of the Minotaur is unique in plundering the myths of Greece for its imagery, but any influence is purely cosmetic. Carved from stone and worshipped by Satanists, this scowling, fire-snorting Minotaur has very little to do with what lurked in the Labyrinth. The hooded cultists are scary enough, but, like everything else in the film, they move too slow to do any real damage. Genre slummers Donald Pleasance and Peter Cushing do their very second best with flat material from television writer Arthur Rowe (Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, Gunsmoke). Director Costa Carayiannis (aka Kostas Karayiannis) had a long career in Greece making movies with titles that translated rather awkwardly into English (The Rape Killer, My Darling, You Old Hag!). There's no evidence of culture shock here, however, because Carayiannis delivers an adequate project that's professional and bloodless as any ABC "movie of the week." Brian Eno's musical score might make Land of the Minotaur interesting to completists as a collector's curio, but as a genre film, it's inessential. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Cast

Robert Behling - Tom; Peter Cushing - Baron Corofax; Luan Peters - Laurie; Donald Pleasence - Father Roche; Costas Skouras - Milo; Nikos Verlekis - Ian

Credit

Costas Karayiannis - Director, Brian Eno - Composer (Music Score), Arthur Rowe - Screenwriter

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