Land of the Minotaur (1976)

Original title: The Devil's Men

Director: Kostas Karagiannis

Writer: Arthur Rowe

Composer: Brian Eno

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Peter Cushing, Luan Peters, Kostas Karagiorgis, Dimitris Bislanis, Anna Matzourani, Christina, Nikos Verlekis, Vanna Reville, Robert Behling, Anestis Vlahos

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Half man . . . half beast . . . trapped in a world forgotten by time!

Plot: Tourists visiting a Greek archeological site are being abducted by a strange cult intent on providing their God - the Minotaur - with a sacrifice. Father Raoche (Pleasance) enlists the help of former pupil and NY private detective to find out what has happened to them.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I'm winding down through the 8 films on the 4-DVD set from BCI called Drive-In Cult Classics Vol. 2.  This is the first of two anamorphic widescreen films in the set.   The print is pretty good but short of great. The film?  It's slow and rather dull.  If it weren't for the fact that Cushing and Pleasance are in it there wouldn't be anything of interest except maybe it's a Greek co-production (with the UK and US) filmed in Greece.  The explosions (see video above) of the Satanists and the Minotaur are well done but that's about it.  Oh, and the score is by music legend Brian Eno and it's OK.  Had I not seen his name in the credits I wouldn't have known there was anything special about it.  It's a by the numbers plot that drags in a few spots but that's a little offset with the presence of Cushing and Pleasance and Cushing plays the leader of the cult which is a change of pace for him.  There's no nudity which wasn't the norm in the 70s for Devil worshiping flicks like this...and it's Greek.  Go figure.  The DVD has no extras for this film although there are some for some of the other 7 films in the way of trailers.