Have you ever watched Land of the Minotaur, aka The Devil’s Men?
If you haven’t, reading my Land of the Minotaur movie review may inspire you to watch the film.
Land of the Minotaur (1976) is a horror movie set in Greece.
The movie was a co-production between the UK and Greece — produced by Poseidon Films.
The film even had a Greek director, Kostas Karagiannis.
According to Greek mythology, Poseidon, the Greek God of the sea, caused the Minotaur to come into existence.
It all started when King Minos of Crete failed in his obligation to sacrifice a bull for Poseidon.
Due to the disrespect shown by King Minos, Poseidon caused his wife to lust after a bull.
From there, you guessed it, his wife conceived the Minotaur — the monster with a bull’s head and a man’s body, which later became confined inside a specially built labyrinth on the island of Crete.
Land of the Minotaur – The Devil’s Men
The forgotten film goes by two names: Land of the Minotaur and The Devil’s Men.
Land of the Minotaur was the name given to the film for its release in the United States.
On the Rotten Tomatoes website, the film comes up as Land of the Minotaur.
The Devil’s Men is the original name of the film and the film name adopted by the UK.
So on the IMDb website, you will see the film coming up as The Devil’s Men when doing a search for Land of the Minotaur.
The US film version of Land of the Minotaur possessed a few minor film cuts that removed some of the gore and nudity.
So, if you have a choice, try and watch the UK film release: The Devil’s Men.
I luckily found the Land of the Minotaur (1976) full movie on YouTube.
You can also find this horror film released on Blu-ray as The Devil’s Men.
Both movie titles give very different impressions of what the movie is about.
Land of the Minotaur seems to convey a story about a ferocious Minotaur monster.
Thankfully, the Minotaur does make several appearances in the horror movie — thank ZEUS!
It’s good knowing that the Minotaur plays a central role in the film’s story. Here’s one reason alone that makes the movie worth watching.
The Devil’s Men is another very suitable film title for this B-grade horror movie.
A Catholic priest sees the film as a battle against Lucifer, Mephistopheles, the Devil, or whatever you want to call the beast, as well as evil Demons.
So, you can easily understand why The Devil’s Men also fits the film’s premise.
Land of the Minotaur: Movie Review
Land of the Minotaur is in no way a classic horror movie, but it’s still unique.
All you need to do is watch the movie once and it will stay with you forever.
Perhaps of greater interest are some of the secrets I’m going to reveal about the Land of the Minotaur movie, which takes place on the fictional Greek island of Minos.
As you can see, Minos in this sense comes from the legendary King Minos.
Once you learn some of the secrets in the film, you’ll probably want to go and visit a couple of extraordinary destinations in Greece.
One of these unique places happens to be a mysterious ancient Temple Site in Greece.
Another magical destination in Greece appearing in the horror movie is an incredible ancient fortress/castle.
You will find a few movie spoilers in this Land of the Minotaur movie review, so some of you may prefer to watch the movie first.
But it doesn’t matter. Your film-watching experience won’t lessen that much if you know more about the movie before seeing it. If anything, it could add to the experience.
Land of the Minotaur Cast
The movie Land of the Minotaur had me glued to the TV screen mainly after I became intrigued by a couple of mysterious places I saw in the movie.
A couple of famous actors in the movie also made the film heaps more interesting to watch.
But it was the Minotaur from Greek mythology that I wanted to see the most.
The Minotaur in The Devil’s Men
First, I must say that the movie poster for Land of the Minotaur is very impressive since it shows a fierce-looking picture of a Minotaur monster.
Unfortunately, the Minotaur in the movie turned out to be a fire-breathing stone statue.
Seeing the Minotaur in the movie did feel like a huge letdown. Even with the Minotaur’s strange ability to speak, it didn’t possess much power to scare.
Land of the Minotaur is supposed to be a horror movie, so you’d think that making the Minotaur look as scary as possible would be the thing to do.
I suppose the Minotaur would be able to frighten younger audiences (under 13), but it didn’t do anything to me.
If the Minotaur came to life at the film’s end, that would have been unreal !!!
Even better, if it turned into Lucifer!
Land of the Minotaur Actors
What intrigued me most about the cast in the film was seeing Donald Pleasence and Peter Cushing in the movie.
What were these two legendary actors doing in a movie about the Minotaur, and what were they doing in Greece?
Maybe it was a way of getting a paid sunny vacation in Greece.
One thing is for sure, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence never had a chance of winning an Oscar based on their acting performances in this movie.
However, without these two actors in the film, the movie would have been even less watchable. Both actors bring a bit of extra magic to the screen when they appear.
Donald Pleasence: The Catholic Priest
I always think of softly spoken Donald Pleasence as Blyth ‘the Forger’ in the classic war movie The Great Escape (1963).
The Devil’s Men movie cast the actor as a superstitious Catholic Priest, Father Roche, a role which does seem to fit his persona.
Peter Cushing: The Minotaur Worshipper
Peter Cushing starred in many horror Hammer Film Productions, including horror movies like Dracula (1958) and The Gorgon (1964).
In my opinion, Peter Cushing’s best movie role has to be when he played the memorable evil high-ranking officer of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars (1977).
In Land of the Minotaur, Peter Cushing plays another evil guy, Baron Corofax from Carpathia.
Playing the bad guy seems to be an excellent match for Peter Cushing because he has that skeletal look about him.
In this horror movie, he’s the ungodly priest who worships the Minotaur God, or maybe it was Lucifer in disguise. Let’s say the Devil’s men are Minotaur-worshiping Satanists.
Land of the Minotaur: Film Locations
Land of the Minotaur was filmed in Greece.
Two ancient sites in Greece appeared in the film, and both of them piqued my interest.
Acrocorinth – The Acropolis of Ancient Corinth
Filming locations in Land of the Minotaur included Acrocorinth.
The ancient site is located about 80 km from Athens, so it has to be one of the best day trips from Athens.
When I first saw the impressive castle complex in Land of the Minotaur, I wondered where it could possibly exist in Greece since I had no idea of its whereabouts.
The fortress castle in the film didn’t seem familiar to me at all.
I couldn’t stop wondering where the castle existed in Greece.
Did the castle exist somewhere on the Greek mainland or a Greek island?
I even started contemplating if it existed in the Balkans, which one website incorrectly stated as being a filming location for Land of the Minotaur.
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur languished inside a labyrinth on the Greek island of Crete.
The half-man half-bull was contained within a labyrinth in Crete, so I started thinking that maybe the castle existed in Crete.
Well, I tracked it down eventually.
The ancient fortress in the Land of the Minotaur was situated on Greece’s mainland in the Peleponesse — more precisely in Ancient Corinth.
The Land of the Minotaur movie tried to make you believe that the temple shown in the film was very close to the castle.
The Temple of Apollo
In real life, the ancient Temple of Apollo is relatively close to the castle in Acrocorinth.
The film scenes in Land of the Minotaur shot at an ancient temple site seemed to suggest that it had to be the Temple of Apollo.
I had some niggling doubts about it because I could easily see significant differences between both temple sites.
Then I started thinking it had to be another temple — the Temple of Zeus in Nemea.
The Temple of Zeus
The Temple of Zeus in Nemea is an ancient site not too far away from Corinth.
I then wondered why the filmmakers pretended that the temple was close to the castle.
One problem I couldn’t overcome was that even the Temple of Zeus still didn’t quite match the look of the temple I had seen in the film, so I became inquisitive.
I started doing Google satellite searches to see if I could spot another temple around Acrocorinth.
A few other ancient sites existed in Corinth and Acrocorinth, but they looked nothing like the temple in the film.
After that, I started looking at pictures of Greek temples in Greece. That’s when I stumbled upon one picture of a temple that gave the mystery away.
It was the Sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron, which I didn’t know anything about.
Temple of Artemis at Brauron (Vravona)
The film location showing the temple in the Land of the Minotaur is the Temple of Artemis at Brauron.
And it’s not that far from Athens, about 50 km on the eastern side of Attica.
I’m not sure why the Greek director of Land of the Minotaur chose the Temple of Artemis at Brauron as a filming location for a horror movie about a Minotaur God.
It seems crazy! Especially when you know that the Temple of Apollo in Corinth wasn’t too far away from the castle.
They filmed at the castle, so why didn’t they film scenes at the Temple of Apollo?
Secondly, why didn’t they use the Temple of Zeus in Nemea? Another good option.
In the film, the entrance to the Minotaur’s lair is through an ancient tomb right next to the temple site.
That’s where a double ax head was discovered, which led to the entrance of the Minotaur’s underground cavern.
The double ax head is a symbol of Zeus, so it seems as if it would have been much more appropriate to film the temple scenes at the Temple of Zeus.
But they didn’t do it for some unholy reason.
I would like everyone who is reading this Land of the Minotaur movie review to watch this video showing the Temple of Artemis at Brauron, so we can all ponder over this mysterious temple site.
Artemis in Greek Religion
Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, God of light. So why bring her temple into the movie?
And how does Artemis relate to the Minotaur?
Land of the Minotaur Movie Ending
When watching Land of the Minotaur, you’ll be waiting for memorable moments to happen. But, unfortunately, it will take a while.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. It doesn’t happen until the very end of the film.
The big surprise at the end is witnessing a Catholic Priest destroy the Minotaur God and the Devil’s Men with a crucifix in one hand and an unbelievable splash of holy water.
The outcome of that one incredible action will blow your 666 minds. You have to see it to believe it.
That miraculous scene alone will make watching Land of the Minotaur worthwhile.
Thank me later!
To get you thinking, Land of the Minotaur must be one of those Movies with messages from the Greek Gods.
Do you know the secret meaning of the movie? Tell me what you think.
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