A little-seen, little-known 1976 horror chiller boasting the tag-team pairing of big time horror stars, Donald Pleasence and Peter Cushing. With such a strong central casting (Pleasence symbolising good, Cushing evil) you would imagine that LAND OF THE MINOTAUR would be a lot more popular than it currently is (i.e. all but forgotten). On watching the movie the reasons become clear: it was shot in Greece, which, although picturesque, automatically gives the (already low budget) movie a rough, unpolished look, making it unpopular with critics at the time who universally panned it on release.
In fact the movie is more interesting than its reputation would have you believe. Once you get over the endless scenes of characters walking around uninteresting locations with little purpose – a flaw which also surfaced in the similarly-themed INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED, made in 1970 and another British/Greek production – LAND OF THE MINOTAUR does actually have quite a lot of suspenseful sequences and a strong atmosphere here and there. The film itself is bolstered by heavy, oppressive music, all discordant chords and pretty unsettling with it. The sacrificial scenes taking place at the shrine of the minotaur – an elaborate and shadowy set, the centrepiece of which is a huge, strong, fire-breathing statue of the minotaur, an impressive sight – are expertly shot and pretty gruesome for the period, with bloody stabbings and solemn chanting.
The film begins with such a scene, presided over by the gaunt figure of Peter Cushing, here resplendent in a gaudy red robe and hood. Cushing plays his character, Baron Corofax, with a steely determination. In his normal, everyday guise, Corofax is a polite and friendly character, if a little cold. But as soon as he gets on his robe he becomes a messenger of evil, chanting praise to the dark forces and with a glitter of evil in his eye. Cushing is typically excellent in the part but even so the role isn't much of a stretch for him, and indeed he is given little material to work with. All the script requires is that he stands around looking imposing, either in his costume or when wielding a shotgun, but with an actor of Cushing's calibre I would expect a lot more.
After a young couple are sacrificed at the minotaur shrine, we're introduced to the nervous Irish priest, Father Roche, as played by Donald Pleasence in one of his rare earlier-than-HALLOWEEN turns as the good guy. Roche believes that a devil-worshipping cult are operating in the area, but the local police force (as represented by Fernando Bislani's Sergeant Vendris) are having none of it and refuse to investigate. This later makes sense when Vendris, along with most of the inhabitants of the village, turns out to be a devil-worshipper himself. A trio of hippies in a camper van arrive in the area to do some archaeology (?) and, despite mutterings and warnings from Father Roche, go on to stay near the Baron's castle. Unsurprisingly they are soon missing, so Roche calls in his old American friend Milo Kaye (Costas Skouras), a brash private investigator, to help. The pair are joined by Laurie Gordon (Luan Peters), the girlfriend of one of the missing hippies, and the newly-formed trio use the local inn as their base of operations as they search for the missing youngsters.
Unfortunately after such extensive plot set-up, the film doesn't really progress anywhere after the first half other than to build the shocks and scares with lots of scenes of robed figures lurking around in the woods at night. Director Costas Karagiannis shamelessly shows his exploitation roots by shooting nearly all of his female cast members in the nude at some point, the most effective moment being when Laurie's bath is interrupted by some hooded guys lurking outside the window. Pleasence and Skouras spend most of their scenes wandering around in the dark and after far too long a time, Peters is kidnapped and the full moon rises, setting the climax in motion. The middle part of the film is enlivened by some excellent location shooting (making full use of a genuine ruined temple) and plenty of humour, both intentional and otherwise, from Pleasence. With an Irish accent that frequently appears and disappears and a typically emotive performance, Pleasence is without a doubt one of the film's strongest features.
Said climax is rushed and poorly-edited, but nonetheless entertaining. It shows Pleasence entering the shrine of the minotaur and showering the devil-worshippers with a handy vial of holy water he has been carrying throughout the movie. This causes the bad guys to inexplicably explode with the aid of some ultra-cheap and cheerful special effects work. This climax recalls the unconventional ending of the previous year's THE DEVIL'S RAIN, and maybe the distributors thought so too when re-titling the movie for English-language release. And if that wasn't cheesy enough, somebody thought it was to have a dated pop song play over the closing credits! LAND OF THE MINOTAUR can hardly be called a classic but it remains enjoyable enough for the sympathetic viewer, and of course Pleasence and Cushing are always entertaining. It's a shame that the supporting cast are all pretty awful in their parts (with Costas Skouras totally unconvincing as the American; hmm, is that a hair-piece you're wearing by any chance Costas?) and the plot loses focus through the middle section, but nonetheless dedicated fans may get a kick out of this one.
