I first encountered THE DEVIL'S MEN in its U.S. version, titled LAND OF THE MINOTAUR, on a horrible looking VHS tape back in the 1980s. My immediate judgement was that it one of the worst films Peter Cushing had ever appeared in. The Indicator home video label has gifted us with a special edition Blu-ray of THE DEVIL'S MEN that vastly improves the film's video and audio quality, but the film itself still leaves a lot to be desired.
Donald Pleasence plays Father Roche, an Irish Catholic priest based near a remote village in Greece. Roche is concerned when a number of young tourists start disappearing in the area, and he calls in a close friend, a New York detective named Milo (Costa Skouras). The pair discover a diabolical coven led by a Baron Corofax (Peter Cushing). The coven sacrifices young couples to their Minotaur god.
THE DEVIL'S MEN was filmed in Greece, and while director Costas Carayiannis makes good use of the natural locations, the movie has some very strange editing and shot selection choices. The screenplay, by American TV writer Arthur Rowe, makes very little sense, even when taking into account the fact that this is a low-budget horror film. Any suspense that the story might have had is negated by the opening sequence, which gives away the entire plot. The creepiest thing about the movie by far is Brian Eno's music score. (By the way, Eno had nothing to do with the wacky "Devil's Men" end credit song which is only on the full cut of the film--once you hear it, you'll never forget it.)
Donald Pleasence does the best he can under the circumstances, but a viewer gets the feeling that Peter Cushing wasn't very comfortable during production. The supporting cast is very mediocre--the character of Milo is supposed to be a hot-shot NYC private eye, but he doesn't really do anything. And why are two totally different people like Milo and Father Roche best friends?
The film might have worked a little bit better if it had not been set in modern times, but then we wouldn't have been able to see most of the actresses, such as Luan Peters (TWINS OF EVIL) parade around in short-shorts. The cut of this film entitled THE DEVIL'S MEN contains a few scenes of nudity and minor gore (which add nothing to the story). The American cut of the film, titled LAND OF THE MINOTAUR, does not have these sequences--it was actually rated PG on its original theatrical release.
Indicator has given THE DEVIL'S MEN the deluxe treatment most much better films never get on home video. The original cut of the film and the LAND OF THE MINOTAUR version of it are presented on this disc at a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Both versions look very sharp and colorful, and the sound quality is excellent.
Included as a bonus is a Super 8 version of THE DEVIL'S MEN. I only watched a couple minutes of this, and the quality of this print is terrible, especially during the nighttime sequences. The only reason I would think anyone would want to watch the Super 8 version would be to recreate what it must have been like to see the film on one of those lousy public domain VHS tapes.
There's plenty of extras here, including a short interview with the film's producer, Frixos Constantine. There's an image gallery, an original trailer and TV commercial for the film, and a 92 minute interview from 1973 with Peter Cushing (this interview is also on the Severin Blu-ray of HORROR EXPRESS). A brand new audio commentary has David Flint and Adrian J. Smith discussing the film. They have more of an appreciation of it than I do, but they also address the movie's inadequacies, and they go into the career choices of Donald Pleasence and Peter Cushing.
Indicator has also included a 36 page booklet with this Blu-ray, which is filled with stills from the movie. It also has essays concerning the film, the most notable one being a 1976 interview with Donald Pleasence. The actor, with dry humor, talks about his career to that date. The disc case cover sleeve is reversible.
I purchased the American version of this Blu-ray, which is a limited edition of 2,000 copies. The Blu-ray is coded A,B, and C.
Indicator's Blu-ray presentation of THE DEVIL'S MEN/LAND OF THE MINOTAUR is much more impressive than the film itself. If you are going to release an underwhelming movie on Blu-ray, you might as well make it look and sound as fine as possible, and give it plenty of worthy extras--and that is what Indicator has done.
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