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Devil worshippers are running amuck in Greece, haven’t you heard? This Greek-English horror show stars Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance, so it can claim a built-in fan interest factor whether it’s good or bad. It’s fun to check out just to see what these stars got themselves into for a paycheck, back when Hammer was calling it quits and quality roles for U.K. pros were few and far between. Even Michael Powell’s name gets dropped in connection to this ‘shocker,’ which we saw here in the states under the title Land of the Minotaur. The pagan Minotaur god is no Bullwinkle J. Moose: he demands that all trespassers in his pagan temple die, and possessed kids are doing the killing.

The Devil’s Men

All-region Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1976 / Color / 1:85 1:66 widescreen / 94 + 86 min. / Land of the Minotaur / Street Date February 21, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Donald Pleasence,...

"you're wasting time." "I should keep something on..." You really cant enjoy 70s cinema without talking about Peter Walker. I always felt he was a strange hybrid of Russ Meyer and Gordon Hessler, but more talented than either of them. My first introduction to his odd mind was The Flesh and Blood Show. I was referred to this film after noticing (upon multiple viewings) that the drop dead gorgeous Luan Peters was in two of the three Hammer…...

Pacific Banana (Original Release Date: 5 February 1981)

This week marks the first instance of me reviewing a movie discovered as a direct result of writing this column. I anticipate future cases where I will find newly discovered movies so disagreeable I will be made to wish I had never lighted on the idea of reviewing these suckers, but this isn’t one of those cases. Pacific Banana is a treat. It flies thick through a fog of continuity errors, the casts’ collective stab at acting is lamentable, the plot contrivances begin stacking tall from the outset, and the plot is threadbare, but its charm and good-naturedness make it hard not to developsome affection for it.

Part of this charm is in its casually smarmy approach. If I were cataloging it for a special interests video store, I would categorize it a “milquetoast sex romp,” and I would put it on the same shelf as Porky’s,...