Review: The Devil’s Men
Blu-ray: The Devil’s Men (1976)
Though starring Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence (2 actors who I will watch in anything just because they are in it), The Devil’s Men struggled to keep my attention throughout its 88 minute running time.
Cushing plays Baron Corofax; a suave man who also just happens to be the leader of a satanic cult that are abducting tourists to sacrifice in their rituals, and it is left to priest Father Roche (Donald Pleasance) to try and stop them killing more people.
So far, so good.
Director Kostas Karagiannis does little to immerse the viewer in the high stakes tension of trying to save people from being killed, nor in using any of the Greek setting to create a visually pleasing backdrop. This is also hampered by a pedestrian screenplay by Arthur Rowe which drums up little empathy for all involved, and even a score by Brian Eno did little to entertain me.
It’s nice to see Cushing as a ‘Baddie’ for a change (though nothing will beat his role in Corruption…especially the uncut “groping bloody boobs” version), but even his magnetic screen presence wasn’t enough to keep me fully invested as the narrative was slowly drawn out to its inevitable conclusion.
Far more interesting for me was the 92 minute “The John Player Lecture with Peter Cushing” from 1973 which is one of the special features on this world blu-ray debut. In fact, it is the special features which far outweighed the main feature as far as enjoyment went for me on this one. The commentary track with critics and authors David Flint and Adrian J Smith is entertaining and informative, while the 36 page booklet makes fascinating reading.
It’s not often that I’m not enamoured with an Indicator release from Powerhouse Films, but The Devil’s Men didn’t strike me as one I’ll be rewatching anytime soon…the special features however are a different matter entirely.
INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
- New 2K restoration from the original negative
- Two presentations of the film: The Devil’s Men (94 mins), the original cut; and Land of the Minotaur (86 mins), the shorter US theatrical version
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with critics and authors David Flint and Adrian J Smith (2022)
- The John Player Lecture with Peter Cushing (1973, 92 mins): archival audio recording of the legendary actor in conversation with David Castell at the National Film Theatre, London
- This Life and the Next (2022, 8 mins): producer Frixos Constantine reflects on working with great actors and making the film
- Feature-length Super 8 version (94 mins)
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet featuring a new essay by Andrew Graves, an archival interview with star Donald Pleasence, extracts from original promotional materials, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition of 2,000 copies for the UK (4,000 copies for the world)
Released 21st February 2022.
Review by Dave from a disc kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.
