The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete

1960
4.9| 1h45m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 25 November 1960 Released
Producted By: Illiria Film
Country: Italy
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

King Minos sacrifices the 'required' virgins to the Minotaur. As his wife lies dying, she confesses that her daughter has a twin she has secreted to avoid giving one of the girls to the Minotaur. The daughter raised by Minos tries to have her twin killed, but failing in her first attempt, continues to try to have her given to the Minotaur. Theseus, the Greek hero, tries to prevent it.

Genre

Fantasy

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Director

Silvio Amadio

Production Companies

Illiria Film

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The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete Audience Reviews

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined
Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
gavin6942 In ancient Crete, a monster called the Minotaur can only be satisfied by virgin sacrifices. The evil ruler of Crete is determined to keep the monster happy by sacrificing as many of the island's virgins as he can, but a pair of friends determine to kill the monster and stop the sacrifices.Director Silvio Amadio is unfortunately not well known, perhaps best remembered for "Wolves of the Deep" (1959), and even that is rather obscure. Star Bob Mathias has a much more fascinating biography -- he was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a Marine Corps officer, actor and Republican Congressman representing the state of California.For movie buffs, the most recognizable might be Paul Mueller, who would go on to appear in a few 60s and 70s horror films by Jess Franco, including his version of "Count Dracula".Anyway, that was all just to full space. You should watch this.
dbdumonteil Fanciful rendition of one of the most famous Greek myths.To write that the movie takes liberties with the tale is to state the obvious:first of all,Phaedra and Ariadne are twin sisters both played by Italian beauty(and an usual sword and sandal heroine of the era)Rosanna Schiaffino : the former is the villain ,a wicked princess ,whereas the latter is an innocent clueless good girl .Theseus is still the king of Athenes ' son but his father won't throw himself into the sea which bears his name (Aegean sea);and if my memory serves me well,he marries Phaedra after abandoning her sister on an island.People who are eagerly waiting for the Minotaur will be disappointed for the monster looks like King Kong and would not scare a four -year- old .They did include Ariadne's thread and she is devoted enough to go and meet him in the labyrinth.Closer to Robert Siomak's "Cobra woman" than to Greek tales.
bens_dream This opera was played on 7 June 2008, it is bad. I watched it with my family and we laughed at it, calling it "compulsive viewing", due to it being laughably bad... Do not watch this, I will never get that hour of my life back. Every "song" sounds the same, and when the writers cannot find anything that works, they chuck in a bit of Greek. If you like "opera", do not watch this. If you don't like "opera", don't watch this. Only watch this if you want something to laugh at. Terrible. The orchestra managed to chuck in every note that exists, and then some. Get a book, like Macbeth, and just sing the words to it in an "operatic" style, and you will get what The Minotaur sounds like. Don't let anyone convince you that it is too sophisticated for you to understand. IT IS STUCK UP TOSH!!!
dinky-4 The legend of Theseus finding his way through the Cretan maze in order to battle the Minotaur and rescue Ariadne is one of the great tales in Greek mythology. Alas, this version takes the tale and dilutes it into the standard "sword and sandal" plot. You know how it goes. The coldly-beautiful but evil queen lusts after the handsome, muscular hero. He already has a girlfriend and is a foe of tyranny and so spurns the queen. She's outraged, has the girlfriend imprisoned, and subjects the hero to a torturous trial. He triumphs, frees the girlfriend, and overthrows the tyrant. Grateful citizens cheer the happy couple. The End.Steve Reeves might have been able to lift this mixture to a higher level but in his place we have ex-Olympics champion, Bob Mathias. Mathias is an affable sort and he's given an opportunity to show off his athletic prowess by engaging in a display of javelin throwing, pole vaulting, and discus throwing. He also looks pretty good with his shirt off, though not quite as good as you'd hope and he seems a bit self-conscious about baring his chest. On a more troubling note, however, his personality is bland, his acting ability no more than passable, and he lacks the swaggering sexuality needed to give his character that necessary edge.Rosanna Schiaffino gets to play the evil queen as well as her virtuous twin sister. She's good at being bad but bad at being good. As for the Minotaur, traditionally represented with the head of a bull, it's poorly depicted here as a stunt-man dressed in sort of a King Kong suit, and the climatic battle between Theseus and the Minotaur doesn't deliver the expected thrills. Also, little is made of the strand of yarn which leads Theseus out of the maze, and the Minoan culture is only vaguely hinted at in the sets and costumes. And once again, the movie bungles the torture scene. Theseus winds up in the queen's torture chamber, chained to a wall, but he's modestly allowed to keep on the top of his tunic! So when the torturer approaches with the red-hot iron, he must reach out and make a discreet rip in the hero's shirt in order to expose a bit of bare flesh next to the hero's left nipple. Hey, this is a "sword and sandal" movie featuring a muscular actor as its star. Why not rip that shirt all the way off and put the hero's sweaty torso on proper display?