Minotaur (2006)

Director:

Jonathan English

Writers:

Nick Green (writer)
Stephen McDool (writer)

Release Date:

11 May 2006 (Russia)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Curse the god. Slay the beast.

Plot:

Long ago in the Iron Age a shadow loomed over a lonely village. For generations the village youths are...

Plot Keywords:

Mythology | Lesbian Kiss | Minotaur

Cast

Tom Hardy	...	Theo
Michelle Van Der Water	...	Queen Raphaella
Tony Todd	...	Deucalion
Lex Shrapnel	...	Tyro
Jonathan Readwin	...	Danu
Rutger Hauer	...	Cyrnan
Maimie McCoy	...	Morna
Lucy Brown	...	Didi
James Bradshaw	...	Ziko
Fiona Maclaine	...	Vena
Claire Murphy	...	Nan
Ingrid Pitt	...	The Sybil
Ciaran Murtagh	...	Turag
Angela Furtado	...	Handmaiden, Raphaella's
Donata Janietz	...	Ffion

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some nudity.

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

UK | Germany | Luxembourg | France | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Italy:VM14 | Finland:K-15 | Malaysia:U | USA:R | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Carousel Picture Company, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Company:

Meltemi Entertainment

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In many scenes, especially the scene where Tyro and Didi climb up the wall, there is clearly a steel-wire lifting the actors up, when they are supposed to be climbing by themselves.

Quotes:

Deucalion: Inhale the sweetness!
[Gives the Queen the cattle-skull and lets her breathe into it]

Interesting Interpretation of the Mythological Creature

I watched this movie expecting to be disappointed and bored to tears, but I was actually quite entertained.

The writers use the legendary Minotaur to create a new mythology around the beast for this film. The monster is created by a people who worship the bull and wished to have a living god. Interestingly, they chose to make the Minotaur white, no doubt to give props to the original myth.

The plot is fairly predictable, but with enough surprises and suspenseful moments to keep it interesting. The characters stay true to being primitive, ancient people. They are simple and their reactions are less than logical, but many horror movies have been built on bad reactions to scary things. The characters lack depth, but I don't think it's inappropriate considering the nature of the film.

The Minotaur itself is well put together. The effects are simple, but not bad. As I was watching I wasn't thinking about how poorly done the effects were or how much better they could've been. In other words, the effects didn't detract from the film without being devoid of effects--a rare thing in movies of this caliber.

The movie begins with an overview of the mythology for the film and sets up the plot very quickly. The rest of the movie takes place in the labyrinth and the palace above it where we encounter bizarre hedonists in a brother/sister prince and princess combo.

The movie is not terrible, nor spectacular. All in all, it was a treat for me to see someone use the Minotaur in a film.