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| The Relic [1997] | ![The Relic [1997]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41SY57DXHNL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Peter Hyams
Actors: Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore, Clayton Rohner
Studio: 4 Front Video
Category: Video
List Price: £5.99
Buy New: £0.01
You Save: £5.98 (100%)
New (11) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 31019
Format: Closed-captioned, Dolby, Pal, Surround Sound
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Running Time: 105 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
UPC: 044005698831
EAN: 0044005608830
ASIN: B00004R6WE
Theatrical Release Date: January 10, 1997
Release Date: May 10, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Relic is the story of a monster that runs amok in a Chicago museum on the very day the institution is holding a glitzy reception. Naturally, the museum bosses want to go ahead with their public relations even as the creature is decapitating victims. Penelope Ann Miller plays a scientist on the run from the critter (which is at times computer generated and reminiscent of the raptors in Jurassic Park), and Tom Sizemore is a cop looking for his cold-blooded (in every sense) killer. Peter Hyams (Timecop) directs, and as always he excels at managing the plastic action at the cost of real feeling and logic. (Much of the story is pretty laughable.) --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Surprisingly good fun! July 21, 2008
"The Relic" was on TV the other night, and I had never heard of it before then. I don't watch a lot of horror movies, but there was nothing else on, so I thought I might as well check this out, knowing that I could always turn it off if it was rubbish.
To my surprise, I actually quite enjoyed it. This is a fun film. It's nice to see a good old fashioned monster horror, in an age where most horror films are about psychopaths or ghosts, and take the psychological route. The Relic is just a visceral feast of violence and gore. The monster itself remains largely unseen for the majority of the film, with just flashes here and there, and when we finally do see it in all it's glory it is reasonably impressive. I liked the story, although I have two major complaints with it:
1) The twist at the end could be seen coming a mile off
2) I have no idea what the "relic" of the title had to do with the monster or the story!
Nevertheless, this is a fun movie with no pretension about it. It's easy to see why it's become a cult classic.
3.5--An unwelcome brain sucker that might not be worth your time June 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Relic seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies about which I always seem to be sitting on the fence. It's a frustrating treat for the eyes of horror, but one hopes for a little bit more.
Penelope Anne Miller stars as Dr. Margo Green, an evolutionary biologist at the Chicago Natural History Museum (no such thing, I imagine; this was filmed at the Field Museum), and Tom Sizemore is here too as a cop investigating some deaths there and outside the museum, nasty deaths, too. I think Hyams does a great job setting up a doom-choked mood; acting as his own cinematographer, he gives the film a dark and dusty look which is appropriate to being set in a museum. I'd have preferred a little more light so that we could see a little more of the museum and what makes it such a wonderfully creepy setting for a horror film, but still, it works, and besides, seeing this on VHS, maybe I should be giving this movie the benefit of the doubt when things are, I trust, a little clearer on DVD. Unfortunately he's got this incredibly annoying habit of framing close-ups way too close. I don't know if the version on video is pan-n-scanned or simply unmated, so I don't know if it would have looked better, or worse, on the big screen. But these close-ups happen a lot and are a bit annoying.
Stan Winston's creature, the Kothoga, is just great. At the time of this film's release, he said frequently that this was the best creature he'd yet created. It's kind of hard to describe, like a cross between a lion and a beetle, but it's big, it's nasty, and it's exceptionally well realized with animatronics and CGI (unusually good CGI for a creature that's hairy; hairy animals are much more difficult to create with computers than scaly ones). This movie's almost worth a rental just for one incredible shot of the Kothoga chasing down one unlucky guy, grabbing him, and ripping off his head, all in one flawless shot.
Sad to say, the story surrounding this monster is ordinary, courtesy of four screenwriters. The central problem with the story is the character of Dr. Green, who has to be one of the most irritating big-screen heroines I've seen in my lifetime. The story itself, problem has no great shakes other, with the obligatory False Scare By Cat happening no more than ten minutes in, followed up later on by a False Scare By Cleaning Lady. There's a lot going for this movie, but it needed a lot more work in the creative department before being shot, not to mention Hyams needing a good, stern lecture about his use of close-ups. Beside that if you haven't seen this then I would recommend this to monster-movie enthusiasts, but most others won't get a lot out of this one.
A REALLY GOOD MODERN MONSTER FILM November 6, 2007
A container ship arrives in a Chicago harbor with a missing crew. An investigation reveals that the crew has been decapitated. In the cargo hold, a mysterious box from South America has a final destination of Chicago itself, the Natural History Museum. The box is delivered to Dr. Margo Green. (Penelope Ann Miller) The box contains several artifacts from a South American tribe that was thought to be extinct. The box also contained a special leaf that is beyond the understanding of the museum authorities. A security guard is gruesomely killed that same night, decapitated. Police Officer Vincent D'Agosta (Tom Sizemore) orders the museum closed until investigations can ensue, but is overruled due to a new exhibit opening the next day that traces the evolution of superstition. Knowing there is a monster inside the museum, an investigation shows why the monster decapitates people: it feasts on a special gland found only in the human brain. The red carpet reception is going smoothly until a monster arrives, attacking the police officers that are combing the tombs of the museum to find the answer to the mystery. After numerous attacks, D'Agosta and Green manage to trap and kill the creature inside the museum, and learn that the monster is a combination of the leaf, an insect, and the scientist who sent the crate in the first place.
The Good News: Being a monster movie, the main thing that comes to mind is gore, which this film provides a great quantity of. The quality is also good, as most of the severed heads look realistic. As another reviewer mentioned, the creature itself is completely realistic, and Winston should have gone home with the Oscar. In all of it's scenes when we finally see the beast, he looks impressive. I have read the novel that inspired this movie, and I thought the movie is better. The novel was all right, but I could never get into it the way I got into the movie. It hooks you fast and never seems to let go, as the filler scenes fit the movie perfectly, adding back history or explanations for the creature. Aside from Miller, though, the acting is horrible. She is the lone bright star in acting, and turns in a credible performance. The main thing that won this movie over for me, though, was the judicious use of suspense. I don't care how good a horror film is, without suspense, it has to work twice as hard to win me over. There are several quite good examples. The first is the killing of the security guard. He is killed inside a urinal. As he walks in and sits down, he goes into his pocket and pulls out a joint. Opening a window to blow the smoke out, he lights it up and takes a puff. A strange noise gets his attention. He stops and calls a couple of times for the thing to show itself. Ignoring it, he continues to puff away. The creature takes the cue and pulls his leg out and him into another stall, never to be seen again. What makes the scene great is that it takes about a minute to fully go through, from his wandering in to his demise. The timing is remarkable, as the final cut down to his leg mere milliseconds before the lizard hand juts forth is a fantastic payoff. The second best example is towards the end of the movie. D'Agosta and Green are moving through a flooded sewer tracking the creature. They wade through for quite some time before reaching a sewer grate. Attacking a piece of meat to the grate, D'Agosta backs away, expecting the creature to appear on the other side of the grate. Instead the creature appears behind Green, forcing D'Agosta to fend off its attack. Unlike the first scene, this one works due to the atmosphere of the setting. Inside a dark, damp sewer is a perfect setting for something to go `boo.' However, Hyams did something unusual in that he had both Sizemore and Miller silent throughout the whole scene. This makes only the trickling water the only thing heard on the soundtrack. The final stage is the monster itself, erupting up on their side of the fence.
The Bad News: The movie has almost no regard for logic. How can a ship without any people driving it manage to go from South America up through the Great Lakes into a Chicago harbor? I don't know how, but in here it can. Like I said above, only Miller does a good job in the acting department. Sizemore wanders through the movie with a stone sour expression that never tends to change, even in the action sequences. He must really have needed the work or wanted to work with Miller.
The Final Verdict: Put aside some small suspension of disbelief, and you will find a highly enjoyable and entertaining monster flick. It works for no matter what kind of horror film fan you may be.
Not a Relic just yet August 20, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Relic is quite a good film, part horror, part thriller with quite a few shocks delivered by good actors. The big scenes in the museum are really well shot and the sense of panic in the atmosphere is palpable. It's definately weathered well after ten years and is certainly one to watch with the lights out on a quiet night at home.
"I know who you are!" February 19, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is one movie that you definitely shouldn't watch alone at night! Dark and creepy, it manages to tingle the hair at the back of your neck and delivers several genuine untelegraphed shocks!
Simply put, it's a movie about a museum. On the eve of the launch of a new exhibition, a gruesome murder takes place and the forthcoming gala is thrown into uncertainty. As the body count rises, it quickly becomes clear that an ancient evil is stalking the corridors of the museum ....
The movie takes a while to get going, but once it does it doesn't let up for a second. There's a lot of creeping about in dark corridors and waving of flashlights - doesn't this museum have any lights?! - and the inevitable panic as the creature finally reveals itself to the gala guests. This leads to a typical movie cliche - "We must get out" vs "No, we have to stay here!" Guess which group comes off the worst!
Incidentally, the group who decide to escape are told to 'move quietly'. This must be the worst case of 'moving quietly' that I have ever seen!
The creature itself is only shown in shadowy glimpses until about a third of the way in and it's well worth the wait. Created by Stan Winston, the creature is unique as movie monsters go and stands up remarkably well when shown in full. But then, Stan Winston is a master in his field and none of his creations have ever disappointed.
Penelope Ann Miller looks suitably terrified when confronted by the creature in the archives room. This scene produces a pure squirm-in-your-seat moment as the creature sticks out a long, forked tongue to 'taste' her face. Urgh!
'The Relic' isn't a creature classic like, for example, 'The Thing', which boasts excellent special effects with outstanding character development. But if you don't mind switching your brain off for an hour or so, and letting yourself be taken along for the ride, then it's definitely worth a veiwing. But don't forget to fasten your seatbelt - things could get a little bumpy!
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