The Relic
Red is totally your color
Monsters, monsters everywhere, but not
a drop to drink. Or something like that. If that's not how the saying
goes, it should be. Monsters are the bread and butter of the horror
genre, not just movies. When books, comics, television, and video
games need a scary villain, they go with monsters. They can come from
outer space or under the sea, from magic or from our ancient past.
They can look and act like whatever we desire. Sometimes they are
written with strict rules, such as vampires or werewolves, but
outside of the classic monsters, any goes. This is a huge advantage
for new monster movies because the freedom allows the creators to let
loose and have fun.
The Relic is a 1997 science-fiction
horror movie based on the novel of the same name written by Douglas
Preston and Lincoln child. The movie stars Tom Sizemore (Saving
Private Ryan, Red Planet) as Chicago police Lt. Vincent D'Agosto. A
ship from Brazil is found floating aimlessly in Lake Michigan with no
crew on board. Believing the disappearances are drug-related,
D'Agosto and his partner Sgt. Hollingsworth search the ship, and
discover mutilated bodies in the bilge. Dr. Margo Green (Penelope Ann
Miller, Kindegarten Cop, The Freshman), an evolutionary biologist at
the Museum of Natural History in Chicago, has received crates
containing some jungle leaves and a stone statue of a mystical
monster called Kothoga. The leaves appear to have some fungus on
them, so Margo decides to analyze them. That night, a security guard
is horrifically murdered by an unseen assailant. D'Agosto
investigates the bloody scene and believes there is a connection
between this murder and the empty ship. Believing the killer may
still be inside the museum, he orders the building closed. An autopsy
reveals that the security guard had his hypothalamus removed from his
brain.Margo's analysis of the fungus shows that it contains hormones
found in several different animals, supposedly an impossible feat.
Two police officers searching the museum come across a homeless
ex-con living in the museum and shoot him when he attacks them.
Pressured by the mayor, D'Agosto reopens the museum so the rich
locals can celebrate a gala event. That night, the security systems
go haywire, trapping the guests, Margo, and D'Agosto. They are soon
attacked by an enormous, reptilian monster, the real life Kothoga.
The Kothoga grabs people by the head, ripping out their hypothalamus
so it can injest their hormones, causing it to evolve and grow
stronger. Margo believes that it started out as a small animal that
mutated when it ate the fungus from the leaves. How will D'Agosto and
Margo stop this monster before it is unleashed on the city?
Another awkward high school yearbook photo
It is very easy to confuse The Relic
with the movie Mimic. Both came out in 1997, the heroine is a
beautiful scientist, and the monster is an evolving animal. It can
also be compared to the movie Alien , with the location just being
switched from space to a museum. The Relic goes a more scientific
route than Mimic, going into the specifics of hormones, animal genes,
and cultural anthropology. It is certainly a welcome addition to the
monster genre where a lot of movies tend to either glance over or
completely ignore the scientific explanation of what is happening.
The problem is that the movie gets a little too specific with
hormones and other scientific information. Combine this with a
run-time of 110 minutes and the story became slow and bogged-down at
certain points. They tried to alleviate this with some good “end of
the world” panic and violence, but that doesn't occur until the
last 40 minutes of the movie. The monster itself looks pretty good,
with a smart mixture of “live” rubber and latex and computerized.
For 1997, the special effects look pretty good. The movie wisely
keeps the monster in shadows and darkness, making it's reveal all the
more terrifying.
The movie also possesses a fun charm to
it not seen in a lot of monster movies. This is due in large part to
Tom Sizemore, who plays Lt. D'Agosto very well. He's hard-nosed, but
smart, never coming off as a superhero cop, like a John McClane or
Steven Seagal playing Steven Seagal in a Steven Seagal movie.
Penelope Ann Miller is good in her role as well and has decent
chemistry with Sizemore. The movie does tend to have cliches, such as
a doctor doing whatever he can to keep the museum open despite the
danger, rich people being attacked by the monster, and the
super-specialized scientist who is the only person capable of
stopping the monster. Despite being a simple monster movie, The Relic
manages to still be entertaining. If you like special effects (by mid
1990's standards) and gore, you'll really get a kick out of The
Relic. When I say gore, I mean lots of evisceration, decapitations,
bloods, and brains. There is probably more body parts in this movie
than some “torture porn” horror movies. It all serves a purpose,
though, and is never shoved in the audience's face.
Are you saying you lost my jars?
The Relic is your typical monster story
that still manages to be entertaining. It tries to include more
science than your average horror movie, and while I appreciate the
effort, they could have pared it down for timing purposes. At 110
minutes, the movie does drag at certain points. It has plenty of
violence and gore to keep people entertained with some sly humor
thrown in to lighten the mood. Both Tom Sizemore and Penelope Ann
Miller put in good performances that give the movie a lot of charm.
Though it is similar to Mimic, The Relic is certainly it's own movie
and worth a watch.
7.5/10
