The Relic (1997) - Archive

|April 14/2006|

Every once in a while I like to watch a good old monster movie. Hyams has helmed a film which delivers the goods with a creature which resembles an ancient monster of Brazalian myth. Miller is the evolutionary biologist who finds that something is not quite right with some kind of mineral(which covered Brazilian leaves and looks a bit like berries)and learns that this is a major source in what caused a beetle to become QUITE large. Miller desires(along with Linda Hunt playing the museum curator)funding for her research and operations. Chi Muoi Lo plays a sleazy butt kisser who desires the grant money as well to seek his own employment and escape being under the leadership of Miller. Tom Sizemore plays a superstitious detective trying to uncover the deaths of fisherman whose ship was found operation-less on the shore. They were killed by something which removed the hypothalamus from their brains. The museum(set in Chicago as a "Natural Arts Museum")soon starts to become a killing grounds as well when we see a security guard get killed right in the middle of smoking a joint. Sizemore soon loses officers as they seek out under the tunnels of Chicago(which would be an accurate place for the killer to travel)the responsible killer. Soon Sizemore and Miller become acquainted as he tries to figure out how the security guard(whose death resembles the dead shipping crew)and the shipping crews deaths are linked. Meanwhile, the museum is setting up a great gala which will feature many prominent members of Chicago society such as the mayor and grant suppliers. Sizemore has his hands full with pressure to allow them to open the museum up despite knowing that it's possible the killer is still present. He decides to allow the top floor open as he searches down below to find the killer. Soon, Sizemore discovers(as we do)that the killer responsible is a giant monster. The screenplay writers make very sure that many will perish as this museum is so elaborate it has a grid security package which locks down steel doors and lights when something appears to go wrong. What no one is in store for is a creature which tears the system to shreds causing the whole museum to lock down trapping many inside. Soon, many will become tasty morsels to the huge monster and somehow Miller & Sizemore must stop it. The film is expertly photographed in shades of dark only allowing us to see a little. He creates a creepy atmosphere here with a museum which has many corners and a monster which explodes from the darkness with much fury. Stan Winston's monster effects are outstanding and the film provides many well made gore effects. It's a thrill ride and moves at rapid speed. The film tries to provide scientific jargon to explain how such a monster could exist(or provides insight into the DNA and reasons behind how the monster exists)into the mouth of Miller. Whitmore has a good supporting role as Miller's confidant and elder statesman.