The Relic (1997)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writers (WGA):

Douglas Preston (novel) and
Lincoln Child (novel) ...

Release Date:

10 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

They did the unthinkable. They brought it back.

Plot:

A researcher at Chicago's Natural History Museum returns from South America with some crates containing his findings...

Plot Keywords:

Museum | Crate | Ship | Cargo Ship | Mayor

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Penelope Ann Miller	...	Dr. Margo Green
Tom Sizemore	...	Lt. Vincent D'Agosta
Linda Hunt	...	Dr. Ann Cuthbert
James Whitmore	...	Dr. Albert Frock
Clayton Rohner	...	Det. Hollingsworth
Chi Muoi Lo	...	Dr. Greg Lee
Thomas Ryan	...	Tom Parkinson
Robert Lesser	...	Mayor Robert Owen
Diane Robin	...	The Mayor's Wife
Lewis Van Bergen	...	John Whitney
Constance Towers	...	Mrs. Blaisedale
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Mr. Blaisedale
Audra Lindley	...	Dr. Zwiezic
John Kapelos	...	McNally
Tico Wells	...	Bailey

Also Known As:

Das Relikt (Germany)
Das Relikt - Das Museum der Angst (Germany) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated R for monster violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA | UK | Germany | Japan | New Zealand

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Netherlands:12 | France:-12 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (PCA #33883)

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

David Seltzer's name was attached to the initial promos for the movie. For an unknown reason, it had been removed by the time the film went into general release.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, the monster has been in the museum's subbasement for around seven years, making the lair filled with either partially or fully decomposed skeletons completely plausible. However, in the movie they change the duration to only six weeks. The lair they find in the movie with tons of skeletons doesn't connect with the time it took for them to become that decomposed.

Quotes:

Dr. Albert Frock: Well, how goes the gradual extinction of the human race, Lieutenant?
Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: I'm doing what I can to keep it orderly.

Movie Connections:

References Alien (1979)

Soundtrack:

SUNRISE

A pretty good scare. Don't watch for technical details.

Folks complain about the fact that this movie lacks realism on the technical side of things. Supercomputers and bio-jargon are all over the place in this movie. That's all true.

However, I do not watch movies for education. I watch them for entertainment. This movie scared me silly, and *that's* why I give the film an 8. It had some cheesiness - including the computer junk - so it doesn't rate a ten, but it was certainly a pretty darn good horror flick.

One great thing about it is that they knew where and how to end it. They brought the story to a close before you got bored with the monster. Kudos to the writers for making it fearsome all the way to the end, and also to Tom Sizemore for doing a great job with his character. He's a pretty believable cop.

Find a friend with a big TV and watch this thing in the dark with a cute girl. You won't be disappointed if you're looking for a good story with a good scare. It ain't Shakespeare, but it's definitely worth watching.