I think the thing I appreciate most about the 1997 monster-horror film The Relic, is the creature itself, mostly because it’s a practical effect, a real prop. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of movies have done CGI monsters very well, even years before this production (Jurassic Park for one), but the fact that the filmmakers went this route instead of jumping on the bandwagon and saturating their film with endless attacks by a poorly rendered beast makes this a better film than it maybe ought to be. It’s worth a look back.
Directed by Peter Hyams, who has done a slew of terrific smaller films, including 2010: The Year We Make Contact and the very fun Running Scared, The Relic is a well made monster in the dark flick with a good cast and a clever story. Yes, it borrows heavily from some well-established movies in the genre, but it also has its own voice with tongue firmly in cheek. No, it’s not a masterpiece, however, it is a great rental.
It begins with a South American tribe, and a doctor of anthropology (Lewis Van Bergen) doing a study on rituals and local gods. Things go badly, and some cargo from his trip he tried to stop from shipping to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago arrives anyway, and well, inside, laying dormant until it reaches his office, is a beast. It heads for the shadows and soon enough, strikes, killing people and harvesting their hypothalamus. This is upsetting, of course, and the police, led by homicide detective Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta (Tom Sizemore) thinks it’s connected to a creepy massacre aboard a vessel in the harbor that also has just arrived from South America. He’s not wrong, and soon enough, there’s a battle in the museum to save mankind itself.
Absolutely hokey, the thing that makes it work is that it finds a decent balance between the horror and the camp, with Sizemore very well cast as a guy who is highly superstitious, delivering weighty dialogue with just the right twang of comedy. Hyams knows exactly when to make it scary and when to ease back, a combination that has worked numerous times before and does so here just as well. There are some genuinely scary moments, and the sparse use of the monster – onscreen for less than five minutes – is just bonus. Designed by master makeup artist Stan Winston, the Kothoga, as it’s called, is a big, brawny nightmare that leaves plenty enough to the imagination to hit the right marks. And the best part is that there is a secret about the beast that works well with the story and even offers a little sympathy.
Now, lets get to Penelope Ann Miller. When casting the strong female lead for an action-oriented monster movie, perhaps the petite, almost frail looking miss Miller wouldn’t make the top of anyone’s list, and that’s probably why she works like she does. Dr. Margo Green is established early on as being intelligent and skeptical, with a dash of competitiveness, making a worthy adversary to the monster, pairing up with the rough and tumble D’Agosta. She had a cool introduction, riding in on her bike, and she remains the center of the film throughout, charismatic and a voice of reason, even when things seem the opposite.
Some might have criticized the film for its location, the halls and catacombs of the museum limiting, but I actually think this makes the story better, the building an unfamiliar place for a jungle monster movie, and with it being Green’s domain, a clever setup for her to take the advantage. Hyams finds plenty about the museum to explore, from the roof to the sewers and tunnels, keeping the shadows always full of expectation. There’s an exhibition featured at the site all about superstition, which, of course, runs parallel to the plot of the movie and is maybe a little too on the nose, but it’s a fun theme to play around with and I really like Linda Hunt as the museum curator. There’s also a fun cameo of sorts from Audra Lindley, in her final film, as the medical examiner, saying the best line in the film. Look for the late great James Whitmore, as well, as a scientist at the museum.
The Relic may show its age a bit at the seams, but it’s still a solid entry in the genre, a terrific double feature with Guillermo del Toro‘s Mimic, a similar film released the same year. Great visual effects, a number of strong performances, and a fun story make it something fans of monster movies should give a chance. While it suffers from a few contrivances, especially when it features brief moments with children, it really comes into its own by the end. Definitely recommended.