Considering it's 25 years old, the special effects for the monster are pretty solid. That said, this is a very silly film; entertaining but in a very mindless way. You'll probably enjoy this if you like a straightforward plot and a high, grisly kill count.
THE RELIC IS AN ACTION HORROR MYSTERY SCI FI THRILLER FROM PETER HYAMS THE DIRECTOR OF OUTLAND, 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT, TIMECOP, BUSTING, CAPRICON ONE, THE STAR CHAMBER, RUNNING SCARED, THE PRESIDIO, NARROW MARGIN, STAY TUNED, END OF DAYS, THE MUSKETEER, A SOUND OF THUNDER AND BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT AND STARRING PENELOPE ANN MILLER FROM KINDERGARTEN COP, THE FRESHMAN, CARLITO’S WAY, THE ARTIST, HOTSHOT, ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, BILOXI BLUES, BIG TOP PEE-WEE, DEAD BANG, DOWNTOWN, AWAKENINGS, OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY, YEAR OF THE COMET, THE GUN IN BETTY LOU’S HANDBAG, CHAPLIN, THE SHADOW, LITTLE CITY, BREAK UP, OUTSIDE OZONA, ROCKY MARCIANO, FOREVER LULU,
ALONG CAME A SPIDER AND FULL DISCLOSURE, LATE TOM SIZEMORE FROM HEAT, STRANGE DAYS, BLUE STEEL, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, RED PLANET, BLACK HAWK DOWN, WYATT EARP, TRUE ROMANCE, HEART AND SOULS, PASSENGER 57, LOCK UP, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER, GUILTY BY SUSPICION, POINT BREAK, HARLEY DAVIDSON AND THE MARLBORO MAN, WHERE SLEEPING DOGS LIE, STRIKING DISTANCE, WYATT EARP, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, WITNESS TO THE MOB, ENEMY OF THE STATE, THE FLORENTINE, THE MATCH, BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, WITNESS PROTECTION, GET CARTER, PEARL HARBOR, BIG TROUBLE, SWINDLE, DREAMCATCHER AND PAPARAZZI AND LINDA HUNT FROM THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, SILVERADO, KINDERGARTEN COP AND POCAHONTAS AND I RENTED ON VIDEO AND DVD.
They have nice displays in this museum. :) Average as for the movie released in the 90's.
Catching up before it's leaving Hulu. Fairly decent creature feature packed with some great suspenseful moments, it's a shame that 85% of this film is poorly lit. I couldn't fucking see what was going on. I think the direction is pretty solid and it's filmed at the museum, which is an awesome location for this type of film. The performances from the cast fall into the so bad it's good category, it also has cool looking creature design, nice amount of gore, and high kill count. It just visually looks too dark and drab, that prevents me from enjoying it. The creature is revealed a bit too close to the finale and it runs too long for the story it had, there are moments when I thought it's about to end but there's still 30 minutes left.
I read the book and saw this when it first came out, and it is still a good thriller/action/monster movie. Worth your time. Warning a little dark on the lighting sometimes.
I remember watching and loving this movie when i was younger but was a little apprehensive re watching it now that I am older as quite a few monster movies don't hold up years later. But found myself still enjoying it as much. Sure the acting is a little hokey but otherwise I enjoyed it
Awesome little monster movie. I have no idea how this wasn't bigger when it came out. It's a cool concept, with a different kind of monster in a claustrophobic setting. Impressive effects for when it came out.
Review by whitsbrainVIP 6BlockedParent2022-01-15T16:51:34Z
"The Relic" is a tough one to grade. On the one hand it's a decent story about a creature brought back from an expedition to Brazil. I won't give away the coolest part of the movie, but when Dr. Margo Green (Penelope Ann Miller) says "I know ___ you are...", it makes a lot of the not so good moments a little more tolerable.
Let's spend a second or two on the characters. Dr. Green, played by Miller, is about as unsympathetic as they come through the first half of the movie. She finally started to win me over once she warmed up to Lt. D'Agosta. Lt. D'Agosta is a hard-as-nails cop with a heart of gold played by the always entertaining Tom Sizemore. The rest of the cast are the typical hackneyed gritty cops, snooty rich elite, or insufferable know-it-all scientists. I mostly hated all of them which is good because most of them were killed with significant gore by the ancient beast.
The monster itself is original and is probably the best thing about the movie. That is, when you can actually see it. There either wasn't enough of a budget to light this movie or they were purposely trying to hide shoddy effects. I actually didn't think the effects were too bad, so I'll just state that the whole movie was darker than it needed to be. The characters were constantly using flashlights. You can't see much of anything for the last third of the movie. I suppose it could have been the Netflix streaming copy that I was watching but I doubt it.
With a few more lights and a little more monster this could have been a very good Horror flick.