The Relic ****½ (1997, Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore) – Classic Movie Review 12

Something wicked this way comes! Must-see monster movie The Relic (1997).

Something wicked this way comes! A now-missing anthropologist investigating the culture of lost tribes has mysteriously sent crates of leaves from the Amazon jungle to Chicago’s Natural History Museum, leading to gruesome deaths on the cargo ship bringing the crates to the US and a murder in the museum.

Perfectly cast Penelope Ann Miller and Tom Sizemore get an excellent bickering odd-couple double act going as police detective Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta and evolutionary biologist Dr Margo Green, who are compelled to join forces to investigate just what’s going on. Unfortunately what they find is a huge dark presence deep down in the bowels of the museum, which is going to be a bit of a problem when a posh benefit gala attended by the Mayor (Robert Lesser) and his wife (Diane Robin) is going be staged there.

Based on the best-selling novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, this hugely entertaining scare ride is an ultra-creepy, absolutely first-class monster movie, done with the greatest of conviction and relish, with a splendidly achieved eerie atmosphere, an excellent build-up of tension, many terrifying moments and a stupefying climax.

Plus, with co-stars Linda Hunt and James Whitmore’s fine, quirky characterisations of other professors, there are four charismatic star performances and it helps a lot that the creature is beautifully realised in an extremely slick production, with handsome sets and impressive effects.

All this old-style craftsmanship amounts to a huge credit to director-cinematographer-editor Peter Hyams’s ultimate professionalism. What a splendid record he has delivering quality fantasy movies: Capricorn One, Outland, 2010, Timecop, End of Days. I get the feeling he loves actors. They are all good in this movie, particularly Whitmore’s real-life ex-wife Audra Lindley, who is a hoot in her last feature film as the coroner Dr Zwiezic: ‘Lieutenant D’Agosta, it’s lovely to see you under such alarming circumstances. Seven decapitations in one week. Don’t you just hate someone who only takes head and never gives it?’

Even without big star names, it cost a great deal ($60 million) and didn’t do particularly well at the box office (it took $34 million in the US and $48 million worldwide). It would probably have attracted a bigger crowd with bigger stars. It didn’t always have great reviews either, though Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel liked it.

But, long story short, this is one of those great genre movies that deserves to be much better known and appreciated.

The original score is composed by John Debney. Makeup artist Stan Winston and his team made three creatures with two people moving the heads and people on the side working the electronics to move the arms, claws and mouth. A set was built of a tunnel flooded with water in Los Angeles, in addition to filming on location in Chicago.

The film omits the major character of FBI agent Pendergast from the source novel by Douglas Preston, an ex-journalist and former public relations director for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and Lincoln Child.

The Natural History Museum’s administrators turned the film’s producers down to film there because the novel shows them in an unflattering way and they thought a monster movie would scare kids away from the museum. But the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago liked the story and allowed them to shoot there.

The Relic: The Next Evolution In Terror.

The Relic is rated 15 in the United Kingdom and R in the United States for monster violence and gore, and for strong language.

Also in the cast are Clayton Rohner, Chi Muoi Lo, Thomas Ryan, Robert Lesser, Diane Robin, Lewis Van Bergen, Francis X McCarthy, Constance Towers, Audra Lindley, Gene Davis, John DiSanti, David Proval, Mike Bacarella and John Kapelos.

Penelope Ann Miller in The Relic (1997).

The Relic is directed by Peter Hyams, runs 110 minutes, is made by BBC, Pacific Western, Tele München, Cloud Nine Entertainment, H2L Media Group, Toho-Towa, Marubeni , PolyGram, Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, is released by Paramount Pictures (1997) (US) and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (1997) (UK), is written by Amy Holden Jones, John Raffo, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, based on the novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, is shot by Peter Hyams, is produced by Gale Anne Hurd and Sam Mercer, is scored by John Debney and is designed by Philip Harrison.

American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer Peter Hyams celebrated his 80th birthday on 26 July 2023. He is known for Capricorn One, Outland, 2010, Running Scared, the Jean-Claude Van Damme films Timecop and Sudden Death, and the horror films The Relic and End of Days.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 12

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