''The Relic'' is a 1997 American

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Peter Hyams Peter Hyams (born July 26, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer known for directing ''Capricorn One'' (which he also wrote), the 1981 science fiction-thriller ''Outland (film), Outland'', the 1984 science fiction f ...

and based on the best-selling 1995 novel ''

Relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

'' by

Douglas Preston Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the ''Agent Pendergast'' series and ''Gideon Crew'' series), he has also ...

and

Lincoln Child Lincoln Child (13 October 1957) is an American author of techno-thriller and horror novels. Though he is most well known for his collaborations with Douglas Preston (including the Agent Pendergast series and the Gideon Crew series, among other ...

. The film stars

Penelope Ann Miller Penelope Ann Miller (born Penelope Andrea Miller; January 13, 1964), sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress. She began her career on Broadway in the 1985 original production of ''Biloxi Blues'' and received a Tony Award no ...

Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; born November 29, 1961) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his supporting roles in films such as ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'' (1991), ''Passenger 5 ...

Linda Hunt Lydia Susanna "Linda" Hunt (born April 2, 1945) is an American actress of stage and screen. She made her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in ''Popeye'' (1980). Hunt portrayed the male character Billy Kwan in '' The Year of Living Dangerously'' ...

, and

James Whitmore James Allen Whitmore Jr. (October 1, 1921 – February 6, 2009) was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two Aca ...

. In the film, a detective and a biologist try to defeat a South American lizard-like monster which is on a killing spree in the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The movie was shot in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the highly-regarded Field Museum of Natural History. Production was originally intended to be held at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. However, a deal could not be reached and, after taking interest in the film's premise, the Field Museum offered to let the studio shoot there instead. The film was the second on-screen collaboration between Hunt and Miller, who both worked on the film ''

Kindergarten Cop ''Kindergarten Cop'' is a 1990 American action comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and distributed by Universal Pictures. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective working undercover as a kindergarten teacher to apprehe ...

'' as well. The film was released in the United States on January 10, 1997, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. It grossed over $48 million worldwide. It was the last film appearance of actress

Audra Lindley Audra Marie Lindley (September 24, 1918 – October 16, 1997) was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom ''Three's Company'' and its spin-off ''The Ropers''. Life and career Audra Lindley was born ...

Plot

John Whitney, an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

for the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, studies a tribe in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and drinks a soup made by the tribesmen. Shortly after, Whitney accosts a merchant ship captain, asking him to remove the cargo he had intended to send to Chicago off the ship. Unwilling to delay the ship's departure, the captain refuses and Whitney sneaks aboard. Unable to find his cargo, he cries out. Six weeks later, the ship arrives on

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

with its crew missing. Chicago PD

homicide detective Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta and his partner, Sergeant Hollingsworth, investigate the ship and find dozens of bodies and severed heads in the

bilge The bilge of a ship or boat is the part of the hull that would rest on the ground if the vessel were unsupported by water. The "turn of the bilge" is the transition from the bottom of a hull to the sides of a hull. Internally, the bilges (us ...

. Margo Green, an

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life for ...

, arrives at work at the museum and discovered that co-worker Greg Lee is applying for the same research grant she is. Margo and her mentor, Albert Frock, examine Whitney's crates after their arrival and find the crates empty, except for a bed of leaves and a stone statue of the "Kothoga", a mythical forest monster. Margo notices a fungus on the leaves and sends it to be analyzed. That night, security guard Frederick Ford is murdered like the ship's crew. D'Agosta suspects a connection. Believing the killer is still inside the museum, he orders it closed until the police have finished searching. Ann Cuthbert, the museum director, protests and mentions an important upcoming exhibition. Margo discovers the fungus contains concentrated

hormones A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and beh ...

found in several animal species. In the container of leaves, she finds a mutated beetle that possesses both insect and reptilian DNA. Ford's autopsy reveals that his

hypothalamus The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamu ...

was extracted from his brain, like the bodies from the ship. In the museum's basement, the police are startled by a mentally-ill, homeless ex-convict and kill him. Finding Ford's wallet on him, everyone except D'Agosta considers the case closed, though Mayor Robert Owen and the museum’s head of security Tom Parkinson forces D'Agosta to let the exhibition proceed. On the opening night, D'Agosta orders a lock-down of all museum areas except the main exhibition hall. Frock and Margo, trapped in the laboratory wing, continue working and discover Ford's killer is after the hormones on the leaves. D'Agosta and several officers search the basement tunnels once again. They are attacked by an unseen creature, killing K-9 Officer Bradley and a police dog. D'Agosta tells Hollingsworth to evacuate the museum, but he is too late. In the main hall, the headless body of a murdered policeman falls into the crowd, causing a panic. During the hysteria, the museum's alarms are tripped and their security system goes haywire, trapping a small group of people inside. Two security guards try to restore the power but are killed by an unseen creature. D'Agosta meets Margo and Frock in the lab, where a Kothoga, an enormous chimeric beast, attacks them; they close a steel door to stop it. Margo theorizes the fungus mutated a smaller creature, and Frock says that without the leaves to eat, the Kothoga instinctively seeks the closest substitute, human hypothalami, until it runs out of targets and dies; he further postulates that the tribe knew of the fungus, and used it on a human or animal to deal with an external threat, then hid until the threat was destroyed and the Kothoga died of "starvation." D'Agosta finds a radio and tells Hollingsworth to lead the museum guests out via an old coal tunnel. Tom, Greg, and benefactors Mr. and Mrs. Blaisedale refuse to go, and CPD officer McNally stays behind to guard them; the Kothoga returns to the main hall and murders them and the

S.W.A.T. In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

officers who enter through the skylights. Margo suggests using

liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen—LN2—is nitrogen in a liquid state at low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, low viscosity liquid that is wide ...

to kill the Kothoga, as it is part-reptilian and likely cold-blooded. While collecting the remaining leaves in the lab, Margo and D'Agosta discover Frock has been killed. In the sewers, D'Agosta uses the leaves to lure the Kothoga away from the coal tunnel, allowing the guests to escape, though CPD officer Bailey and a guest are both killed. However, liquid nitrogen has no effect on the creature. Margo and D'Agosta flee. In the lab, her computer completes the analysis of the creature's human DNA, revealing John Whitney ''is'' the Kothoga, mutated after drinking the tribesmen's soup. The Kothoga smashes into the lab through the ceiling, while D'Agosta is locked outside. The creature chases Margo, corners her, and suddenly pauses, seemingly recognizing her. Margo starts an explosive fire that destroys the Kothoga, surviving by hiding inside a maceration tank. As dawn comes, D'Agosta and a team of police break into the lab, see the charred remains of the Kothoga, and rescue Margo from the tank.

Cast

as Margo Green, museum evolutionary biologist *

as Lieutenant

Vincent D'Agosta Detective Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta is a fictional character appearing in the novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. He is an Italian New Yorker and a main character in several different storylines. Fictional character biography D'Agosta' ...

, Chicago police detective *

as Ann Cuthbert, museum curator *

as Albert Frock, museum scientist and Margo's mentor *

Clayton Rohner Clayton Montague Rohner (born August 5, 1957) is an American actor. He made his film debut in the comedy ''Just One of the Guys'' (1985), and had subsequent roles in the horror films ''April Fool's Day'' (1986), '' Bat 21'' (1988), ''I, Madman'' ...

as Sergeant Hollingsworth, junior police detective and D'Agosta's subordinate *

Chi Muoi Lo Chi Muoi Lo is an actor, writer, and entrepreneur. As a veteran actor, he is a classically trained and best known for starring in the ''Vanishing Son'' made-for-television eight-hour mini-series and syndicated television episodic series. As a writ ...

as Greg Lee, an ambitious museum scientist trying to apply the same research grant away from Margo. * Thomas Ryan as Tom Parkinson, the museum's head of security *

Robert Lesser Robert Lesser or Bobby Lesser (born October 22, 1942) is an American actor. Lesser was born in New York City, and lives in Santa Barbara, California. His earliest work dates back to 1967 with "David Holzman's Diary", directed by Jim McBride. His ...

as Mayor Robert Owen * Diane Robin as Mrs. Owen, Mayor Owen's wife *

Lewis Van Bergen Lewis Van Bergen (November 9, 1938 – April 6, 2018) was an American actor, best known for his role as Jon Sable on the short-lived 1987 television series '' Sable''. He was in the film '' Bugsy'' in the role of Joey Adonis, with whom Bugsy ...

as John Whitney, museum anthropologist who went missing after his expedition in South America. John Whitney turns into a monster The Kothoga, ingesting the mushrooms. *

Francis X. McCarthy Francis Xavier McCarthy (born February 15, 1942) is an American actor who has appeared in films such as '' Interstellar'' (2014) and '' Deep Impact'' (1998). Filmography References External links * 1942 births Living people American ...

as George Blaisedale, a wealthy museum benefactor *

Constance Towers Constance Mary Towers (born May 20, 1933) is an American film, stage, and television actress, and singer. She gained prominence for her appearances in several mainstream 1950s films before transitioning to theater, starring in numerous Broadway ...

as Carrie Blaisedale, Mr. Blaisedale's wife *

as Dr. Zwiezic, medical examiner *

John Kapelos John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

as McNally, Chicago Police officer *

Tico Wells Costa Ricans ( es, Costarricenses), also called Ticos, are the citizens of Costa Rica, a multiethnic, Spanish-speaking nation in Central America. Costa Ricans are predominantly Castizos, other ethnic groups people of Indigenous, European, Africa ...

as Bailey, Chicago Police officer * Mike Bacarella as Bradley, Chicago Police K-9 officer * Gene Davis as Martini, crime scene investigator * John DiSanti as Wootton, museum security guard *

David Proval David Aaron Proval (born May 20, 1942) is an American actor, known for his roles as Tony DeVienazo in the Martin Scorsese film ''Mean Streets'' (1973), Snooze in ''The Shawshank Redemption'' (1994), Siegfried in ''Four Rooms'' (1995) and as Rich ...

as Johnson, museum security guard *

Jophery Brown Jophery Clifford Brown (January 22, 1945 – January 11, 2014) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who made one relief appearance for the Chicago Cubs. He became an award-winning stunt man and actor. Early life and family Brown was born in Gramb ...

as Frederick Ford, museum security guard * Lyn Alicia Henderson as Perri Masai, restoration technician * Don Harvey as Spota

Production

''The Relic'' was based on the horror novel by Douglas Preston, an ex-journalist and former public relations director for the

, and Lincoln Child (though it omits their major character, FBI agent Pendergast). It was developed by Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. The director, Peter Hyams, commented "I don't think you can scare people, unless you involve them." and "A movie like this has to be intelligent." Because the novel portrayed the museum's administration in an unflattering light, they turned the film's producers down.

offered the museum a seven-figure sum of money to film there, but the administration was worried that the monster movie would scare kids away from the museum. The producers were faced with a problem as only museums in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, resembled the one in New York. The

in Chicago loved the premise and allowed them to shoot there. Penelope Ann Miller had not done a horror film prior to ''The Relic'' but was drawn to director Peter Hyams' desire to have a strong, smart female lead. Tom Sizemore was attracted to the film because he got to play the male lead: "I had the responsibility of pushing the narrative forward." Makeup artist

Stan Winston Stanley Winston (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008) was an American television and film Prosthetic makeup, special make-up effects creator, best known for his work in the Terminator (franchise), ''Terminator'' series, the first three ''Jurassic Pa ...

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, mouth, and so on. Hyams reviewed Winston's early drawings and his only suggestion was to make the monster more hideous looking. The director also suggested certain invertebrates for inspiration and Winston came up with an

arachnoid Arachnoid may refer to: * Relating to arachnids * Arachnoid (astrogeology), a geological structure found only on the planet Venus * Arachnoid (botany), referring to organs with a cobwebby exterior appearance * Arachnoid granulation, small protrus ...

outline for the monster's face. In the scenes where the creature is running or jumping, a computer-generated version was used. In addition to shooting on location in Chicago, a set was built in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

of a tunnel flooded with water. Sizemore spent most of the shoot either damp, cold or soaking wet and, as a result, caught the flu twice. The production was shut down briefly when Hyams became too sick to work.

Release

''The Relic'' premiered on January 10, 1997. It opened #1 at the box office, grossing $9,064,143 its opening week and a total of $33,956,608 in the US, against an estimated cost $60 million. It was released on Blu-ray on April 6, 2010.

Reception

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''The Relic'' holds an approval rating of 37%, based on 35 reviews, and an average rating of 4.7/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...

of ReelViews said that "when all is said and done, this horror/science fiction amalgamation seems like nothing more ambitious than a bad reworking of elements from ''Aliens'', ''Species'', ''Jaws'' and ''Predator''." Positive reviews came from critics

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

and

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

; Siskel described the film as "surprisingly entertaining", and Ebert said that the film was clever in how it "combines the conventions of the horror and disaster genres" and "is actually a lot of fun, if you like special effects and gore." Film historian

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

gave the movie 2.5 out of a possible 4 stars, summing it up as "''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'' in a museum". Peter Stack of ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' gave the film a mixed review, stating," 'The Relic' will quickly fade to video, where it might fare well as a bump-in-the-night benefiting from the fast-forward button." Russell Smith of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' gave the film a 2.5/5 stating, "Long story short: This film stands as a near-perfect specimen of two hardy cinema archetypes – the cheesy but diverting creature feature and the weekend bargain matinee." In a more negative review, Richard Harrington of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' stated, "It’s a familiar story in the horror film business: good novel, terrible adaptation (just ask Stephen King and Clive Barker). As written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, "The Relic" deserved to be taken off the shelf; as adapted by a quartet of screenwriters and directed by Peter Hyams, it should have been left on one." Despite the negative reviews, the film gained a strong following. Lead actress, Penelope Ann Miller is fond of the film: "It had a lot of things in it that were definitely out there. But it was a good scary movie." The film was nominated for multiple science-fiction and fantasy awards, including best horror film and best actress (for Penelope Ann Miller) at the 1997 Saturn Awards.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Relic, The 1997 films 1997 horror films 1997 science fiction films 1990s English-language films 1990s monster movies 1990s police procedural films 1990s science fiction horror films American monster movies American police detective films American science fiction horror films Fictional portrayals of the Chicago Police Department Films based on American horror novels Films directed by Peter Hyams Films produced by Gale Anne Hurd Films produced by Sam Mercer Films scored by John Debney Films set in Chicago Films set in museums Films shot in Chicago Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver Films with screenplays by Amy Holden Jones Giant monster films Mutual Film Company films Paramount Pictures films PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films 1990s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

Reception

See also

References

External links