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 The viewing experience for "The Relic" is quite a bit like an X-Files episode in some ways, though I wouldn't go as far to say it is a rip-off. When you get a lot of scientific/forensic analyses of an otherworldly monster and two characters who vaguely resemble Agents Scully and Mulder from X-Files, it does invite comparisons though. The first half of "The Relic" is nothing special and only serves as a rather standardized set-up, but fortunately things pick up in the second half when the monster finally starts going after people. Toward the end there is a remarkable amount of gore, especially for a big-budget horror movie (generally, the big-budget horror flicks tend to be watered down for the mainstream audiences). The monster--courtesy of Stan Winston, a real wizard with movie visuals--is very interesting since it is a genetic hybrid of several completely different creatures. Also, Penelope Ann Miller & Tom Sizemore do a fairly good job as the protagonists. The museum setting is dark to the point where you can't see much of anything, which is nice since you can't see the monster coming a mile away. The few things which marred my enjoyment are the anachronistic supercomputer performing impossible DNA-analysis tasks (maybe computers can do that stuff in about 10 years but not in 1997) and how the scientists talk to each other as though they were laymen. Granted, much of any movie audience are not going to be science buffs, but there must be a better way of explaining things. Casting the shortcomings aside, "The Relic" ranks as an above-average sci-fi/horror movie. |
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QUARTER BY QUARTER ANALYSIS OF MOVIE
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OVERALL RATING
** NOTE: The more dots, the better it is. 12 dots indicates a masterpiece while no dots means it's a "disasterpiece." ** |
    
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The Worm-Hole Reviews are written by Matt Barnes.