THE RELIC
US, 1996, 110 minutes, Colour.
Tom Sizemore, Penelope Ann Miller, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore.
Directed by Peter Hyams.
Only for horror fans. This one will keep reminding you of other films all the way through. The easy summary is that it is `Alien in a museum'. But there are overtones of Dracula, of Jurassic Park and of countless monsters who devour people and grow before they are destroyed. An intrepid Penelope Ann Miller is on hand to use her wits and her courage and Tom Sizemore is the police brawn. Variations on old themes.
1. An entertaining `monster on the rampage' film? Its relationship to other examples of the genre? Lack of originality? Variations on a theme?
2. The Brazilian opening? The jungle? The boat coming back to Chicago? The city of Chicago, the Natural History Museum? The laboratories, the basements, the tunnels? The musical score?
3. The special effects, the creature, the chases? Destruction?
4. The title, expectations? The scientific theory about the creation of the murderous monster? The theory of `aberrant evolution'? In South America? The American tribe using the monster to destroy its enemies? The monster on the loose in Chicago? The destruction of the explorer, the part-human, part-animal monster? The need to devour more people? The credibility of this kind of cinema science?
5. The prologue, John Whitney and the ritual, the potion, the crates and their being shipped to Chicago? His trying to stop them? Into the ship? The arrival of the ship - and the crew members beheaded? The creation of atmosphere for the plot?
6. Margo Green as the centre of the film? Her work at the museum? The support of the director? Her friendship with the curator? The gala exhibition? Her being urged to seek grant money? The competition with Greg Lee? The arrival of the crates, her examining the fungus and the leaves? The mystery of the security guard being killed? The police and the detective coming, the missing brain? The bug eating the fungus and her killing it? A successful scientist, the woman in a men's world? The opening of the gala, Margo and the curator locked in the basement by Lee? The warning against the gala going ahead? The panic with the deaths? The detective finding Margo, the computer analysis of the fungus, the mutations, the evolution? The South American theory? The creature having a third of Whitney in it? Margo and the confrontation with the creature in the basement? The chemical fire and the destruction of the creature? The movie heroics?
7. D' Agosta and his role with the police force? The boat, the crew members and their being beheaded? His investigations, the security guard's death? His listening to the scientific theories? His trying to advise the mayor and the police to stop the gala? His failure? The panic and the destruction? With Margo, Dr Frock and the computer analysis? His pursuit of the creature? The dangers?
8. Dr Cuthbert and the director of the museum, her concern about research, encouraging Margo to apply? Her being locked in the museum with Margo? The dangers of the creature on the loose?
9. Greg Lee and his competitiveness, applying for the grant, clashes with Margo, locking her and the curator in the basement? Being destroyed by the creature?
10. Dr Frock, the curator, his long experience, his scientific theories? The result of the computer readouts? The confrontation with the monster and his death?
11. The mayor, his refusal to listen to the advice, the society people going to the gala? The frustration of the police in trying to control the situation? The melodramatics of the monster getting loose, the headless bodies, the people panicking, being crushed?
12. The film relying on the horror of the monster? Its terrorising people? The scientific theories? The build-up to the destruction of the monster? The perennial popularity of this kind of monster myth menacing people action entertainment?
