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Relic, The

EMAIL PRINTParamount Pictures

8.0 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Horror | Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Douglas Preston (novel), Lincoln Child (novel)
Amy Holden Jones
John Raffo, Rick Jaffa
Amanda Silver

Directed by: Peter Hyams

Release Date:
Theatrical: January 10, 1997
DVD: April 20, 1999

Running Time: 110 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for monster violence and gore, and for language

Starring Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore, Clayton Rohner, Chi Moui Lo, Thomas Ryan, and Robert Lesser

Come in-if you dare. The opening-night gala for a new exhibit at Chicago's natural history museum is under way. But be advised: something terrifying wants to make sure no one ever leaves. (Paramount)

Also On Metacritic

FILM: A Sound of Thunder End of Days The Musketeer

Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Empire Kim Newman

Unpretentiously and likeable Peter Hyams is one of the few hacks still working at this budget level, and he relishes the chance to make an audience jump, not only with some neat monster effects and a pile of mutilated corpses but also with some subtleties of editing and lighting, plus one of the loudest jump-out-of-your-seat soundtracks in a recent memory.

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The New York Times Stephen Holden

Yes, we've seen it all before. But The Relic proves that the hoariest cliches, when stirred together with enough money, shaken vigorously and artfully lighted, can still make the adrenaline surge.

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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

All of this is actually a lot of fun, if you like special effects and gore.

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Variety Emanuel Levy

Still, this strikingly proficient production boasts genuinely scary thrills and first-rate visual and creature effects.

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Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

But Peter Hyams, who's both director and director of photography, forces us to constantly strain to see what isn't there, until ultimately the screen explodes in welcome light, a cathartic finale in broad visceral terms even if the drama hasn't inspired much emotion.

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Los Angeles Times John Anderson

Hyams the director ("Sudden Death," "Timecop," "The Star Chamber") operates at too much of a fevered pitch for things not to eventually get out of hand -- accelerating violence and horror eventually hit maximum velocity and warp into nonsense, no matter how erudite the script.

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Entertainment Weekly Ty Burr

If you can stagger around the plot holes (how'd a Brazilian cargo ship with a dead crew get to Lake Michigan?), the last 30 minutes are pure, dumb monster-movie fun.

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TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

There's nothing much new going on here (we feel compelled to point out the resemblance to one of the worst-ever episodes of The X-Files, "Teso Los Bichos"), but it's all slickly done, with the requisite big jumps, false leads, weird science and scary trips down dark corridors.

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ReelViews James Berardinelli

There are moments when The Relic is almost enjoyable, albeit in a visceral sort of way. Unfortunately, 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.

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San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Sizemore ("Heat") and Miller, though saddled with a lot of scientific DNA jargon, are really the only lively people in this dense, gruesome film that stubbornly refuses to break out of its contrived atmosphere.

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Austin Chronicle Russell Smith

Much like the DNA-scrambled beast to which the title alludes, this film is a chimerical chop-shop product, consisting mostly of spare parts pulled from Alien, Jurassic Park, and even The Ghost and the Darkness.

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The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

The monster effects, as designed by Stan Winston, are stunners, but after Twister, it should be obvious that it's not the quality of the effects that matter so much as the quality of the film in which they appear.

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San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

It took four people to write the screenplay for The Relic. All I can say is that I hope these people have not quit their day jobs.

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Washington Post Richard Harrington

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.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Greg E gave it a6:
Yes, another monster-in-the-hallway horror movie. You saw it in 'Alien' and countless (fun) ripoffs thereof since, and here it is again, with whiz-bang CG effects, high-polish production values and Stan Winston creature design. While true that some who haven't read the book thought this movie was just "fine", those who know the book, myself included, are most assuredly disappointed by the marginalization of the nastiness, adventure and suspense, in favour of simply "showing off" the monster effects. Peter Hyams may know how to make a fun thriller, but there is ZERO scare factor here -- something the novel had oodles of... too bad, because if this film had been scary (good) enough, there could have been a sequel, like the book had.

Nick B. gave it an8:
Not bad for another "large inherently nasty predator that eats scientists" movie. Not a perfect translation of the book....where is Penderghast, for example? But far better than I expected, and superior to recent efforts in the same genre such as "The Cave." The cinematography, clever lighting, and surprisingly robust score add to the experience of a movie that could have been very, very bad in different hands. Just forget it's based on the book and enjoy for its own merits.

Romsie M gave it a10:
This great well done fun! Better than some of the big-budget big-name pap that we put up with from Hollywood every year. Peter Hyams' movies are always a great watch - "Narrow Margin" *ing Gene Hackman, "Outland" *ing Sean Connery, "The Star Chamber" *ing Michael Douglas, to name a few. "Relic" has quite a bit to recommend it - the chemistry between Tom Sizemore & Penelope Ann Miller for one. Linda Hunt is pretty cool as well.