Relic (1996)
Starring: Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore
Director: Peter Hyams
Synopsis: wonderfully cheesy, sublimely ridiculous thoroughly entertaining creature feature.
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Modern creature feature with big studio backing, respectable actors and a special effects wiz still don't quite add up in this farcical though thoroughly entertaining monster movie. It begins with bizarre voodoo rituals going on in some Haiti like island where our white man is tempted into folly. He pays dearly by being transformed gradually into an ancient Kathoga beast.

Unfortunately for the unsuspecting citizens of Chicago, their Natural History Museum is about to hold an exhibition which will subsequently feature an uninvited Kathoga who proceeds to create mayhem with its insatiable appetite for human heads. Its pretty campy stuff with heaps of inane scientific mumbo-jumbo and ridiculous diatribe about the origins of the Kathoga and what not.

Stan Winston's admirable creature is sadly somewhat wasted as the film is presented in far too murky lighting. The audience can barely make out what the beast looks like as whenever it appears things appear awfully dark. This was obviously a ploy by the filmmakers to obscure a beast they felt was probably a touch below par. The few moments when it is a little more visible, the beast looks rather impressive though with a distinct CGI shimmer to it.

There is a subtle racist sub-plot in which our pure white American heroine is being undermined by the sleazy Korean type who has absolutely no ethics at all. Poor Lee is merely fodder for the slobbering Kathoga creature while our feisty WASP heroine shows viewers who is top dog.

Linda Hunt's performance as the head of the museum is quite a giggle as she desperately tries to maintain total seriousness while delivering some of the silliest dialogues in recent years. Overall the film manages to entertain in a vintage creature features manner. Its stupid and campy enough and moves along at a fairly rapid pace to be a mildly enjoyable distraction. Stan Winston's creature is a sight to behold, unfortunately we don't get to behold it for more than a few seconds in the film because in most scenes he makes an appearance, its way too dark..