The Relic

The Relic is an exciting monster horror film produced by, among others, Gale Anne Hurd, who was also behind the "Alien" and "Predator" films, so you have a sense of what to expect. The solid craftsman Peter Hyams has both shot and directed the horror film, which mainly takes place in Chicago's gigantic natural history museum.

Tom Sizemore has at long last steered clear of villain roles and here plays the quick-witted policeman Vincent D'Agosta, who is assigned to solve some strange and gruesome murders. A security guard at the Natural History Museum is found murdered in exactly the same way as an entire crew on a Brazilian cargo ship shortly before. The victims have been decapitated and a particular part of their brain, the hypothalamus, has been removed.

D'Agosta is sure that the mad killer is hiding in the museum and is therefore not keen on an upcoming glittering opening of an exhibition on superstition, which the mayor and the museum's benefactors are to attend. D'Agosta is pressured into letting the opening go ahead, however, and of course it goes wrong despite a massive police presence. The killer, you see, turns out to be not entirely ordinary.

The young researcher Margo Green assists D'Agosta in solving the case, and it is also she who is forced to take on the final showdown with the killer. The Relic is strong stuff to sit through in the cinema. I certainly got enough scares for my money, and you really do have to make an effort to grasp the plot, which isn't exactly served up on a silver platter.