The Relic (1997)

What makes The Relic special is how it turns a grand, marble-and-glass Chicago museum into a pressure-cooker playground for a smart, old-fashioned creature feature—part whodunit, part science-gone-wrong nightmare. Peter Hyams keeps the pace brisk and the atmosphere deliciously ominous, letting the shadows, echoing halls, and locked-down panic do as much work as the monster itself. The film’s pleasures are tactile: slick ’90s practical effects, satisfyingly nasty gore, and a buddy-investigation dynamic between a no-nonsense cop and an evolutionary biologist that gives the mayhem a grounded, procedural kick. It’s not for the squeamish or those who want elevated, slow-burn horror, but if you’re on the fence and crave a fun, clever midnight thriller that knows exactly what it is, this one delivers.

The Relic wants to be a slick, old-school “monster in a locked building” thriller, mixing police procedural beats with a dash of evolutionary science, and on that basic level it mostly delivers. The problem is it’s pretty derivative and predictable, with characters who often feel like they’re just moving from one set-piece to the next rather than driving the story with smart choices. If you’re hoping for a genuinely eerie mystery or a fresh sci‑fi twist, this can feel like a competent but formulaic ride that never quite becomes special. Still, Peter Hyams keeps the pacing brisk and the museum setting is a fun playground for suspense—just be aware the gore is the main event, not the writing.