The Relic (1997)

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writers (WGA):

Douglas Preston (novel) and
Lincoln Child (novel) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

They did the unthinkable. They brought it back.

Plot:

A homicide detective and an anthropologist try to destroy a South American lizard-like god, who's on a people eating rampage in a Chicago museum.

Plot Keywords:

Museum | Crate | Ship | Mayor | Benefit

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Penelope Ann Miller	...	Dr. Margo Green
Tom Sizemore	...	Lt. Vincent D'Agosta
Linda Hunt	...	Dr. Ann Cuthbert
James Whitmore	...	Dr. Albert Frock
Clayton Rohner	...	Det. Hollingsworth
Chi Muoi Lo	...	Dr. Greg Lee
Thomas Ryan	...	Tom Parkinson
Robert Lesser	...	Mayor Robert Owen
Diane Robin	...	The Mayor's Wife
Lewis Van Bergen	...	John Whitney
Constance Towers	...	Mrs. Blaisedale
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Mr. Blaisedale
Audra Lindley	...	Dr. Zwiezic
John Kapelos	...	McNally
Tico Wells	...	Bailey
Mike Bacarella	...	Bradley
Gene Davis	...	Martini
John DiSanti	...	Guard Wootton (as John Di Santi)
David Proval	...	Guard Johnson
Dave Graubart	...	Eugene
Ronald Joshua Scott	...	Josh
Jophery C. Brown	...	Guard Frederick Ford
Thomas Joseph Carroll	...	Evans
Montrose Hughes	...	Chanting Woman
Santos Morales	...	Capt. Borne
Ralph Seymour	...	Sergeant
LaDonna Tittle	...	Teacher
Eddie Jemison	...	Museum Worker
David Hollander	...	Charlie
Amanda Ingber	...	Donna
Katharine Mitchell	...	Police Officer
Candy Coburn	...	Police Officer
Kurt Naebig	...	Police Officer
Don MacLellan	...	Police Officer
Marc P. Shelton	...	Police Officer
Don Harvey	...	Spota
Ken Magee	...	Coroner's Assistant
Aaron Lustig	...	Dr. Brown
Kent George	...	Student
Lyn Alicia Henderson	...	Perri Masai (as Lynn A. Henderson)
Ron Cummins	...	Dr. Gross
Matthew Daniel Mosoes	...	Crazy Man
Elwood Forbes	...	Graduate Student
Dina Blair	...	Reporter
Mark Lake	...	SWAT Team Guy
Ned Schmidtke	...	Capt. Martin
Vincent Hammond	...	Kothoga
Brian Steele	...	Kothoga
Gary A. Hecker	...	Kothoga Vocalization (as Gary Hecker)
Daniel Guevara	...	Tribal Dancer
Ramon Ramierez	...	Tribal Dancer
Henry Rey	...	Tribal Dancer
Gerardo Salinas	...	Tribal Dancer
Martin S. Tellez	...	Tribal Dancer
Craig Hosking	...	Helicopter Pilot
Dirk Vahle	...	Helicopter Pilot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sharlene Ruffino	...	Museum employee (uncredited)
Johnny White	...	Graduate Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Hyams

Writing credits (WGA)
Douglas Preston		(novel "Relic") and
Lincoln Child		(novel "Relic")
Amy Holden Jones		(screenplay) (as Amy Jones) and
John Raffo		(screenplay) and
Rick Jaffa		(screenplay) &
Amanda Silver		(screenplay)

Produced by
Mark Gordon	....	executive producer
Gale Anne Hurd	....	producer
Gary Levinsohn	....	executive producer
Sam Mercer	....	producer

Original Music by
John Debney

Cinematography by
Peter Hyams		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Steven Kemper

Casting by
Penny Perry

Production Design by
Philip Harrison

Art Direction by
James J. Murakami		(as James Murakami)
Eric Orbom

Set Decoration by
John H. Anderson		(as John Anderson)

Costume Design by
Daniel J. Lester		(as Dan Lester)

Makeup Department
Stephen Abrums	....	key makeup artist (as Steve Abrums)
Art Anthony	....	additional makeup artist
Stuart Artingstall	....	hair department supervisor: Stan Winston Studio
Judith A. Cory	....	key hair stylist (as Judy Cory)
Steve LaPorte	....	makeup artist
Tim Larsen	....	special makeup effects
Susan Schuler-Page	....	hair stylist
Laine Trzinski	....	hair stylist (as Elaine M. Cascio)
Gary Yee	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Sean T. Stratton	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Scott H.C. Delsner	....	second second assistant director: Chicago
David Michael Katz	....	second assistant director
Jack Frost Sanders	....	first assistant director
Rich Sickler	....	dga trainee
L. David Silva	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Gary Baugh	....	assistant art director: Chicago
Mark Boucher	....	set dresser
Nigel A. Boucher	....	leadman
Frank L. Brown	....	assistant property master
David J. Chamerski	....	property master: Chicago
David Goldstein	....	paint supervisor
Lee J. Jashinsky	....	painter
Jack Johnson	....	production illustrator
Tom Jung	....	storyboard artist
Linda A. King	....	set designer (as Linda King)
Nikita Knatz	....	production illustrator
Charles R. Lipscomb	....	lead man
P.K. MacCarthy	....	storyboard artist
C.J. Maguire	....	property master
Patricia Malone	....	set decorator: Chicago
Hank Mayo	....	concept designer
Louis Montejano	....	set designer
Christopher S. Nushawg	....	set designer
Tyler Osman	....	construction coordinator: Chicago
Bruce Richter	....	carpenter
Christoph Rittershausen	....	lead sculptor
Doug Rosenberger	....	general foreperson
Ahmed Saker	....	construction medic
Terry Scott	....	construction coordinator
Jeffrey Thomas	....	stand-by greensman
Ciro Vuoso	....	construction foreman
Dianne Wager	....	set designer
Michael Denering	....	lead scenic artist (uncredited)
W.C. Nearhood Jr.	....	fixtures (uncredited)

Sound Department
Neal J. Anderson	....	dialogue editor
Christopher Assells	....	adr editor
Bob Baron	....	adr mixer
Steve Bartkowicz	....	sound re-recording engineer
Robert Batha	....	first assistant sound editor
Bob Beher	....	foley editor
Gary C. Bourgeois	....	sound re-recording mixer
Raul A. Bruce	....	boom operator
Ed Callahan	....	foley editor
Gene S. Cantamessa	....	sound mixer
Paul Timothy Carden	....	digital sound effects editor
Matt Colleran	....	foley recordist
Dino Dimuro	....	digital sound effects editor
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
David Lee Fein	....	foley artist
Jim Fitzpatrick	....	sound re-recording mixer
Darrall Garcia	....	assistant sound editor
Scott Martin Gershin	....	digital sound effects editor
Nerses Gezalyan	....	foley mixer
Nerses Gezalyan	....	sound mixer
Jessica Goodwin	....	assistant sound editor
Leslee F. Grizzell	....	assistant sound editor
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist (as Gary 'Wrecker' Hecker)
Chris Hogan	....	dialogue editor
Michael Hoskinson	....	foley editor (as Mike Hoskinson)
Craig S. Jaeger	....	foley editor
Chris Jargo	....	adr editor
Randy Kelley	....	sound design editor
Tony Lamberti	....	sound designer
Peter J. Lehman	....	sound effects editor
Glenn T. Morgan	....	supervising sound editor
Rick Morris	....	digital sound effects editor
Rick Morris	....	sound editor
Thomas J. O'Connell	....	adr mixer
Thomas O'Neil Younkman	....	assistant sound editor
Kelly Oxford	....	digital sound effects editor
Dan M. Rich	....	dialogue editor
Brad Sherman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Randy Singer	....	foley mixer
Mary Ruth Smith	....	adr editor
Wylie Stateman	....	supervising sound editor
Lauren Stephens	....	dialogue editor
Michael Stern	....	additional sound recording mixer
Jeffrey Wilhoit	....	foley artist
Fred Peck III	....	foley recordist (uncredited)
Alison Sanford	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Richard Alonzo	....	additional live effects key artist: Stan Winston Studio
Jason Barnett	....	additional live effects key artist: Stan Winston Studio
Bill Basso	....	additional live effects key artist: Stan Winston Studio
Darin Bouyssou	....	mold maker: Stan Winston Studio
Emery Brown	....	electronics designer: Stan Winston Studio
John Calpin	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Evan Campbell	....	special effects makeup
Tamara Carlson	....	fabrication crew: Stan Winston Studio
R.S. Cole	....	creature effects assistant
David Covarrubias	....	mechanical technician: Stan Winston Studio
Barry Crane	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Jon Dawe	....	mechanical designer: Stan Winston Studio
Glenn Derry	....	electronics designer: Stan Winston Studio
John J. Downey	....	special effects technician
Lynette Eklund	....	key fabricator: Stan Winston Studio
Garry Elmendorf	....	special effects supervisor (as Gary Elmendorf)
Lance Gilmer	....	special effects technician
Robert Hall	....	additional live effects key artist: Stan Winston Studio
William D. Harrison	....	special effects foreperson
Rich Haugen	....	mechanical designer: Stan Winston Studio
Matt Heimlich	....	mechanical technician: Stan Winston Studio
David Heron	....	special effects rigging foreperson
Grady Holder	....	mold maker
Thomas R. Homsher	....	special effects foreman
Tom Homsher	....	special effects foreperson
Doug Hudson	....	mold/lab technician
Mark Jurinko	....	key artist: Stan Winston Studio
Rodrick Khachatoorian	....	electronics designer: Stan Winston Studio
Jay King	....	special effects technician
Robert W. King	....	special effects technician
Terry W. King	....	assistant special effects supervisor
Rodman Kiser	....	special effects technician: Chicago (as Rod Kiser)
Dana Klaren	....	special effects technician
Roland Loew	....	special effects technician
Lindsay MacGowan	....	mold department: Stan Winston Studio
Mark Maitre	....	additional live effects key artist: Stan Winston Studio
Keith Marbory	....	special effects supervisor
Nick Marra	....	additional live effects key artist: Stan Winston Studio
Kyle Martin	....	mechanical technician: Stan Winston Studio
Tony McCray	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Mark 'Crash' McCreery	....	conceptual art director: Stan Winston Studio
Matt McDonnell	....	special effects technician
Tom McLaughlin	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Kevin McTurk	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Paul Mejias	....	special effects artist
John D. Milinac	....	special effects foreperson: Chicago
David Monzingo	....	special effects artist: Stan Winston Studio
Brian Namanny	....	mechanical technician: Stan Winston Studio
Jon Neill	....	mold maker: Stan Winston Studio
Mark Noel	....	special effects engineer
Eric Ostroff	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Tom Pahk	....	special effects technician
John Patton	....	mechanical technician: Stan Winston Studio
Ron Presser	....	electronics designer: Stan Winston Studio
Joseph Reader	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Edward T. Reiff Jr.	....	special effects technician
Alan Rifkin	....	special effects technician
Chris Robbins	....	additional live effects key artist: Stan Winston Studio
Martin Simon	....	special effects technician
Kirk Skodis	....	mechanical designer: Stan Winston Studio
Alfred Sousa	....	mechanical designer: Stan Winston Studio
Christopher Swift	....	creature effects supervisor: Stan Winston Studio
Alan Tuskes	....	key technician: Stan Winston Studio
Stiles White	....	production coordinator: stan winston studio
Stan Winston	....	creature effects
Dennis Yeager II	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Gary Abrahamian	....	animator: Kothoga
Chris Allen	....	programmer
Mike Amron	....	3D animator
James Bancroft	....	modeling/deformations/animation
Dennis Bennett	....	scanning and printing
Jennifer Bergman	....	visual effects producer: VIFX
Bruce Berman	....	animator: Kothoga tongue
Greg Bradner	....	film scanner: VIFX
Mark A. Brown	....	chief technologist: VIFX (as Mark Brown)
Cheryl Budgett	....	2D supervisor: VIFX
Dan Calhoun	....	engineer
Clark Campbell	....	visual effects editor
Casey Cannon	....	computer graphics producer: BFTRE
Glenn Cannon	....	computer graphic artist
Karen deJong	....	digital matte painter
John 'D.J.' Des Jardin	....	digital effects supervisor: VIFX
Ivan DeWolf	....	3D digital artist
Bill Dietrich	....	animator: Kothoga
Gus Duron	....	film coordinator
Antoine Durr	....	3D supervisor: VIFX
Gregory Elwood	....	digital compositor
Anders Ericson	....	animator: Kothoga
Meg Freeman	....	digital compositor
Bob Froehlig	....	systems operations
Scott Giegler	....	animator: Kothoga
Ido Gondelman	....	cg animator: VIFX
Rhonda C. Gunner	....	visual effects
David Gutman	....	digital compositor
Joe Henke	....	animator: Kothoga
Bryan Hirota	....	research and development supervisor: VIFX
Richard E. Hollander	....	visual effects
Hiroshi 'Kan' Ikeuchi	....	armature engineer
Eric Jennings	....	animation R&D/technical director
Manson Jones	....	programmer
Dan Kaufman	....	3D digital artist
Josh Kirschenbaum	....	technical supervisor: BFTRE
Andy Kopra	....	lead programmer
Gene Kozicki	....	digital coordinator: VIFX
Mark Kramer	....	engineer
Harry Lam	....	digital compositing lead
Van Ling	....	computer graphics supervisor
Liz Lord	....	digital compositor
Mark 'Crash' McCreery	....	character designer
Gregory L. McMurry	....	visual effects supervisor
Cheryl McQuady	....	digital compositor
Rob Menapace	....	motion control programmer
Stuart Mintz	....	animator: Kothoga
Zeke Morales	....	film coordinator
Michelle Murdocca	....	executive producer of digital imaging: VIFX
Michael Norville	....	animator
Mike Norville	....	animator: Kothoga tongue
Tom C. Peitzman	....	effects production supervisor
Tom C. Peitzman	....	visual effects producer
Ethan Phillips	....	visual effects chief lighting technician: VIFX
Edwin Rivera	....	digital compositing lead: VIFX
Ha Ngan Roda	....	animator: Kothoga
Andy Rosen	....	digital compositor
Louis Scaduto	....	textures: Kothoga
Scott Schneider	....	model shop supervisor
Rob Schultz	....	digital compositor
Tom Shaughnessy	....	camera assistant
Brad Spencer	....	scanning and printing
Paul Taglianetti	....	production coordinator: VIFX
Paul Taglianetti	....	visual effects coordinator: VIFX
Tom Tierney	....	engineer
John C. Wash	....	visual effects
Tom Whitson	....	engineer
Gian Ganziano	....	visual effects (uncredited)
John Sanders	....	scanning and recording technician (uncredited)

Stunts
May Boss	....	stunts (as Mary R. Boss)
John Branagan	....	stunts
Jophery C. Brown	....	stunts
Richard E. Butler	....	stunts
Michael Cassidy	....	stunts (as Mike Cassidy)
Mitchell Dean	....	utility stunts
Cheryl Wheeler Duncan	....	stunts (as Cheryl Wheeler)
Dean Raphael Ferrandini	....	stunts (as Dean Ferrandini)
Linda Fetters	....	stunts
Tim Gallin	....	stunts
Jeff Habberstad	....	stunt rigger
Mark Harper	....	stunts
Rick Le Fevour	....	stunts
Nina Leone	....	utility stunts
Jake Lombard	....	stunt rigger
Sunnie Merrill	....	stunts
Carol Neilson	....	stunts
Linda Perlin	....	stunts
Denney Pierce	....	stunts
Chere Rae	....	stunts
Walter Scott	....	stunts
Paul E. Short	....	stunts (as Paul Short)
Brian Smrz	....	stunt coordinator
David Walling	....	stunts (as David Charles Walling)
Dick Warlock	....	stunts (as Richard Warlock)
P.K. West	....	stunts
Kay Whipple	....	stunts
Keith Woulard	....	stunts
Will Leong	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Danny Lima	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carl Paoli	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Norman Ash	....	lighting technician
Jennifer Bell	....	second assistant camera
Garrett Benson	....	second assistant camera
Terry Bowen	....	additional camera operator
Stephen S. Campanelli	....	Steadicam operator
Stephen S. Campanelli	....	camera operator
A. Anthony Cappello	....	additional first assistant camera
Michael Ferris	....	additional camera operator
Richard Foreman Jr.	....	still photographer
David French	....	grip
John P. Friday	....	chief rigging lighting technician: Chicago
Jeff Hand	....	first assistant camera
Frank Keever	....	first company rigging grip
Rory Robert Knepp	....	additional camera operator
George Kohut	....	camera operator: Chicago
Cara Latzel	....	video assist coordinator
Morgan Michael Lewis	....	first company grip: Chicago
Mark R. Lindberg	....	chief lighting technician: Chicago
Sid Lucero	....	grip
Timothy 'Guido' Magaraci	....	lighting technician
J. Steven Matzinger	....	additional first assistant camera
Charles May II	....	video assist operator (as Charles May)
Tom May	....	first company grip
Charlie McIntyre	....	chief rigging lighting technician (as Charles McIntyre III)
David Morenz	....	first assistant camera: Chicago
David Norris	....	camera technician: Wescam camera
Ronald J. Pure Jr.	....	lighting technician (as R. Joseph Pure Jr.)
John S. Robertson	....	dolly grip: Chicago
John 'Fest' Sandau	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Dean M. Simmon	....	second assistant camera: Chicago
John 'Skids' Skidmore	....	lighting technician
Lonnie Stewart	....	dolly grip
Park B. Taylor	....	assistant chief lighting technician: Chicago
James R. Tynes	....	chief lighting technician
Joseph D. Urbanczyk	....	director of photography: re-takes
Francis X. Valdez III	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Larry Williams	....	second company rigging grip
Jeffrey P. Ackil	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Barbara Harris	....	adr voice casting
Shaunda G. Jones	....	casting assistant
Karen Peake	....	extras casting: Chicago
Regina Prokop	....	extras casting coordinator: Chicago
Johnny White	....	extras casting assistant: set

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Elinor Bardach	....	costume supervisor
Joyce Kogut	....	set costumer
Nancy Takehara	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Jeff Gullo	....	additional editor
Phil Hetos	....	color timer
Chris Jackson	....	assistant editor
Scott Janush	....	assistant editor: avid
Theresa Repola Mohammed	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Frank Bennett	....	orchestrator
Thomas A. Carlson	....	music editor
John Debney	....	conductor
Brad Dechter	....	orchestrator
Sandy DeCrescent	....	orchestra contractor
Frank Macchia	....	midi transcriptions
Don Nemitz	....	orchestrator
John E. Oliver	....	music production set supervisor
Rick Winquest	....	additional music scoring mixer
Dan Goldwasser	....	soundtrack producer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Keith Dillin	....	transportation captain
James Hogan	....	transportation captain: Chicago
Robert Neilson	....	transportation coordinator
Armand Paoletti	....	transportation coordinator: Chicago

Other crew
Rob Abbey	....	crew: Video Image
John Alexander	....	choreographer: Kothoga
Lynn Andrews	....	assistant to producer
Michael Bilog	....	assistant accountant
Bonnie Bott	....	assistant location manager
Amanda Brand	....	publicist
Luis Brito	....	cook
Jim Brockett	....	animal coordinator
Jeff Bruno	....	stand-in
Glenn Cannon	....	computer playback operator
Donna Cline	....	medical technical advisor
Charles R. Crumly	....	museum consultant
Sara DeCesare	....	assistant: Greg McMurry
Kristin Dehnert	....	location assistant: Chicago
Deborah Dellosso	....	animal trainer
James Dew	....	animal trainer
Janet L. Earl	....	supervisor: Video Image
Dave Grasso	....	puppeteer: Kothoga
Ronald E. Hairston	....	key craft service
Beth Hathaway	....	puppeteer: Kothoga (as Beth A. Hathaway)
Richard Haugen	....	puppeteer: Kothoga
Craig Hosking	....	helicopter pilot
Mark Jurinko	....	puppeteer: Kothoga
David Katz	....	crew: Video Image
Laura Matook	....	assistant: Peter Hyams
Larry Odien	....	puppeteer: beetle
Deborah J. Page	....	assistant location manager (as Debbie Page)
Paul Pav	....	location manager
F. Stanley Pearse Jr.	....	location manager
Tim L. Pearson	....	production auditor
Larry Potoker	....	crew: Video Image
Judith Pritchard	....	production coordinator (as Judy Pritchard)
John Redmond	....	police technical advisor
Michael Roccuzzo	....	assistant accountant
Adam Shankman	....	choreographer
Rick Shuster	....	aerial coordinator
Rick Shuster	....	helicopter pilot
Debbie Silverman	....	production assistant
Alfred Sousa	....	puppeteer: Kothoga
Ian Stevenson	....	puppeteer: Kothoga
Christopher Swift	....	puppeteer: Kothoga
Barbara Thaxton	....	script supervisor
Dirk Vahle	....	helicopter pilot
Daniel Wheatcroft	....	studio executive
Sean Williams	....	assistant: Gale Anne Hurd
Jason Gondek	....	second assistant accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (present) (as BBC)
• Marubeni (present)
• Mutual Film Company (as Cloud Nine Entertainment)
• Pacific Western
• Paramount Pictures (in association with)
• Polygram Filmed Entertainment (present) (as PolyGram Filmed Entertainment)
• Tele München Fernseh Produktionsgesellschaft (TMG) (present)
• Toho-Towa (present)
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner (1997) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Focus Film AG (1997) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Distribution (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Prooptiki (1998) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Sogepaq Distribución (1997) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Vitória Filmes (1997) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1998) (Greece) (VHS)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (1998) (Germany) (DVD)
• Concorde Video (1997) (Germany) (VHS)
• Concorde Video (1998) (Germany) (DVD)
• Concorde Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD) (remastered)
• Hollydan Works (2000) (Yugoslavia) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (2000) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• PolyGram Video (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Polygram Filmed Entertainment
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1997) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Banned from the Ranch Entertainment (BFTRE) (on-screen computer graphics)
• Blue Sky/VIFX (visual effects) (as VIFX)
• Stan Winston Studio (live action creature effects)
• Video Image (visual effects and 3-D animation)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes and dollies (as Chapman)
• Direct Tools & Fasteners  expendables
• Hewlett Packard  thanks
• La-La Land Records  soundtrack (limited edition)
• Nina Saxon Film Design  title design
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage M  score recording
• REN-Mar Studios  thanks (as Ren Mar Studios)
• Rick Brainin Catering Inc.  catering
• Silicon Graphics  computer systems
• Soundelux  sound effects design and editing
• Todd-AO Studios  re-recorded at (as Todd-AO)
• Video Image  24-frame video displays

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for monster violence and gore, and for language

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA | UK | Germany | Japan | New Zealand

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 (f) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (PCA #33883) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Netherlands:12 | France:-12 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The two sniffer dogs used to track down the creature in the sewer system are called "Castor" and "Pollux", sharing their names with the Troy Brothers from John Woo's Face/Off (1997), which in turn are named after the Dioscuri from Roman/Greek mythology.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, the monster has been in the museum's subbasement for around seven years, making the lair filled with either partially or fully decomposed skeletons completely plausible. However, in the movie they change the duration to only six weeks. The lair they find in the movie with tons of skeletons doesn't connect with the time it took for them to become that decomposed.

Quotes:

Dr. Zwiezic:Seven decapitations in one week. Don't you just hate killers, who take head and never give it?
Lt. Vincent D'Agosta:You're bad, Matilda.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Flashback - Mörderische Ferien (2000)

Soundtrack:

SUNRISE

Enjoyable creature feature B-movie with the usual formula

When a shipment of artefacts returns to America from South America the police find decapitated bodies on board the ship. When a similar murder occurs in the Chicago museum Lt D'Agosta suspects a psychotic killer and shuts down the museum. With political pressures to keep the museum open for an `opening gala' for Chicago's rich and famous, D'Agosta is forced to give way but sets the place up with a police presence to deal with any trouble. Meanwhile scientist Margo Green suspects that an empty crate of mysterious leaves may have been more than just that and examines the potential that a virus on the leaves caused some sort of creature to evolve. When the same `evolution' attacks during the gala setting off the security alarms and locking down the museum it becomes a fight for survival and escape.

When this came out in the cinema I felt that that was not the best place to see a film like this and decided to wait for video or TV. I finally saw it on TV last night and feel that my gut feeling was right – the small screen is the best place to see this film. At a cinema you may have higher expectations than you would if you watched it in the comfort of your own home on a lazy Saturday night and that might have hurt this film because honestly it's not that good a film. However as a video you perhaps have a lower expectation and then this film is a nice little surprise.

It is without it's own style or ideas but it is an effective monster movie which, in a nutshell, is really what it is. The film follows the traditional formula of all these types of things – monster loose, location sealed or remote, characters separated and picked off in the order you expect until the hero gets the better of it. In that sense this is without any new ideas but and doesn't shine on the plot front but it is an effective little movie. Not particularly scary but more gore than I expected and the film manages to keep the beast frightening by keeping it in the shadows for the majority – even after we've seen it, it is still shot in darkness. In fact the way the film is moved into darkness adds to the tension and makes it more exciting. Of course it isn't fantastic but it does do what you expect a monster movie to do, which is my point. It's main weakness is that it plays it very straight (although the mood made by the darkness helps this) many monster movies have successfully gone more tongue in cheek and done well (Deep Rising from the same period comes to mind. However, having gone the straight road the film does stick to it well despite a very unlikely explanation for the beast.

The cast are par for the course with this type of film – no big stars but support cast given bigger roles. Sizemore is on good form and is at home in the lead of this type of film, I doubt he could carry a blockbuster but he is good. Miller has done better films and she is OK, sadly she is lumbered with all the science stuff and isn't as impacting until near the end. To contrast the two characters there was a 20 minute spell in the middle where both Sizemore and Miller are absent from the action (in different areas) – I noticed Sizemore's absent but it wasn't until Miller came back that I noticed she was gone. The rest of the cast are the usual monster food and you can almost predict who will live and die without 30 seconds of them being introduced – selfish arrogant scientist? How long do you think he'll last!?

Despite this and other clichés the film is good enough to watch as long as you know what you are getting – it is certainly better than a lot of the creature feature movies you can get at your video store and the mood produced by the director in all that darkness helps it along nicely. Not great but better than average for the genre.