Continuity mistake: In the end when the Kothoga is on fire and chasing Margo, it catches up to her in moments. However, everytime it dramatically changes angles, the Kothoga appears a lot futher away than it was previously, but soon after catching up once again. Noting her progress in the room, this situation is not simply replaying the same scene from different angles. Plus when she gets to the water tank, she has plenty of time to spare to hit a lever, climb the device, and jump in before the Kothoga looms overhead.
The Relic (1997)
3 reviews
Directed by: Peter Hyams
Starring: Tom Sizemore, Penelope Ann Miller, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore
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The Relic is a monster-running-amok movie that stars Tom Sizemore and Penelope Ann Miller as a Chicago Homicide detective and a Biologist dealing with a huge, bizarre and bloodthirsty mutant creature that preys on people at a large museum soon after cargo arrives from South America. The beast, referred to as a Kothoga, is as strange a combination of insect, boar, human and gecko (?) as can be conceived by a combo of CGI and practical effects, while the stars provide both background and sometimes unintentional levity while the beast rampages. This is one of those films that is at once cheesy and somehow hard to turn away from, as you want to see more of the thing just to comprehend what you're looking at and piece together the odd backstory.
Going to keep this short and simple. I loved this movie very much but felt that it would have been better if the Kothoga wasn't kept in the dark so much and we could have seen it in a brightly lit room. Could never figure out the size or color of it because of the constant darkness.
I own this movie on DVD.
I love this movie, and it currently is my favorite horror film of all time. Not counting sci-fi horror movies like Alien or Terminator.
I first encountered this film as a kid when I would regularly go to the library to check out movies from there. They had this on VHS, I didn't know what it was but wanted to see, so I rented it and watched it. And I loved it! Later on, I got ahold of a DVD copy.
For me, this is a creature feature done right.
Basically, the short version, is this is a story of a giant lizard monster being trapped inside a museum with other people in a lock down, and it likes to rip their heads off and eat a specific part of the brain. It's a crazy concept but it had me gripped. Maybe I was the perfect age for this film when I watched it as a kid, probably in the early 00s. I don't remember exactly when. But I loved it and still do.
I still pop it in and watch it every now and then, and I think the last time I watched it. Was on a date with a girl. So yeah, lot of good memories with this.
Mistake Status: I plan to do this movie and have it in my line up.
More mistakes in The Relic
Trivia: Producers Gale Anne Hurd and Sam Mercer wanted to film the movie at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. However, the museum's administration was afraid that the film would not only cast the museum in an unflattering light, but it would also scare kids away from the museum. They were given permission by the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago to film there, because they loved the movie's premise.
Question: How big is the Kothoga? In some scenes, the Kothoga is about the size of a tiger but in other scenes, it's almost the size of a horse. During the Kothoga's attack during the Supernatural exhibit, it is seen chasing a SWAT officer and it's very huge but in another scene, when it crashes through a skylight and lands in front of some computers, it's not very large.
Answer: While the size is never explicitly stated, the creature does seem to be somewhat larger than a tiger and approaching the size of a horse when the scene needs it to be. Perhaps its size changes as it eats and needs sustenance?
Erik M.