The Natural History Museum in Chicago receives a group of crates from one of their scientists in South America, little suspecting that one of them contains a chimera grown together from the DNA of a number of animals, representing a mythical monster named Kothoga. Kothoga likes to behead its victims in order to eat the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. The creature hides in the maze of halls and tunnels beneath the museum, striking periodically, while evading the police. The monster is not enough of a threat apparently to keep a high ticket fundraiser from taking place much to the regret of the attendees.
The Relic (1997) is a polished monster movie, with a pretty neat looking monster, a strong cast, and absolutely no soul. The story is a completely by the book formula monster movie, and most of that formula comes from Jaws, only with a tedious amount of repetitious exposition that doesn't really do anything besides take up a vast amount of screen time to suggest that these elements are what make Kothoga different from all the other monsters that star in movies exactly like this one. As I mentioned, the movie features a strong cast, and seems to simply rely on their presence to suggest that the characters are more substantial than they are.
I saw this movie when it first came out and immediately forgot it. It was only after seeing it referenced in positive terms again and again that I decided to give it a second shot. I can safely say I won't be doing that a third time.
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