Dark Relic

Hey, someone mixed an intelligent discussion about religion in my Medieval Crusader monster movie. I think I like it. This one stars James Frain who you might remember as CHESS from The Cape. He is always an interesting actor to watch.

Dark Relic is the story of a group made up of Crusaders, pilgrims, holy men and Muslims. All of them on a mission to return a piece of the REAL Cross to the Holy Land while they are pursued by a demon from hell. Yeh, it's THAT kind of movie.

This is a SyFy movie with a stronger script than most of their schlocky crap.

Between the discussions of faith we get a tour through the cold winter lands of what is suppose to be modern day Turkey. The costumes and setting are nice. I felt bleak and cold watching this movie but since that is my natural state, it's hard to tell if I was affected. Lots of lessons to be learned in this one.

The relationship between the Turks and the Crusaders has many good rewarding moments.

I always get a delicious glee out of watching movies where the numbers get whittled down with each crisis that afflicts this little band. If you know your Old Testament you will be able to anticipate which plague will strike next.

The real horrible thing is that the goofy looking CGI takes away from what is a compelling little story about faith and redemption. Definitely one of my favorite SyFy 'Creature Features'. It at least tries to be something more.

..and then they brought out the demon fighting weapons. I swear I teared up a little.

Both male leads are very appealing as are the strong female characters. I was totally invested in their story. With a little subtlety added to a script (that only slows down when the cheap effects appear) this could have been a fine direct to video release movie.

There was a moment when I believed that ANYONE could die and that is what made it so much fun to watch.

6/10