The Relic

Deep in the Amazonian rainforest, Anthropologist John Whitney (Lewis Van Bergen) bears witness to an Aboriginal ritual, where tribal members, entranced by a mystical potion, dance with frenzied abandon. As he sips the elixir brewed by the tribe's wise woman (Montrose Hughes), featuring leaves adorned with crimson fungal growths, his perspective is irreparably altered. Whitney's world is shattered when he gazes upon a native warrior, garbed in regalia and face paint, exclaiming to himself: "Good heavens! It's Kathoga!"

Later, Whitney arrives at a bustling commercial dock, where the cargo ship Santos Morales prepares for departure. He tracks down the vessel's captain (Santos Morales) and implores him to unload his crates, destined for the Chicago Natural History Museum. The captain refuses, boarding the ship instead. Undeterred, Whitney stows away on board, eventually prying open a wooden crate in the cargo hold only to discover it filled with nothing but rugs. His despair is palpable as the ship sets sail, leaving behind several crates bearing his name: "John Whitney - Chicago Natural History Museum".

Six weeks later, the Santos Morales docks in Chicago, its arrival marked by police cordons and the imposing presence of Lt. Vincent D'Agosta (Tom Sizemore), accompanied by Detective Hollingsworth (Clayton Rohner). The dock is awash with bloodstains, and the crew appears to have vanished into thin air. As D'Agosta searches the cargo hold, he uncovers several of the crew members in the bilge, their heads severed from their bodies. His superstitious nature is stirred by the gruesome discovery.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Museum of Natural History buzzes with activity as it prepares for the grand opening of a new exhibit exploring the origins of superstition. Dr. Margo Green (Penelope Ann Miller), an evolutionary biologist, arrives at work, only to be informed by museum curator Dr. Ann Cuthbert (Linda Hunt) that she is in competition for a coveted grant with her colleague, Greg Lee (Chi Muoi Lo). The grant is sponsored by the wealthy Blaisedale family (Constance Towers & Francis X. McCarthy), who will attend the gala opening of the exhibit.

The stage is set for a descent into chaos and terror as Whitney's experiences in the rainforest begin to merge with the dark realities awaiting him in Chicago, where the boundaries between reality and superstition are about to be brutally tested.

As Margo ventures into the office of Dr. Albert Frock (James Whitmore), a colleague of John Whitney's, her curiosity is piqued by the contents of several crates recently shipped in from Brazil - remnants of a stone artifact wrapped in the same verdant leaves used in an ancient potion. With the crates left behind by the ill-fated ship, Margo takes some of the leaves for analysis, while the remainder meet their fate in the museum's basement furnace. The very same evening, a school group on an excursion wanders into the museum, unaware that two truant students have slipped in unnoticed to spend the day exploring the exhibits. As the group departs and the museum closes its doors, these young troublemakers find themselves alone amidst the artifacts, their senses heightened by the pungent aroma wafting from a basement stairwell. It is there they stumble upon the gruesome discovery of a beheaded Security Guard (Jophery C. Brown), his brain brutally removed - a chilling omen that sets off alarm bells and summons the authorities to the scene.

Meanwhile, the restoration process for the ancient stone artifact begins in earnest, as a meticulous technician (Lynn A. Henderson) carefully brings it back to life for the upcoming "Superstition" exhibit. The stone's true nature is eventually revealed to be an ancient depiction of the mythical Kathoga - a Chimera, Albert Frock explains, comprising various animals merged into one.

As the investigation unfolds, led by Lt. Vincent D'Agosta, Dr. Zwiezic (Audra Lindley) performs a thorough autopsy on the Security Guard's corpse, only to discover that his brain is alarmingly light, lacking its hypothalamus and pituitary glands - an eerie echo of the beheaded victims found on board the cargo ship. D'Agosta becomes increasingly troubled by these anomalies, sensing a sinister thread connecting them.

When a homeless man living in the museum's vast basement cavern is accidentally shot and killed, initially dismissed as a felicitous turn of events given his criminal past, Lt. D'Agosta remains unconvinced. With the Mayor of Chicago (Robert Lesser) and his wife (Diane Robin) set to attend the opening night gala as honored guests, pressure mounts for D'Agosta to let the event proceed despite his reservations. He reluctantly acquiesces, insisting on a heavy police presence to ensure the safety of all attendees.

As the opulent gala unfolds within the museum's hallowed halls, Margo delves into the intricacies of the leaves, uncovering a profound connection between their molecular structure and the human hypothalamus. Her groundbreaking discovery reveals that the red substance absorbed by the leaves contains an extraordinary concentration of hormones secreted by the hypothalamus - a potent cocktail capable of inducing rapid genetic mutations in any organism that consumes it. The implications are staggering: a beetle, drawn to the container housing the leaves, undergoes a metamorphosis, growing to the size of a rodent within a matter of hours. Margo shares her findings with Dr. Albert Frock, who brings his expertise to bear on the analysis of the beetle's DNA. Together, they subscribe to the notion of the "Calysto Effect" - a sudden, aberrant leap in evolutionary development that yields an unprecedented species.

Meanwhile, D'Agosta orders a thorough search of the museum's subterranean tunnels and ancient sewage system, which connects to the docks. However, this expedition takes a deadly turn when something lurking in the tunnel claims the life of a search dog and its handler. In response, D'Agosta instructs Detective Hollingsworth to evacuate the remaining guests from the museum, but it's too late.

As the VIPs finally enter the enigmatic Superstition exhibit, the killer strikes again, sending panic rippling through the crowd. The security system springs into action, locking down the museum and trapping nearly everyone inside. While police attempt to breach the perimeter and helicopters lower a SWAT team onto the roof, D'Agosta orders the remaining guests into the tunnels, which lead to freedom.

The Blaisedales, refusing to abandon ship, elect to remain behind in the main exhibit hall along with Greg Lee, driven by ambition, and the head of security. However, they soon become prey for the Kathoga, a terrifying creature that finally reveals itself. As the SWAT team drops into the fray, they too fall victim to its deadly pincers and wall-climbing abilities.

Trapped in another wing of the museum, Margo and Dr. Albert Frock uncover the origins of the beast, which is revealed to be a grotesque hybrid of insect, reptile, and various other animals - including one human being: the missing John Whitney. To survive, the Kathoga must consume copious amounts of hormones found in the human hypothalamus, making it a monstrous creature driven by insatiable hunger.

As D'Agosta stumbled upon the unthinkable - finding Margo alive and Dr. Frock met his untimely demise - he turned to her with a sense of urgency, imploring her to reveal the secret to vanquishing the monstrous creature that had left them reeling. Together, they embarked on an ill-fated attempt to entomb it in the tunnel using liquid nitrogen as their icy arsenal. However, their plan proved as futile as it was feeble, prompting them to flee back to the lab and regroup amidst the chaos. D'Agosta then ordered Margo to seal herself within the confines of her laboratory, while he ventured forth to confront the beast once more. But fate had other plans, as the cunning Kathoga proved adept at outwitting its pursuers, dropping through the roof of the lab like a dark and malevolent specter. As D'Agosta found himself trapped on the opposite side of a formidable metal barrier, Margo seized the initiative, utilizing her vast knowledge of chemistry to concoct a deadly cocktail of flammable compounds that would ultimately prove the beast's undoing. With precision and calculated bravery, she hatched a plan to incinerate the Kathoga by blowing up her lab, carefully hiding within a watertight container as the inferno raged outside, ensuring her own safety while leaving the monstrous creature to meet its fiery demise.