Paul Andrews Dark Relic is set during 1099AD at the end of the first Crusade, the noble & Christian God fearing Knight Sir Gregory (James Frain) lead over a hundred men at the start of the Crusade but now his charges number less than ten, after much bloodshed & loss of life Sir Gregory & his few remaining loyal men have found an ancient relic that they soon come to believe is part of the wooden cross that Jesus was crucified to. Sir Gregory plans to sail home with the Holy relic & his men but a fierce storm at sea forces them to abandon the boat when it crashes into rocks on the coast of an unknown land, with no option left Sir Gregory & his men set off on foot to find help & carry on their journey but a series of terrible events lead them to believe that the Holy relic is cursed & attracts evil including a huge winged fire breathing Demon from Hell. As more of Sir Gregory's men fall victim to the evil curse he decides that the Holy relic must be destroyed...Directed by Lorenzo Sena credit has to go to the makers of Dark Relic for at least trying to make a SyFy Channel film that has some originality, the idea of a Holy Crusade in 1099AD where a Knight & his men are menaced by an evil curse sounds positively highbrow for the notoriously lazy people at the SyFy Channel. I suppose the only problem is that Dark Relic isn't that good, sure it's far from terrible & not as bad as your average SyFy Channel creature feature/giant monster film but when all said & done it's still difficult for me to recommend to casual viewers. The script for Dark Relic is perhaps more serious than the usual camp SyFy Channel offering with a fairly bleak tone that tries to touch upon the likes of religion, sacrifice, racism & faith but while these themes are briefly explored the script isn't ambitious enough to really drive these points home & say something meaningful. The overall impression I got while watching Dark Relic was that of seeing people dressed in Knight costumes walking through woods occasionally coming under attack from various things such as a swarm of Locust's, cannibal kung-fu Monk's (I kid you not) & really bad weather conditions. Dark Relic is a masterpiece compared to a lot of SyFy Channel crap but doesn't really stand up when seen against many other films, an interesting attempt & Dark Relicc isn't terrible but it's nowhere near great either.Before this was released the SyFy Channel ran a competition to name it, yes the title Dark Relic was actually the winning entry although I have no idea what the winner won, if anything at all. Apparently filmed under the title Crusades. There's a bit of gore, a couple of people are seen hanging upside down with their guts hanging out & there are a few slow motion sword fight scenes but don't expect anything as stylish or exciting as 300 (2006). The CGI computer effects are predictably awful, the shot of the boat sailing across the sea has to be seen to be believed it's so bad, I have games on my phone that feature more realistic computer graphics. The fire breathing Demon doesn't look much better either.I am not sure where Dark Relic was filmed (probably Bulgaria or Serbia) but some of the scenery looks quite nice but the low budget does show at times. The acting isn't too bad, it's better than in a lot of SyFy Channel films & it's odd not to see some has-been Hollywood star or wrestler somewhere.Dark Relic isn't the worst film ever made & it does try but the low budget & the whole SyFy Channel feel goes against it, it's a bit different but still not very good if you know what I mean.

lost-in-limbo God love those Syfy TV productions. The medieval horror "Dark Relic" ticks all the boxes, from what we come to expect. It's a glossy (even though the visuals are poorly staged - fake looking backdrops), but terribly bland outing with dismal computer effects (this especially goes to the wolf's attack), cheap set-designs and props, preachy dialogues and a real lack of pacing. Aside from one or two creative moments (possessed monks in a monastery), it was a complete bore. A small group of ragged crusaders are returning home from the holy lands with a holy relic, which they come to discover, is cursed as dark forces begin to make their journey hell. The lackadaisical plot is routine in its narrative drive, the lousy action simply lumbers along and the characters are lazily pitched ("They are our friends"). The performances (led by James Frain) are suitable enough. There's little in the way of fun, as it's stiltedly uninteresting entertainment.

Paul Magne Haakonsen Well, as this being a SyFy movie, should basically be enough said right there.As for the story, well the plot was alright and it was a great idea, but the movie suffered horribly from it being badly put to the screen. And the movie really suffered from the crappy effects and CGIs.There were points where I wanted to claw my eyes out because of the effects, but somehow the story managed to keep me interested enough to actually watch this movie.As for the acting. Well mostly they were good enough, with a couple of exceptions. Nothing major or academy-winning performances here.I do not recommend you sit down to watch this movie, unless you got an unhealthy interest in the age of crusaders and in cheesy supernatural movies, and with crappy CGI effects at that! But hey, if that is your combo, then go right for it. Personally, I could find much better and more constructive ways to spend my time.

MartianOctocretr5 Probably looked good on paper. A legend about the crucifix surviving until medieval times, some knights on a quest to find and secure it, and some demonic plagues besetting the knights. Lots of action, story, and special effects about supernatural power; right? Wrong.A rag-tag group of people are thrown together on this Indy Jones type relic hunt that argue about everything, from spirituality to the best brand of toothpaste. Argue, argue, argue. It gets annoying real fast, and one can only hope they have a sword battle that shuts them all up permanently. The premise held potential, but is hopelessly obscured behind this foolishness. You could watch one of those cable TV political argument shows and get the same thing.