''Dark Relic'' is a 2010

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

horror television film directed by Lorenzo Sena and starring

James Frain James Frain is an English actor. His best known television roles include Thomas Cromwell in the Showtime/CBC historical drama ''The Tudors'' (2007–2009), Franklin Mott in the HBO drama ''True Blood'' (2010), Warwick the Kingmaker in the BB ...

. The film was generally poorly received.

Synopsis

In 1099 at

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...

north of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Sir Gregory, an English

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

, finds an ancient

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

after a long

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

. The relic is a piece of the cross Jesus was crucified on. He and his band of Knights then take the relic to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for a reward. They travel to Rome on a ship. Their

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s hits a storm and the crew are all swept overboard, the ship is blown off course and

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

on the coast. The knights abandon the ship and head inland. They find a group of civilians being defended by small band of Turks, their allies, who are being beaten in a battle. The knights' step in and defeat the attackers, and two Turks, Hasan and Safa, join their group along with the civilians, one of whom is called Rebecca. The Turks recommend a different route to Rome via land instead of across the sea. They make camp for the night and one of the knights gets attacked by a supernatural

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

and disappears. They find the knight hung up on a tree. Friar George, from the group of civilians, hypothesizes that it is the work of the devil who wants to destroy the relic. Hundreds of dead crows then drop from the sky injuring one of the knights. Robert, one of the knights, opens the chest the relic is in as he is fascinated by it. But as soon as he opens it the group are attacked by a group of wild wolves and another one of them is killed. Robert cuts himself on the relic and his cut gets infected giving him a

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

. They find a farm where they are set upon by a plague of locusts, the knights manage to

barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denotes ...

themselves inside, however some civilians are killed. Gregory now starts to believe the

hypothesis A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess o ...

that the devil is trying to kill them and destroy the relic. They arrive at a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, where Robert is able to rest and recover from his fever. Gregory shows the relic to the

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

, who declares it a true relic. He informs them that the lettering on the relic is a curse which is attracting evil to them. The

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s at the monastery are infected by the curse and attack the knights, biting and scratching them. The Turks step in and aid the knights in killing the Monks. Gregory tries to destroy the relic by however the relic is unaffected by anything he does to it. Gregory and Hasan now decide they need to return to the Holy Land where the evil of the relic can be contained. Robert’s fever returns driving him mad, in his madness he attacks one of the civilians before collapsing. The knights build a

stretcher A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an medical device, apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or ...

to carry him. They travel through the night, when they are attacked by a flying devil like monster. Friar George quotes from the

bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

to stop it however it breathes fire killing him. Hasan shoots the devil with a holy arrow which drives it away. Gregory buries the relic, hoping to hide and later return with an army to kill the devil. In the night Robert turns into a demon, growing

tentacles In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

and attacking Paul. Gregory pushes Robert off the edge of a cliff. They continue the next day. The relic emerges from the ground in front of them, causing an avalanche which kills Paul. Rebecca picks up the relic, deciding that as it is following them, they need to take it. They come across a town that has been decimated. They find a survivor who tells them it was all the work of the devil. Another knight is infected by the devil, he attacks killing the survivor, Hasan and Safa before Gregory kills him. Now the only survivors, Gregory and Rebecca make a stand to kill the devil. The devil attacks them in the night, Gregory duels with the devil. Rebecca fires arrows at it using a

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...

but they have no effect. Gregory then uses the relic, stabbing the devil with it. The religious effect of the relic causes the devil to explode, killing it and destroying the relic.

Cast

as Sir Gregory *

Clemency Burton-Hill Clemency Margaret Greatrex Burton-Hill (born 17 March 1981) is an English broadcaster, author, novelist, journalist, and violinist. In her early career she also worked as an actress. In January 2020 she suffered a brain haemorrhage caused by a ...

as Rebecca *

Tom Basden Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for co-creating and starring in ''Plebs'', which won the Royal Television Society award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2014. He was nominated ...

as Robert *

Alyy Khan Alyy Khan (born 6 December 1968) is a British-Pakistani actor and host who has worked in Hollywood, Bollywood, and Lollywood films and television series. He is known for his roles in the films '' A Mighty Heart'' (2007), ''Traitor'' (2008), ...

as Hasan *

Marija Karan Marija Karan ( sr-Cyrl, Марија Каран; born 29 April 1982) is a Serbian actress. She had her film debut in '' Kad porastem biću Kengur'' and appeared after this in '' Jesen stiže, dunjo moja''. Life Karan was born in Belgrade. In 2007 ...

as Safa *

Samuel West Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, theatre director, and narrator. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor in theatre, film, television, and radio. West was nominated for the BAFTA Award f ...

as Friar George *

Christian Cooke Christian Louis Cooke (born 15 September 1987) is an English actor. He is known for playing Luke Kirkwall in '' Where the Heart Is'', Luke Rutherford in ''Demons'', Dorian Gaudain in ''Trinity'', Freddie Taylor in '' Cemetery Junction'' and Len ...

as Paul * Atanas Srebrev as Arthur

Reception

Dreadcentral gave the film a 2 and a half out of 5, Horror Asylum gave the film a 3 out of 5., Horrortalk gave the film a 2 out of 10, Letterboxd gave the film half a star out of 5., Radio Times gave the film a 2 out of 5., Starburst Magazine gave the film a 5 out of 10.

References

External links

*
BBFC website
{{Phillip J. Roth, state=collapsed 2010 television films 2010 films American fantasy films American supernatural horror films Crusades films Films set in the 11th century Films set in Jerusalem Films set in Israel 2010 fantasy films 2010 horror films 2010s American films