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.

Although the premise is an interesting one, in execution Dark Relic just doesn't cut it and remains a typical product of the SyFy network, albeit of British origin.In the Catholic world there are reported to be many pieces of the 'true cross' from which Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. Some of them are no more than splinters, but James Frain and his ragtag group of crusaders have a nice chunk of wood in which the biblical inscription about Jesus being King of the Jews is carved.When they take the thing back to Rome all kinds of things start happening to them. Monsters and demons of all kinds, monks become possessed and they can't get rid of the thing and it won't burn. What to do.I think the idea here is that the true cross from which the Son of God was crucified is not an item of veneration, in fact logically speaking it should be a cursed piece of wood. Our wandering group finds this out too late. Along the way they meet some Moslems led by Alyy Khan and arrive at an uneasy truce with them.Dark Relic has an interesting premise, maybe in the hands of a Stephen King it could have realized its possibilities, but not here.

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.

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.