If I remember correctly from the books The Relic and The Reliquary, Kothoga was sort of a "boogey-man" guardian deity/bio-weapon for the tribe Whitney went to study. They would give foreigners the drink that would transform them unwillingly into Kothoga, and ultimately set them upon rival tribes in the area in times of war or conflict. In response, they would keep feeding said person the leaves to keep the hormonal sustenance available for them and keep them from attacking them, and when it was time to set it upon their enemies, they would stop feeding the person the plants. This would ultimately send "Kothoga" into a frenzied, hunger induced rage as it desperately searched for more of the hormones keeping it alive, and would then seek out the next nearest viable source of sustenance - I.E. the human hypothalamus. This in turn lead the tribe that created Kothoga to be responsible for some of the other tribes being wiped out over time, because their "Kothoga" would kill all of them in search of it's necessary food. When the deed was done, they would simply let "Kothoga" starve, restricting it's intake of hormones, and repeat the process ALL OVER again whenever necessary.
@@rexstocephirxiii4263 The tribe had no plan at all for it. It was basically a "fire and forget" kind of deal. There was no back plot of them trying to attack America or anything. They just wanted that guy out of their jungle and that was the easiest way to do it.
In the book (which was, of course, much better than the movie 😬), the creature was called “Mbwun”, which meant “he who walks on all fours”. The current “Mbwun” creature was created from a museum curator, who retained some deep-seated memory of the layout of the museum.
@@rexstocephirxiii4263The area in which the tribe (and mbwun plant) existed was completely destroyed in a fire that was intentionally set to be able to mine the area for gold/resources. The tribe was driven to extinction, and the creature followed the only surviving plant fibers (which had been ignorantly used as packing material for crates of specimens that were being shipped back to the museum from the failed expedition.
Why do these isolated tribes always have a macguffin that either cause monsters to appear and/or provide the solution to tamper down or eradicate the monster?
It's a trope. The magical Other. In some movies it's a magical black person, magical native American, magical east Asian, etc. It can be racist, or just a way to intro magic (which is other) into an otherwise normal plot(which tend to be dominated by the white perspective). It can be a gross trope but if done right I personally think its atleast not damaging. Like the Chinese lady in Freaky Friday who has the body swapping fortune cookies, or the guy who has the creature in Gremlins. The characters arent demeaned or anything and are good. Interestingly, you can even see this trope in fantasy settings, with elves and such playing the role of Other that help the Normal human succeed. Obviously, its messed up that other human races are seen as so different than the general audience of these stories but I think the trope will fade as cultures mix more.
@@morgank.6113 I recently saw a pseudoexample from Spell (2020) and it uses geographic culture of voodoo and hoodoo magic in which it is used pretty legitimately. What I don't like is when writers make up a fictional or largely unkown tribe and then apply a made up macguffin magic that holds no cultural reality. Its cheap writing.
@@morgank.6113 I'm not entirely sure about the racism assumption but rather I think its just a shortcut that holds no malice. In either case it's overplayed.
The closest real world example we have to hand of a tribe just going killmode on outsiders right off the bat are the Sentinelese and tbh the brits screwed that shit up for us hahs
One of the things I've noticed within the movie is that when the victim unknowingly is given the curse of the Kothoga, he's super defensive in getting his "artifacts" all the way to America. It seems to enhance his possessive traits in that the fungi served as the temporary meal before the Kothoga has to kill to consume more hypothalmi
In the books it's explained that the artifacts were packed using the plant while the plateau they naturally grew on was destroyed. Since he had still a lot of intelligence left he remembered this and followed the crates.
Iirc, in the book it says that the Kothaga’s sense of smell is hyper tuned to the hormones. And since it’s practically addicted to them, it will do anything to get its hit.
I've read the book. Same name. It is outstanding. The writing makes you feel insanely claustrophobic and revives the dread feeling of any museum piece harbouring a monster.
They REALLY should have used this to setup a Pendargast series. I saw this movie as a kid and just recently realized it was the start of an amazing series that ended being extremely far fetched
It is an amazing book they really need to make the relic into a Netflix series and give it justice cause the movie just changes the entire plot of the book and just keeps a few characters but they didn’t even have Pendergast in the movie
@thomasmolyneaux3700 I saw an interview where they said they didn't have the budget they needed to make the movie they wanted and they had been put on a strict timeline and adding a character as important as Pendargast would require alot more information on the guy. I personally feel they could have cut alot of the pointless shit out and used of to tell a better story. I had no clue when I got fhe first book that it was the first in a long series of awesome, and some not so awesome, books.
@@NoOne-fo1di that’s a shame they got a smaller budget for such a masterpiece of a book. Currently I have the books being purchased by my library what’s the cutoff point for when the books start to become a money grab
Those fire doors do exist I worked in a title office that had them and during our training we were told that if a fire were to break out in the area we had only a few minutes to get out of that room or we'd die cause it would close and remove all oxygen from the room. Needless to say I quit that job.
@@schnoz2372 the object is to lock in the fire and starve it of oxygen, people are and they hope not present once the doors shut.. But as we all know not everyone is capable of such high thinking so im sure someone would find a way to be trapped in there.
I saw this a few years ago. Certainly one of the worse options for a monster, considering it starts as a man, and thus could be considered a cannibal, along with what would certainly be a horrible thing to have happen to him. The alterations to his brain and body are obvious, but the process of changing into the monster would have to be way more painful than normal muscle growth, he'd probably be very hungry the whole time, and you never really know how much physical change he was aware of before he lost everything that could be considered human thought. Whitney probably went insane partway through transformation, having to watch parts of his own body visibly change to something else, feeling the pain of it the whole time, and potentially driven partially to madness by hunger along with it. This might actually be a worse monstaer than headcrabs as far as what happens to the person used to form it.
In the book the creature had hung keepsakes from his human life on the wall of its layer and spared one guy the night of the rampage that was always nice to him.
@@Cool_Story_Bruh Hadn't heard of a book for it, but if that was meant to have a trace left of conciously knowing what he was doing, that might actually make it worse.
@@UnswimmingFishYT In the book, it was described as looking very differently. It had two small and red eyes facing frontward, a human/primate like face, the upper body was covered with fur but the lower body was scaly. And it was said that it had an incredibly sad look in its eyes
The book, The Relic and its sequel The Reliquary were really good. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have numerous thrillers that are worth checking out. Riptide is my personal favorite.
Loved the movie as a kid. Then I read the book when I was in college and ended up hating the movie. How do you cut out the best character from the book for the movie?
@@davegolen6507 Thank you for confirming my own opinion on this. I read the book before the movie though so it already sucked to me for the same exact reason.
The fact that the detective's ex wife took his dog is really sad. Also, I really like this movie, it has this perfect mix of horror and action that is not that easy to find.
The Mighty *Kothoga!* One of my favorite Movie Monsters, 10/10 solely on the design! Can't wait to see how you tackle this supernatural metamorphosis!~
I think Guillermo Del Toro should remake this. There’s some something poetic about it if it happened. The 90s were a strange time for horror movies. Guillermo Del Toro made Mimic but didn’t get the control he deserved at the time. This movie adapted a book that didn’t get the homage and TLC it deserved. I bet it would be fun to see him kinda make a throwback to that era but do a better job of it. When I was a kid, a relic seemed so cool, but growing up really changed how I felt about the film. I’d love to see what Del Toro would do with such a project today, with his name having the pull it has now.
I remember watching The Relic a long time ago as a child because I was fascinated by monster movies. Godzilla, Tremors, etc. were really my bread and butter. It was so interesting to me, that it drove me to read the book it was based on: The Relic. There's a sequel to it, The Reliquary. Both are interesting books that combine science fiction with real world history. Happy to see you take a look at this movie.
This movie terrified me as a child, don't ask why. I'd seen the Alien movies, The Thing, Predator, a bunch of slasher movies and just a lot of horrifying shit but I remained pretty un-phased, then this thing comes along in all its b-movie as glory and yet it got to me. I remember the claustrophobic scene where they were in the water and they realized it was hiding beneath the water getting to young me.
@@DaRkLoRdZoRc So in the books, the Mbwun was the name of the creature, Kothoga the tribe that utilized the plant. In Reliquary, some asshole who we the viewers of the movie are aware of… Decides to tinker with the plant.
@@DaRkLoRdZoRc Without spoiling the whole book: The main focus of The Relic wasn't the Kathoga, but the plants brought back from the expedition. The main antagonist is destroyed in the end, but the focus remains in the second book and continues.
This looks like such a fun movie to just watch with friends, I’m totally going to have to give it a watch sometime! Thank you for the fascinating breakdown of everything as well. I’ve had an awful week and got betrayed by people who I had thought were good friends, and just sitting down to watch some Roanoke ended up being just what I needed 💜
This series of books is a big guilty pleasure for me and the movie is a solid mid-tier budget from the 90's. Break open some spirits and have a good time!
You won't be disappointed if you do watch it I had watched a video here on RUclips of just the creature scenes and I was I like ok I have to watch the full movie
This movie terrified me as a child, don't ask why. I'd seen the Alien movies, The Thing, Predator, a bunch of slasher movies and just a lot of horrifying shit but I remained pretty un-phased, then this thing comes along in all its b-movie as glory and yet it got to me. I remember the claustrophobic scene where they were in the water and they realized it was hiding beneath the water getting to young me.
"The rest of his body is torn apart like a QuantumTV copyright takedown request in a courtroom" That caught me off guard and definitely made me laugh lol
Hey Roanoke, I've got a suggestion of a creature you can review. It's ghouls from Vampire: the Masquerade franchise, because they have an interesting life-cycle, as far as vampire stories go. A Ghoul is created when a vampire administers a significant portion of their own blood to another biological organism, whether it's a plant, an animal, or a human. After administration the creature becomes more resilient, less susceptible to damage, and their physical statistics skyrocket as far as human physiology goes, as well as ghouls by lore admit that they receive a rush or a "high" directly after consumption (which'd imply that the vampire blood either contains a severe dose of hormones OR it makes the endocrine system go into overdrive to produce said hormones). Additionally, Ghouls can live indefinitely as long as they receive regular doses of the vampire's blood. They also become physically addicted to the substance and infatuated with its provider - the vampire that ghouled them. The interesting part begins when a Ghoul goes above human's natural life span. If such an event occurs, the Ghoul in question absolutely must consume vampire blood continuously because otherwise their body's real age catches up to them in a matter of days or sometimes even minutes, if they've been a Ghoul for, say, 200+ years. Through knowledge acquired on your channel (thanks for making ma brain beeg :D), the hypothesis I have is that vampire blood can somehow immediately rectify the genetic damage in living organisms as they undergo mitosis, however it doesn't fix the original errors in the DNA of said cells. This is why Ghouls are so reliant on vampire blood after a certain point - genetic damage does continue to pile up in their bodies over time, and without regular doses of the rectifying agent, cells immediately die after a single instance of mitosis because the damage to the cells is so severe they can't function on their own at all. Considering that vampire blood essentially puts their cells into overdrive mode (increased healing, physical strength, agility, stamina, and mental capacity), I presume it'd also be a valid thought that vampire blood actually increases the rate at which cellular damage occurs. Anyway. It'd be cool if you looked into it more, as you're a biologist and I'm not lol
YEEEEEES, YOU LEGEND. Love that this is being covered, was a favourite of mine as a kid, loved the novel and the movie. Good to see the comment suggestions are taken seriously too, keep up the awesome content man.
The book by Preston and Child the movie is based on is actually pretty good if I remember correctly. Unfortunatly many things got changed and the main character Inspector Pendergast who is a pretty interesting character (and reoccuring in the books by the authors'duo) is missing completly here - Professor Frog actually doesn't get killed, instead playing a central role in a sequel.
Microbiologist are the Chads?😅 No Sir. Biomedical engineers are the biology 🧬 Chads…😎🤓👨🏼🔬 I’m a biomedical engineer, totally a mega nerd Chad! You are quickly becoming my favorite channel. As an engineer and gaming/movie guy it’s a perfect combination
I always just assumed that the body that fell in the museum during the gala had been killed earlier, and the monster had just carelessly left it wedged into scaffolding or something, and it was just bad timing that it fell.
Rephrasing a previous question, how many scientists could you take in a fight, disregarding Roanoke of course. Dude sounds massive Edit:I would say about 4, fifth one would come with some E. coli if what my buddy said was true about lacing his cousin’s food with E. Coli
I never understood why they changed Dr. Whittlesey into Dr. Whitney. It seems so minor a change. I'm a little more pissed they changed Mbwun into Kathoga. Kathoga is the name of both the tribe and their "deity." _Mbwun_ is the name of the creature gifted by Kathoga to the tribe as a means of defense. They feed Whittlesey the leaves with the intent to control him; they didn't want to be found and so intended to use him to kill off anyone who could find them again.
23:05 "Just remember, forward-facing eyes typically is indicative of predators. Which I now have to remind you: Keebler elves have forward-facing eyes. We all know the average Keebler can run up to 35 mph if it smells a child's blood." Ummm, I have questions.
14:39 Thiose doors were not fire doors but barrier doors to prevent theft in event of museum heist. This was in the novel and described as fatal flaw in system, designed to keep people in, where in this situation people needed to get out.
This video was an excellent dissection, as usual. I'd been hoping you'd cover this movie for ages. It was one of my favourite movies as a kid: I first saw it at 11pm during the school holidays when I was like 12 and I instantly adored it, and it's fascinated me ever since. Great work as always, and thanks for finally tearing this movie a new one. ^^
I think it is believed primates have forward facing eyes to judge branch distance and things like that rather than judging distance of prey. Some convergence developed from a common need but different reasons.
@@aaronpop0083 I suppose. Other primates have forward facing eyes and most are omnivores so who knows. Could be the predator origin transitioned to tree climbing. Lot of theories for it.
Ok bro il make it easier for you since you pretty much answered your own question and didn't realize it. Are your teeth designed for eating meat? Then your a predator. Forward facing eyes and eating meat is conclusive to being a predator.
@@aaronpop0083 your teeth aren’t exclusive to meat eating you realize. That’s what makes us omnivores. Also forward facing eyes aren’t exclusive to predators. It is common in mammals sure but we see different features arise in different species for different purposes. Take birds for example their wings are used for flying today and swimming but do wings=predatory origin? Hummingbirds aren’t predators so why would they need wings? To get up to flowers. A lot of birds eat nuts and seeds so why do they need wings, to get up to those and be safe from predators. We have a pretty good idea how wings developed but those ancestors filled many niches. Could say ape ancestors were predators that needed a new food source in trees so developed climbing limbs and just gradually found a taste for vegetation. Or they were herbivores that needed to climb up to trees because the ground wasn’t bountiful and developed forward facing eyes to get from tree to tree. See what I mean?
@@gendygoblin8391 no I totally get what your saying, but your overcomplicating it. Roanoke even said yes not all predators have forward facing eyes, but all predators eat meat in one form or another. Human teeth are designed for meat so you are a predator. Until humans evolve to no longer eat meat there teeth will remain the same and will continue to be predators. Btw you have the ape ancestors being predators backwards. Mammals survived mostly on plants until the dinos went bye bye, apes came a while later from the mammals that survived that nightmare timeframe.
20:54 Explains why protecting the groin area is so instinctive for humans. Also, because it's on the front, defending it is made easier, as any attack to it must come head-on. For quadrapeds, attacks to the same regino can come from below/behind, making them harder to avoid.
Who else wants to see Roanoke cover some elden ring monsters, maybe cover the grafting of godrick or the various albinaurics. There are so many different creatures u could cover!
Fun fact im pretty sure the lady who you deemed as Edna has a rare genetic condition where she has 3 X chromosomes rather than 2. I could be wrong but im like 80% sure thats her. Im too tired to actually google it I just remember seeing her in the kindergarten cop movie with Arnold Edit: (11 months later) Yes that is her! She has Hypopituitary Dwarfism! I was incorrect about her having too many x chromosomes she in fact only has one X chromosome, that being her one and only sex chromosome (Turner syndrome).
Awesome movie monster. Loved this movie when it came out. Just watched it actually a couple days ago, haven't seen it in forever. Of course as always the Stan Winston crew absolutely knocked it outta the park with the creature design.
0:13 Why was my first thought about this guy literally "Columbo?" Also, that intro is just vicious I wasn't expecting to hear a shot at QTV (The Number 1 Brand in Lying).
PBS Eons recently did an article/video suggesting that hominin/simian forward facing eyes are an adaptation to better deal with predatory snakes, to precisely gauge distance and threat level; also the reevolution of color vision where our predecessors lost color vision. Later hominids would learn ranged combat against snakes, pressing the (hypothetically) rise of spitting cobras in response.
Was always my understanding that the body that dropped from above during the Gala was just hidden above and just so happened to drop at that moment. Either way that things gotta have some of Nightcrawlers DNA.
Just as you can have late or no puberty, people can also have early puberty in rare cases, where much younger kids undergo the normal puberty changes. Tragically, this, plus “crime,” is why some of the youngest documented mothers have been 5 to 8 years old.
Another lovely dissection of another of my favourite movie monsters! I would really adore if you covered Gwoemul, the monster fish from The Host movie which is a south korean film from the 2000's. It's a really fun film, but be warned; the dub carries a much more comical tone to it while the sub seems to be much more serious.
Is that the one that basically starts out with "Arrogant American Scientist" demanding all his chemicals get dumped down the drain because the bottles were dusty?
Roanoke, great video as always. Still hoping you'll check out 'The Cave' from 2005, it's grossly underrated and I would love to see your analysis of the cross species parasite!
This design was legit a lot better than I was expecting when I first put the movie on tbh, I didn't expect anything cool from the movie and I was shown I was wrong.
Hey Roanoke, wouldn't it be more sensible to say that forward facing eyes are akin to being somewhat of an apex rather than say a predator because things can still take out snakes that need to be able to see further behind them. Whereas and I guess you might be able to say Crocs but they are definitely Apex but the thing is like what natural predators do a gorilla have
I have to disagree. Carnivora for the most part have foward facing eyes. That is one of they ways you classify one through its anatomy. Not all carnivora are apex predators. Edit:Technically gorillas are not predators. They have a diet made mainly of that of a vegetarian. Edit 2: I see roanoke covered my gorilla bit...
@@andreahughes1155 I wasn't claiming predator I was trying to say more along the lines of forward facing eyes= little or no natural predators nothing that they have to be constantly on the swivel in case its after them
The monster looks like the Mutant Fish Monster from that one Korean movie called The Host. Also, when are you gonna cover that movie and talk about the Mutant Fish Monster?
Roanoke: When you go to Chicago, you should always assume people there are trying to eat large portions of your brain. Me: I lived in a small suburb near there for a few years. He's absolutely right by the way.
Hey Roanoke, I was thinking that, since Jurassic World: Dominion is releasing soon, you should do a video about the Indominus Rex and Indoraptor from both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom respectively
@CCP Tube the Indominus is worth talking about because he could discuss cross species hybridization and the biological factors of the Indominus and indoraptor. Also, I liked both movies as well as the OG 3
@@M0butu So? I still like them to this day. What's your problem? Maybe you were a kid when Jurassic Park was first released, and that's fine. Wanna know what my favorite movie is: Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. My favorite animated movie: How To Train Your Dragon. Does that make me a kid? No. That just makes me a fan of kaiju content, which I am. If you have a problem with that, then you can screw right off.
The best part about this channel for me (as a forensic science student) is that whenever you get to the science section sometimes I’ll be like: “Oh I know that, I know that system!” Getting all excited that I’m familiar-ish with what you’re talking about.
When you mentioned callisto and started defining it I immediately thought about The Callisto Project and liked the name even better- and then you referenced the same game and I had a giggle.
Perfect timing! I just finished the first book and was interested in you covering the monster. Though I'll say that the monster was far cooler in the movie. In the book it's basically a bluish half ape half jurassic park V-rapter. Also the relic fungus movie was trash. My two cents
I am living in your walls. You may be concerned about this. In case you are, please read the below: Why are you living in my walls? I'm not going to tell you. Are you only in my walls? You could say I am living in everybody's walls, but in the case I am telling you that I am living in your walls, I am living in your walls. How are you surviving in my walls? In my non-physical form, I am crawling around listening for you. That is all I need to survive in that form. In my physical form, I survive by eating rat corpses that I cook using the wall behind your oven, and I drink the vapour in the extraction fan duct above your shower. What are you planning to do in my walls? Live in them, listening to you. What do I do about you living in my walls? Listen for the scraping. Dont touch the walls. Protect yourself. Avoid lighting candles. When are you going to stop living in my walls? You cannot escape me. Do I call the police? The authorities will not help you. What are the consequences of you living in my walls? Be aware. What if I am ok with you living in my walls? I will make sure you’re not. Are you imaginary? I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS If there are any more questions then please consult your walls by directly speaking to them. Summary: I am living in your walls.
I've been waiting for you to cover this, and I'm so glad you did. Amazing breakdown of one of my favorite monster flicks from when I was a teen. The only thing missing was Augusta's pronunciation of "hypo-talamuss".
I am the current owner/father of a 16 soon to be 17 year old boy I can indeed agree with your teenager statements. Keep doing what you're doing man!!! Also, on a side note, for what it's worth. I'm constantly wrapped up in politics. I subscribe to channels like yours, other movie and comic book channels and some of the other guys mention or bring their personal politics into their entertainment channels and I cannot stress how much I appreciate you and that you do not let your personal politics (whatever they may be) interfere with or sneak intoi any of the videos I watch of yours. Your videos are a Fun getaway for me. THANK YOU GOOD SIR!!!!! and keep pushing on!!!
Man, you're some kind of mind reader. I was just thinking of this movie yesterday and watched it for the first time in a while. Now I wake up this morning and have a video on it in my notification
When you can get to it, the Manhattan Virus from *_Crysis 2_* would be a great one to dissect! The Crysis Fandom Wiki has 2 pages about it to give you all the necessary reading in addition to game footage.
Crazy think a little over 3 years ago I was still a teenager. Even crazier to think it's only been like a year-and-a-half since my body stop trying to flip off ceilings and doorways.
Hello, I love this movie and I love the books even more. At first I was like, oh someone is reacting to such an old film. And then, oh he can't even remember the names of the characters, I have very bad memory when it comes to names too. I love the biological explanation for the mutation. okay, 100 of 100 percent.
I'm kind of curious what would happen if the mutagenic virus was found in the Fallout series both pre and post war Time. Imagine if Big Mt. got ahold of that virus, things would have been so much worse at Vault 22 the killer mutant plants vault. I think it was Vault 22 that was one of the test/experimental vaults.
Read the novel the movie is based on, called "Relic" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I recently read it and it's amazing. Highly recommend. Its sequel "Reliquary" is good too
Hey Roanoke, do you think you’ll ever make a video on any of the mutants from STALKER? I’m very curious what you’d have to say about some of them, like bloodsuckers, controllers, the zombified stalkers (more traditional zombies of folklore, not infected risen from the dead zombies) or even thinks like the psydogs, pseudodogs, fleshs, etc.
As much as this causes an eyeroll, the book was MUCH MUCH better. They cut out one of the most important characters, Pendergast, out of the movie. Also there is so much more cool details and thrilling parts in the book. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who even sort of liked the movie.
0:21 the apatosaurus in the Chicago field museum was found very close to where I grew up. Spent allot of time hiking on the hill where it was pulled out by Riggs so long ago
There is a MTG creature known as a kavu and they look very close to the monster in this movie but there is a beast that fits the image perfectly I saw it years ago but I haven't seen it for years.
@@____________838 thanks and your avatar is very cute. I have been playing MTG sense the start and I had the entire power 9 and almost all of the cards on the reserve list at one point in time. Now I have some of them left but mostly just proxy cards left of the power nine.
@@jedstanaland2897 ouch. I remember reading Wizards/Inquest back in the early to mid90s when all the early sets were coming out, but I didn’t collect the cards until 99-00 when I started buying Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy, and Invasion…
Forward facing eyes is a better indication that a species isn't really a prey species. Crocodiles and alligators are prey animals to other crocodiles and alligators until they are nearly adult sized. Even as adults they have to always be on the look out for another which is bigger. The more forward facing, the less likely they are prey. The Keebler elves as predators is a horrifying prospect. :o
I highly recommend the book (hell the whole Pendergast series) goes into the monster more. Plus makes you feel bad for it. Plus a major change from the book still pisses me off (hint it deals with the kids)
Ah, a classic for me. I love monster movies, specifically monster movies that are creative with the monster in question. Sure the story and characters were shallow, but I still love this movie for the monster. Not only that, loads of practical effects, and CGI used when practical effects wouldn't work (instead of just replacing everything). I love the design of this thing, really feels like they tried to come up with something entirely different but somewhat believable. This probably won't work as a theory to cover, but since you are into science and human morphology, might I suggest the short-lived tv horror series called Threshold? It only had one season (13 episodes), and it was basically aliens warping humans biologically with signals. I know I enjoyed it, and biologically it could be something fun to mock during spare time from how insane it got.
I noticed that the native tribe that gave him the drink, knew what he would end up looking . They had a costume replica, that they used to scare him to show him what not to attack (fear). Wouldn't that mean that they had put all the chosen DNA into the drink, to get the change they wanted him to have? I noticed the beatle that ate the lives didn't get all the same creatures mixed in its change
“The science team actually has a sense of humor which is completely unrealistic.” My girlfriend is an RnD chemist and every now and then I over hear her work calls. They thought her saying a small kitchen accident was a shark bite was the funniest thing ever. Can confirm scientists don’t have very advanced senses of humor 😭
Love this movie. Just watched for the first time a years a few weeks ago. Mostly because of the liberal use of darkness the special effects were still pretty good. The guys crates weren't above deck, they were mistakenly left behind.
So the gorilla has forward facing eyes because the common ancestor of all apes; Pliobates cataloniae, was an omnivorus predator. That it has yet to evolve away from that positioning might even be evidence the switch to a herbivorous diet happened recently in the gorilla.
22:47 I'd say that early primates were likely insectivorous; that coupled with arboreal living may have led to primate stereoscopic vision evolution. It's just that as primates became more tree-adapted, focusing on other foods (recognizing ripe fruits and poisonous vs nonpoisonous leaves), becoming diurnal, and watching for predators, did their stereoscopic vision become adapted for things other than being a predator.
there are 2 episodes of Primeval you might like season 1 episode 4 has a parasite, and season 3 episode 5 has a fungal infections, you could also look at the biology of the future predator. all of these might be interesting to you.
The monsters name reminds me of Kthon, Cthulhu, and Cthugha. Wonder if its inspired by the Lovecraft cosmos partially. He actually had some interesting alien species you could check out, like the Elder THings, Mi-Go, and Great Race of Yith.
Ive only watched the film once a s a kid, and read the novel and its sequel a couple times.. tho i absolutely detest that they altered so much from the books, i can forgive the filmakers for sticking to practical effects as much as possible, and still going all-out on the gory details without grossing out.. i love your breakdown of this beast and thank you for this upload
I think the one thing you don't touch on (Because it's super easy to miss) is how Kathoga's teeth flair out when it opens it's jaws. during the scene where its chasing the swat member up the wall, there is a shot where the beast leans into the light and up at the team before making a noise. during that you can see how when it's mouth rests the teeth are beside eachother like normal, but once it opens the maw they spread outward. I miss little details like that in movie monsters, stuff that is there for the viewer to see so they can craft their own idea of how it works in a way the film won't explain.
If you thought the use of Wilhelm scream in horror movies like this was funny, you'll love Primeval (the bri'ish tv show, not the giant croc movie), every death is a Wilhelm scream. On the subject of primeval, the Future Predator could be an interesting video.
Loved the video, watch this movie last year and enjoyed it quite a bit. Roanoke you should make a vid about the zombies from Dead Alive, an early movie of Peter Jackson's, would love to see how they could make any sense!
When I was younger I used to rent this movie from Blockbuster, I think I rented it like a total of 10 times because I loved it so much. I was a huge monster movie buff and still am
21:27 funny you mentioned that, I read on a creature design forum that one of the references used to design the Kothoga was a tiger. I also read the head was based on a spider's.
Thanks for watching guys! Hitting 700k soon! I appreciate the support y'all have shown the channel :)
Hello
@@kingshadow8782 hello
Feels like just yesterday that I watched the slasher video with the fuzzy mic and 360p gameplay clips
The support is all yours man!
Can u do a video on morbius #morbiussweep
As someone from the small city of Chicago all of this is accurate and it may as well be a documentary.
XD
Yeh especially since the story is about a man killing ppl because he couldn't get his special plant which is a comman occurrence in Chicago.
@@chrossantvegas2694 I assumed they meant all the monkey stuff 🤷♂
@@adamjc9683 🤨
@@giggsy__ awwwwwww 😭😭😭
If I remember correctly from the books The Relic and The Reliquary, Kothoga was sort of a "boogey-man" guardian deity/bio-weapon for the tribe Whitney went to study. They would give foreigners the drink that would transform them unwillingly into Kothoga, and ultimately set them upon rival tribes in the area in times of war or conflict. In response, they would keep feeding said person the leaves to keep the hormonal sustenance available for them and keep them from attacking them, and when it was time to set it upon their enemies, they would stop feeding the person the plants. This would ultimately send "Kothoga" into a frenzied, hunger induced rage as it desperately searched for more of the hormones keeping it alive, and would then seek out the next nearest viable source of sustenance - I.E. the human hypothalamus. This in turn lead the tribe that created Kothoga to be responsible for some of the other tribes being wiped out over time, because their "Kothoga" would kill all of them in search of it's necessary food. When the deed was done, they would simply let "Kothoga" starve, restricting it's intake of hormones, and repeat the process ALL OVER again whenever necessary.
Did the tribe have a plan for the one in the movie? Were they attacking American, not realizing just how big the country is?
@@rexstocephirxiii4263 The tribe had no plan at all for it. It was basically a "fire and forget" kind of deal. There was no back plot of them trying to attack America or anything. They just wanted that guy out of their jungle and that was the easiest way to do it.
In the book (which was, of course, much better than the movie 😬), the creature was called “Mbwun”, which meant “he who walks on all fours”. The current “Mbwun” creature was created from a museum curator, who retained some deep-seated memory of the layout of the museum.
@@rexstocephirxiii4263The area in which the tribe (and mbwun plant) existed was completely destroyed in a fire that was intentionally set to be able to mine the area for gold/resources. The tribe was driven to extinction, and the creature followed the only surviving plant fibers (which had been ignorantly used as packing material for crates of specimens that were being shipped back to the museum from the failed expedition.
Kothoga was the tribe in the book mbwun was what they would call the creature
Why do these isolated tribes always have a macguffin that either cause monsters to appear and/or provide the solution to tamper down or eradicate the monster?
It's a trope. The magical Other. In some movies it's a magical black person, magical native American, magical east Asian, etc. It can be racist, or just a way to intro magic (which is other) into an otherwise normal plot(which tend to be dominated by the white perspective). It can be a gross trope but if done right I personally think its atleast not damaging. Like the Chinese lady in Freaky Friday who has the body swapping fortune cookies, or the guy who has the creature in Gremlins. The characters arent demeaned or anything and are good. Interestingly, you can even see this trope in fantasy settings, with elves and such playing the role of Other that help the Normal human succeed. Obviously, its messed up that other human races are seen as so different than the general audience of these stories but I think the trope will fade as cultures mix more.
@@morgank.6113 I recently saw a pseudoexample from Spell (2020) and it uses geographic culture of voodoo and hoodoo magic in which it is used pretty legitimately. What I don't like is when writers make up a fictional or largely unkown tribe and then apply a made up macguffin magic that holds no cultural reality. Its cheap writing.
@@morgank.6113 I'm not entirely sure about the racism assumption but rather I think its just a shortcut that holds no malice. In either case it's overplayed.
The closest real world example we have to hand of a tribe just going killmode on outsiders right off the bat are the Sentinelese and tbh the brits screwed that shit up for us hahs
Let's just say that there is a reason they are isolated
One of the things I've noticed within the movie is that when the victim unknowingly is given the curse of the Kothoga, he's super defensive in getting his "artifacts" all the way to America. It seems to enhance his possessive traits in that the fungi served as the temporary meal before the Kothoga has to kill to consume more hypothalmi
In the books it's explained that the artifacts were packed using the plant while the plateau they naturally grew on was destroyed. Since he had still a lot of intelligence left he remembered this and followed the crates.
Iirc, in the book it says that the Kothaga’s sense of smell is hyper tuned to the hormones. And since it’s practically addicted to them, it will do anything to get its hit.
@@user-mn8lz7gf6d This was clearly illustrated in the movie as well, except for the part where they went extinct in their native soil.
That’s “hypothalami,” you philistine.😂
@@lockwoodthexton Sounds like a weird Italian lunch meat.
The Kothoga is hands down one of my favorite monster designs.
You get SUPER bonus points for the QuantumTV burn.
Quality work as always.
Thanks brother 🤣
@@RoanokeGaming But you didn't call him nonsense like "transphobe" so points deducted.
where was the burn?
@@TheSSBBfan666 at approximately 0:08
@@DrFrogglePhD trans people are abit to douchey nowadays
I've read the book. Same name. It is outstanding. The writing makes you feel insanely claustrophobic and revives the dread feeling of any museum piece harbouring a monster.
it's time to give you the gay test to see if your gay or not
They REALLY should have used this to setup a Pendargast series. I saw this movie as a kid and just recently realized it was the start of an amazing series that ended being extremely far fetched
It is an amazing book they really need to make the relic into a Netflix series and give it justice cause the movie just changes the entire plot of the book and just keeps a few characters but they didn’t even have Pendergast in the movie
@thomasmolyneaux3700 I saw an interview where they said they didn't have the budget they needed to make the movie they wanted and they had been put on a strict timeline and adding a character as important as Pendargast would require alot more information on the guy. I personally feel they could have cut alot of the pointless shit out and used of to tell a better story. I had no clue when I got fhe first book that it was the first in a long series of awesome, and some not so awesome, books.
@@NoOne-fo1di that’s a shame they got a smaller budget for such a masterpiece of a book.
Currently I have the books being purchased by my library what’s the cutoff point for when the books start to become a money grab
Those fire doors do exist I worked in a title office that had them and during our training we were told that if a fire were to break out in the area we had only a few minutes to get out of that room or we'd die cause it would close and remove all oxygen from the room.
Needless to say I quit that job.
Ahhh an inert gas system?
@@NeumaghAnon no idea but the place was shady due to being partially government ran
@@vindurza well there’s your problem. Government ran.
Wow so it just locks people in
@@schnoz2372 the object is to lock in the fire and starve it of oxygen, people are and they hope not present once the doors shut.. But as we all know not everyone is capable of such high thinking so im sure someone would find a way to be trapped in there.
I saw this a few years ago. Certainly one of the worse options for a monster, considering it starts as a man, and thus could be considered a cannibal, along with what would certainly be a horrible thing to have happen to him. The alterations to his brain and body are obvious, but the process of changing into the monster would have to be way more painful than normal muscle growth, he'd probably be very hungry the whole time, and you never really know how much physical change he was aware of before he lost everything that could be considered human thought. Whitney probably went insane partway through transformation, having to watch parts of his own body visibly change to something else, feeling the pain of it the whole time, and potentially driven partially to madness by hunger along with it. This might actually be a worse monstaer than headcrabs as far as what happens to the person used to form it.
In the book the creature had hung keepsakes from his human life on the wall of its layer and spared one guy the night of the rampage that was always nice to him.
@@Cool_Story_Bruh Hadn't heard of a book for it, but if that was meant to have a trace left of conciously knowing what he was doing, that might actually make it worse.
@@UnswimmingFishYT In the book, it was described as looking very differently. It had two small and red eyes facing frontward, a human/primate like face, the upper body was covered with fur but the lower body was scaly. And it was said that it had an incredibly sad look in its eyes
@@horizonmage_o1839 I imagine most people would be either very sad or very angry if they were stuck living as that.
@@horizonmage_o1839that sounds more terrifying idk which form I’d be more scared of lol movie or book one
The book, The Relic and its sequel The Reliquary were really good. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have numerous thrillers that are worth checking out. Riptide is my personal favorite.
Loved the movie as a kid. Then I read the book when I was in college and ended up hating the movie. How do you cut out the best character from the book for the movie?
Pendergast one of the characters ever. Also the authors weren’t afraid of killing off a main character.
I did not know about a sequel, going to have to check it out.
@@michaelbarnes7351 Not just a sequel, but a whole series, complete with spinoffs and tie-ins.
@@davegolen6507 Thank you for confirming my own opinion on this. I read the book before the movie though so it already sucked to me for the same exact reason.
The fact that the detective's ex wife took his dog is really sad. Also, I really like this movie, it has this perfect mix of horror and action that is not that easy to find.
Kothoga was killing bunch of people in the museum shows the kothoga was a real threat to the world
It also has great humor, that reminds me of the original The Thing from 1951!
@@dominicstclairstudios6324 yes Natures extermination process in this case humans are the target of the kathoga's need to eat.
The Mighty *Kothoga!*
One of my favorite Movie Monsters, 10/10 solely on the design!
Can't wait to see how you tackle this supernatural metamorphosis!~
when I saw it was like "well thats actually cooler than I thought it would be" haha
@@RoanokeGaming Sometimes if you have a good monster design, it makes me overlook a lot of things! (not to say that Relic is a bad flick!)
To be honest, I think in the book, the Kothoga is a lot closer to a biped than the quadruped we see in the movie.
@@____________838 Would love to see artist's interpretation of the book Kothoga...
@@ShadeMeadows I think each edition of the book had an illustration on the cover, lol.
I think Guillermo Del Toro should remake this. There’s some something poetic about it if it happened. The 90s were a strange time for horror movies. Guillermo Del Toro made Mimic but didn’t get the control he deserved at the time. This movie adapted a book that didn’t get the homage and TLC it deserved. I bet it would be fun to see him kinda make a throwback to that era but do a better job of it. When I was a kid, a relic seemed so cool, but growing up really changed how I felt about the film. I’d love to see what Del Toro would do with such a project today, with his name having the pull it has now.
I remember watching The Relic a long time ago as a child because I was fascinated by monster movies. Godzilla, Tremors, etc. were really my bread and butter. It was so interesting to me, that it drove me to read the book it was based on: The Relic. There's a sequel to it, The Reliquary. Both are interesting books that combine science fiction with real world history. Happy to see you take a look at this movie.
This movie terrified me as a child, don't ask why. I'd seen the Alien movies, The Thing, Predator, a bunch of slasher movies and just a lot of horrifying shit but I remained pretty un-phased, then this thing comes along in all its b-movie as glory and yet it got to me. I remember the claustrophobic scene where they were in the water and they realized it was hiding beneath the water getting to young me.
Yeah, the book is much better, as always…
If the Kothoga died, then what's The Reliquary about?
@@DaRkLoRdZoRc So in the books, the Mbwun was the name of the creature, Kothoga the tribe that utilized the plant. In Reliquary, some asshole who we the viewers of the movie are aware of… Decides to tinker with the plant.
@@DaRkLoRdZoRc Without spoiling the whole book: The main focus of The Relic wasn't the Kathoga, but the plants brought back from the expedition. The main antagonist is destroyed in the end, but the focus remains in the second book and continues.
This looks like such a fun movie to just watch with friends, I’m totally going to have to give it a watch sometime! Thank you for the fascinating breakdown of everything as well. I’ve had an awful week and got betrayed by people who I had thought were good friends, and just sitting down to watch some Roanoke ended up being just what I needed 💜
@CCP Tube I will when I have time! 💜
This series of books is a big guilty pleasure for me and the movie is a solid mid-tier budget from the 90's. Break open some spirits and have a good time!
I loved it as a kid. Also crazy how Tom Sizemore was a leading man back in the day lol
You won't be disappointed if you do watch it I had watched a video here on RUclips of just the creature scenes and I was I like ok I have to watch the full movie
This movie terrified me as a child, don't ask why. I'd seen the Alien movies, The Thing, Predator, a bunch of slasher movies and just a lot of horrifying shit but I remained pretty un-phased, then this thing comes along in all its b-movie as glory and yet it got to me. I remember the claustrophobic scene where they were in the water and they realized it was hiding beneath the water getting to young me.
"The rest of his body is torn apart like a QuantumTV copyright takedown request in a courtroom"
That caught me off guard and definitely made me laugh lol
LOL I had to back it up to make sure I heard what I heard that is great
I don’t get the joke. Can someone explain what QuantumTV is?
Edit: just looked it up, I get the joke now.
I gotta say, even for a film from the 90's, the Kothoga is an awesome blend of CGI and practical affects.
Hey Roanoke, I've got a suggestion of a creature you can review. It's ghouls from Vampire: the Masquerade franchise, because they have an interesting life-cycle, as far as vampire stories go. A Ghoul is created when a vampire administers a significant portion of their own blood to another biological organism, whether it's a plant, an animal, or a human. After administration the creature becomes more resilient, less susceptible to damage, and their physical statistics skyrocket as far as human physiology goes, as well as ghouls by lore admit that they receive a rush or a "high" directly after consumption (which'd imply that the vampire blood either contains a severe dose of hormones OR it makes the endocrine system go into overdrive to produce said hormones). Additionally, Ghouls can live indefinitely as long as they receive regular doses of the vampire's blood. They also become physically addicted to the substance and infatuated with its provider - the vampire that ghouled them.
The interesting part begins when a Ghoul goes above human's natural life span. If such an event occurs, the Ghoul in question absolutely must consume vampire blood continuously because otherwise their body's real age catches up to them in a matter of days or sometimes even minutes, if they've been a Ghoul for, say, 200+ years. Through knowledge acquired on your channel (thanks for making ma brain beeg :D), the hypothesis I have is that vampire blood can somehow immediately rectify the genetic damage in living organisms as they undergo mitosis, however it doesn't fix the original errors in the DNA of said cells. This is why Ghouls are so reliant on vampire blood after a certain point - genetic damage does continue to pile up in their bodies over time, and without regular doses of the rectifying agent, cells immediately die after a single instance of mitosis because the damage to the cells is so severe they can't function on their own at all.
Considering that vampire blood essentially puts their cells into overdrive mode (increased healing, physical strength, agility, stamina, and mental capacity), I presume it'd also be a valid thought that vampire blood actually increases the rate at which cellular damage occurs.
Anyway.
It'd be cool if you looked into it more, as you're a biologist and I'm not lol
Keep in mind, that Kindred blood is addictive in the WoD
If he's going to do that he should do revenants too.
@@athannyx6815 most definitely.
YEEEEEES, YOU LEGEND. Love that this is being covered, was a favourite of mine as a kid, loved the novel and the movie. Good to see the comment suggestions are taken seriously too, keep up the awesome content man.
can you eat scotch tape?
@@raven4k998 No. I eat duck tape.
The book by Preston and Child the movie is based on is actually pretty good if I remember correctly. Unfortunatly many things got changed and the main character Inspector Pendergast who is a pretty interesting character (and reoccuring in the books by the authors'duo) is missing completly here - Professor Frog actually doesn't get killed, instead playing a central role in a sequel.
The book was great and so was the sequel
Now if only they can make a book-accurate movie or TV series abt Pendergast...
@@avramnovorra
I agree - would be great resource material for an adaptation! 👌
@@Sir_Harbinger
That's how I remember it as well!
They cut out the most interesting character?! The heck?! There's a whole series with Pendergast, how can they just leave him out?! That's so wrong.
margo, pendergast (novel exclusive badass fbi agent) and lieutenant d'agosta are my favorite characters
I liked them as well!
@@RoanokeGaming i seriously need to catch up om the novels, haven't read them in years
Microbiologist are the Chads?😅 No Sir. Biomedical engineers are the biology 🧬 Chads…😎🤓👨🏼🔬 I’m a biomedical engineer, totally a mega nerd Chad! You are quickly becoming my favorite channel. As an engineer and gaming/movie guy it’s a perfect combination
I must disagree, you can be the brads tho 😎
I always just assumed that the body that fell in the museum during the gala had been killed earlier, and the monster had just carelessly left it wedged into scaffolding or something, and it was just bad timing that it fell.
omg, the Keeblar Elves as predators tangent had me laughing non-stop.
Rephrasing a previous question, how many scientists could you take in a fight, disregarding Roanoke of course. Dude sounds massive
Edit:I would say about 4, fifth one would come with some E. coli if what my buddy said was true about lacing his cousin’s food with E. Coli
;)
I'd say maybe 5-7,if they aren't Roanake levels of swoleness
About three in hand to hand
Infinite. I incite infighting
@@ZergOverlord9374 a true sigma male
I never understood why they changed Dr. Whittlesey into Dr. Whitney. It seems so minor a change.
I'm a little more pissed they changed Mbwun into Kathoga. Kathoga is the name of both the tribe and their "deity." _Mbwun_ is the name of the creature gifted by Kathoga to the tribe as a means of defense.
They feed Whittlesey the leaves with the intent to control him; they didn't want to be found and so intended to use him to kill off anyone who could find them again.
Prob changed the name of the doctor since it’s easier ti pronounce
@@Hunter-sw3rl Whittle-see
Yeah, a _real_ headscratcher, that one.
Probably because it looks as though it sounds like "witlessly"
"Mbwun" was changed since it sounded too harmless and was harder to pronounce.
@@vahlen5281 "mib-one"
Yeah. Yeah, _really_ difficult.
Theory: Roanoke had a NordVPN sponsor because they knew it would be embarrassing if people found out that he started with the feet. 🤔
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOURE GONNA OUT ME
23:05 "Just remember, forward-facing eyes typically is indicative of predators. Which I now have to remind you: Keebler elves have forward-facing eyes. We all know the average Keebler can run up to 35 mph if it smells a child's blood."
Ummm, I have questions.
You don't want answers. I still have nightmares about those vicious little bastards.
It may be the devil's lettuce I'm enjoying but the keebler elves bit has me laughing into hysterics. Thank you. 😌
Absolutely!
14:39 Thiose doors were not fire doors but barrier doors to prevent theft in event of museum heist. This was in the novel and described as fatal flaw in system, designed to keep people in, where in this situation people needed to get out.
This video was an excellent dissection, as usual. I'd been hoping you'd cover this movie for ages. It was one of my favourite movies as a kid: I first saw it at 11pm during the school holidays when I was like 12 and I instantly adored it, and it's fascinated me ever since. Great work as always, and thanks for finally tearing this movie a new one. ^^
Have you read the book?
I think it is believed primates have forward facing eyes to judge branch distance and things like that rather than judging distance of prey. Some convergence developed from a common need but different reasons.
.....is this what you believe?
@@aaronpop0083 I suppose. Other primates have forward facing eyes and most are omnivores so who knows. Could be the predator origin transitioned to tree climbing. Lot of theories for it.
Ok bro il make it easier for you since you pretty much answered your own question and didn't realize it. Are your teeth designed for eating meat? Then your a predator. Forward facing eyes and eating meat is conclusive to being a predator.
@@aaronpop0083 your teeth aren’t exclusive to meat eating you realize. That’s what makes us omnivores. Also forward facing eyes aren’t exclusive to predators. It is common in mammals sure but we see different features arise in different species for different purposes.
Take birds for example their wings are used for flying today and swimming but do wings=predatory origin? Hummingbirds aren’t predators so why would they need wings? To get up to flowers. A lot of birds eat nuts and seeds so why do they need wings, to get up to those and be safe from predators. We have a pretty good idea how wings developed but those ancestors filled many niches.
Could say ape ancestors were predators that needed a new food source in trees so developed climbing limbs and just gradually found a taste for vegetation.
Or they were herbivores that needed to climb up to trees because the ground wasn’t bountiful and developed forward facing eyes to get from tree to tree. See what I mean?
@@gendygoblin8391 no I totally get what your saying, but your overcomplicating it. Roanoke even said yes not all predators have forward facing eyes, but all predators eat meat in one form or another. Human teeth are designed for meat so you are a predator. Until humans evolve to no longer eat meat there teeth will remain the same and will continue to be predators. Btw you have the ape ancestors being predators backwards. Mammals survived mostly on plants until the dinos went bye bye, apes came a while later from the mammals that survived that nightmare timeframe.
"At the small town of Chicago"...
Are we, am I thinking of the same Chicago?
its a reference to me saying St louis was a small town in Night of the living dead lol
20:54 Explains why protecting the groin area is so instinctive for humans. Also, because it's on the front, defending it is made easier, as any attack to it must come head-on. For quadrapeds, attacks to the same regino can come from below/behind, making them harder to avoid.
Who else wants to see Roanoke cover some elden ring monsters, maybe cover the grafting of godrick or the various albinaurics. There are so many different creatures u could cover!
Fun fact im pretty sure the lady who you deemed as Edna has a rare genetic condition where she has 3 X chromosomes rather than 2. I could be wrong but im like 80% sure thats her. Im too tired to actually google it I just remember seeing her in the kindergarten cop movie with Arnold
Edit: (11 months later) Yes that is her! She has Hypopituitary Dwarfism! I was incorrect about her having too many x chromosomes she in fact only has one X chromosome, that being her one and only sex chromosome (Turner syndrome).
Her name is Linda Hunt, and MY GOD is her resemblance to Edna uncanny! No official word regarding if she was the inspiration.
Awesome movie monster. Loved this movie when it came out. Just watched it actually a couple days ago, haven't seen it in forever. Of course as always the Stan Winston crew absolutely knocked it outta the park with the creature design.
Loved it as well!
Tom sizemore was the best rip to him
I was so upset when the character of Agent Pendergast didn't show up in this. He made the book this movie is based on infinitely better.
0:13 Why was my first thought about this guy literally "Columbo?"
Also, that intro is just vicious I wasn't expecting to hear a shot at QTV (The Number 1 Brand in Lying).
That also caught me off guard lmao
PBS Eons recently did an article/video suggesting that hominin/simian forward facing eyes are an adaptation to better deal with predatory snakes, to precisely gauge distance and threat level; also the reevolution of color vision where our predecessors lost color vision. Later hominids would learn ranged combat against snakes, pressing the (hypothetically) rise of spitting cobras in response.
Was always my understanding that the body that dropped from above during the Gala was just hidden above and just so happened to drop at that moment. Either way that things gotta have some of Nightcrawlers DNA.
BAMF
That's what it was in the book. It was hanging out of a vent above the exhibit.
Just as you can have late or no puberty, people can also have early puberty in rare cases, where much younger kids undergo the normal puberty changes. Tragically, this, plus “crime,” is why some of the youngest documented mothers have been 5 to 8 years old.
Your ability to burn others and then yourself back-and-forth like a jump rope is the content I Subscribed for
I can never take myself too seriously 😎 thanks for watching brother!
@@RoanokeGaming any day brother 😎
I freaking LOVED this movie as a kid. Probably what got me to love creature features as much as I do now
Another lovely dissection of another of my favourite movie monsters! I would really adore if you covered Gwoemul, the monster fish from The Host movie which is a south korean film from the 2000's. It's a really fun film, but be warned; the dub carries a much more comical tone to it while the sub seems to be much more serious.
Is that the one that basically starts out with "Arrogant American Scientist" demanding all his chemicals get dumped down the drain because the bottles were dusty?
@@MrShukaku1991 Yep! That’s the one!
Roanoke, great video as always. Still hoping you'll check out 'The Cave' from 2005, it's grossly underrated and I would love to see your analysis of the cross species parasite!
Descent will always be better, but The Cave is good too. Soundtrack is a real banger.
Dear Roanoke, I have a request for you, have you heard of Bugsnax? I want you to do a video on the uh, infection in that game.
That would be interesting but I doubt there would be much science behind it sadly.
Dude, what a blast from the past
I remember I literally saw this movie because of the creature pics they put on Fangoria
This design was legit a lot better than I was expecting when I first put the movie on tbh, I didn't expect anything cool from the movie and I was shown I was wrong.
hold still I have to eat your hypothalimas
Hey Roanoke, wouldn't it be more sensible to say that forward facing eyes are akin to being somewhat of an apex rather than say a predator because things can still take out snakes that need to be able to see further behind them. Whereas and I guess you might be able to say Crocs but they are definitely Apex but the thing is like what natural predators do a gorilla have
I have to disagree. Carnivora for the most part have foward facing eyes. That is one of they ways you classify one through its anatomy. Not all carnivora are apex predators.
Edit:Technically gorillas are not predators. They have a diet made mainly of that of a vegetarian.
Edit 2: I see roanoke covered my gorilla bit...
@@andreahughes1155 I wasn't claiming predator I was trying to say more along the lines of forward facing eyes= little or no natural predators nothing that they have to be constantly on the swivel in case its after them
The monster looks like the Mutant Fish Monster from that one Korean movie called The Host. Also, when are you gonna cover that movie and talk about the Mutant Fish Monster?
Not really.
Roanoke: When you go to Chicago, you should always assume people there are trying to eat large portions of your brain.
Me: I lived in a small suburb near there for a few years. He's absolutely right by the way.
John also looks to have kept growing, almost every scene he's in he looks larger, might just be the scenes
"High society is meeting at an exhibit completely unaware of what is happening bellow them" That a very useful quote
Hey Roanoke, I was thinking that, since Jurassic World: Dominion is releasing soon, you should do a video about the Indominus Rex and Indoraptor from both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom respectively
@CCP Tube the Indominus is worth talking about because he could discuss cross species hybridization and the biological factors of the Indominus and indoraptor. Also, I liked both movies as well as the OG 3
@@MinecraftWorld1954 Sure you liked them, you're a kid.
@@M0butu So? I still like them to this day. What's your problem? Maybe you were a kid when Jurassic Park was first released, and that's fine. Wanna know what my favorite movie is:
Godzilla: King Of The Monsters.
My favorite animated movie:
How To Train Your Dragon.
Does that make me a kid? No. That just makes me a fan of kaiju content, which I am. If you have a problem with that, then you can screw right off.
Indomenous Raptor.
The best part about this channel for me (as a forensic science student) is that whenever you get to the science section sometimes I’ll be like:
“Oh I know that, I know that system!”
Getting all excited that I’m familiar-ish with what you’re talking about.
"Its a eunich system. I know this"
I rented this movie so often when I was 12 that I ended up buying it on VHS when my local Block Buster shut down in their closing sale.
When you mentioned callisto and started defining it I immediately thought about The Callisto Project and liked the name even better- and then you referenced the same game and I had a giggle.
Perfect timing! I just finished the first book and was interested in you covering the monster. Though I'll say that the monster was far cooler in the movie. In the book it's basically a bluish half ape half jurassic park V-rapter.
Also the relic fungus movie was trash. My two cents
ive been wanting to get a hold of that book for years!
Is it a physical copy or digital?
It was the virus in the fungus.
I am living in your walls.
You may be concerned about this. In case you are, please read the below:
Why are you living in my walls?
I'm not going to tell you.
Are you only in my walls?
You could say I am living in everybody's walls, but in the case I am telling you that I am living in your walls, I am living in your walls.
How are you surviving in my walls?
In my non-physical form, I am crawling around listening for you. That is all I need to survive in that form. In my physical form, I survive by eating rat corpses that I cook using the wall behind your oven, and I drink the vapour in the extraction fan duct above your shower.
What are you planning to do in my walls?
Live in them, listening to you.
What do I do about you living in my walls?
Listen for the scraping. Dont touch the walls. Protect yourself. Avoid lighting candles.
When are you going to stop living in my walls?
You cannot escape me.
Do I call the police?
The authorities will not help you.
What are the consequences of you living in my walls?
Be aware.
What if I am ok with you living in my walls?
I will make sure you’re not.
Are you imaginary?
I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS I AM LIVING IN YOUR WALLS
If there are any more questions then please consult your walls by directly speaking to them.
Summary:
I am living in your walls.
Yes...
I've been waiting for you to cover this, and I'm so glad you did. Amazing breakdown of one of my favorite monster flicks from when I was a teen. The only thing missing was Augusta's pronunciation of "hypo-talamuss".
I am the current owner/father of a 16 soon to be 17 year old boy I can indeed agree with your teenager statements. Keep doing what you're doing man!!!
Also, on a side note, for what it's worth. I'm constantly wrapped up in politics. I subscribe to channels like yours, other movie and comic book channels and some of the other guys mention or bring their personal politics into their entertainment channels and I cannot stress how much I appreciate you and that you do not let your personal politics (whatever they may be) interfere with or sneak intoi any of the videos I watch of yours. Your videos are a Fun getaway for me. THANK YOU GOOD SIR!!!!! and keep pushing on!!!
Man, you're some kind of mind reader. I was just thinking of this movie yesterday and watched it for the first time in a while. Now I wake up this morning and have a video on it in my notification
There's not believing in superstition, THEN THERE IS JUST SPITTING INTO THE FACE OF CHANCE...that was a good line!
When you can get to it, the Manhattan Virus from *_Crysis 2_* would be a great one to dissect! The Crysis Fandom Wiki has 2 pages about it to give you all the necessary reading in addition to game footage.
Now we ask the Question.....Can Roanoke run Crysis?
The Relic is a solid creature feature horror story, and one of the better monster movies of the 1990s - well worth a watch.
Crazy think a little over 3 years ago I was still a teenager. Even crazier to think it's only been like a year-and-a-half since my body stop trying to flip off ceilings and doorways.
Hello, I love this movie and I love the books even more. At first I was like, oh someone is reacting to such an old film. And then, oh he can't even remember the names of the characters, I have very bad memory when it comes to names too. I love the biological explanation for the mutation. okay, 100 of 100 percent.
I'm kind of curious what would happen if the mutagenic virus was found in the Fallout series both pre and post war Time. Imagine if Big Mt. got ahold of that virus, things would have been so much worse at Vault 22 the killer mutant plants vault. I think it was Vault 22 that was one of the test/experimental vaults.
Read the novel the movie is based on, called "Relic" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I recently read it and it's amazing. Highly recommend. Its sequel "Reliquary" is good too
As biology major in college right now, I love these videos because they help reinforce some of the things I’m learning, so thank you
This entire channel is a testament to the fact that humans want to learn you just have to make it entertaining.
whole heartedly agree
Was hoping you would do this move I find it an underrated gem though I heard the books were better but that is usually the case.
Hey Roanoke, do you think you’ll ever make a video on any of the mutants from STALKER? I’m very curious what you’d have to say about some of them, like bloodsuckers, controllers, the zombified stalkers (more traditional zombies of folklore, not infected risen from the dead zombies) or even thinks like the psydogs, pseudodogs, fleshs, etc.
When even Roanoke, the internet’s sweet heart, makes fun of you, you know you messed up. Good job Quantum TV😂
I feel like he can pull out of it, its gonna require humility though so its anyone's guess as to if he does that lol
As much as this causes an eyeroll, the book was MUCH MUCH better. They cut out one of the most important characters, Pendergast, out of the movie. Also there is so much more cool details and thrilling parts in the book. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who even sort of liked the movie.
The thought of being turned into a Chimeric beast is truly terryfying. Great work as always and I'm waiting for the new vid next week
0:21 the apatosaurus in the Chicago field museum was found very close to where I grew up. Spent allot of time hiking on the hill where it was pulled out by Riggs so long ago
There is a MTG creature known as a kavu and they look very close to the monster in this movie but there is a beast that fits the image perfectly I saw it years ago but I haven't seen it for years.
The Anurids? Possibly Baloths?
@@____________838 thanks and your avatar is very cute. I have been playing MTG sense the start and I had the entire power 9 and almost all of the cards on the reserve list at one point in time. Now I have some of them left but mostly just proxy cards left of the power nine.
@@jedstanaland2897 ouch. I remember reading Wizards/Inquest back in the early to mid90s when all the early sets were coming out, but I didn’t collect the cards until 99-00 when I started buying Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy, and Invasion…
Forward facing eyes is a better indication that a species isn't really a prey species. Crocodiles and alligators are prey animals to other crocodiles and alligators until they are nearly adult sized. Even as adults they have to always be on the look out for another which is bigger. The more forward facing, the less likely they are prey. The Keebler elves as predators is a horrifying prospect. :o
I highly recommend the book (hell the whole Pendergast series) goes into the monster more. Plus makes you feel bad for it. Plus a major change from the book still pisses me off (hint it deals with the kids)
yep, bc the movie decided kids are just immortal, apparently.
@@auqustfire I was disappointed that they decided not to kill the children.
Guy: "DNA plays no part in our lives.."
Roanoke: "Hold my beer."
Ah, a classic for me. I love monster movies, specifically monster movies that are creative with the monster in question. Sure the story and characters were shallow, but I still love this movie for the monster. Not only that, loads of practical effects, and CGI used when practical effects wouldn't work (instead of just replacing everything). I love the design of this thing, really feels like they tried to come up with something entirely different but somewhat believable.
This probably won't work as a theory to cover, but since you are into science and human morphology, might I suggest the short-lived tv horror series called Threshold? It only had one season (13 episodes), and it was basically aliens warping humans biologically with signals. I know I enjoyed it, and biologically it could be something fun to mock during spare time from how insane it got.
I noticed that the native tribe that gave him the drink, knew what he would end up looking . They had a costume replica, that they used to scare him to show him what not to attack (fear). Wouldn't that mean that they had put all the chosen DNA into the drink, to get the change they wanted him to have? I noticed the beatle that ate the lives didn't get all the same creatures mixed in its change
Just the leaves with the fungus imbibing it does the rest.
This movie is one of those hidden gems, I remember watching this on the Syfi channel at 1pm as kid lol
“The science team actually has a sense of humor which is completely unrealistic.” My girlfriend is an RnD chemist and every now and then I over hear her work calls. They thought her saying a small kitchen accident was a shark bite was the funniest thing ever. Can confirm scientists don’t have very advanced senses of humor 😭
Love this movie. Just watched for the first time a years a few weeks ago. Mostly because of the liberal use of darkness the special effects were still pretty good.
The guys crates weren't above deck, they were mistakenly left behind.
So the gorilla has forward facing eyes because the common ancestor of all apes; Pliobates cataloniae, was an omnivorus predator. That it has yet to evolve away from that positioning might even be evidence the switch to a herbivorous diet happened recently in the gorilla.
22:47 I'd say that early primates were likely insectivorous; that coupled with arboreal living may have led to primate stereoscopic vision evolution. It's just that as primates became more tree-adapted, focusing on other foods (recognizing ripe fruits and poisonous vs nonpoisonous leaves), becoming diurnal, and watching for predators, did their stereoscopic vision become adapted for things other than being a predator.
there are 2 episodes of Primeval you might like season 1 episode 4 has a parasite, and season 3 episode 5 has a fungal infections, you could also look at the biology of the future predator. all of these might be interesting to you.
I haven't seen this movie since it came out and never realized myself that the creature teleports around the building more than Jason Vorhees.
That's just an issue with the movie adaptation. The book's much more clear on the creature's movements.
The design for this monster was actually really good!
The monsters name reminds me of Kthon, Cthulhu, and Cthugha. Wonder if its inspired by the Lovecraft cosmos partially. He actually had some interesting alien species you could check out, like the Elder THings, Mi-Go, and Great Race of Yith.
Ive only watched the film once a s a kid, and read the novel and its sequel a couple times.. tho i absolutely detest that they altered so much from the books, i can forgive the filmakers for sticking to practical effects as much as possible, and still going all-out on the gory details without grossing out.. i love your breakdown of this beast and thank you for this upload
I think the one thing you don't touch on (Because it's super easy to miss) is how Kathoga's teeth flair out when it opens it's jaws. during the scene where its chasing the swat member up the wall, there is a shot where the beast leans into the light and up at the team before making a noise.
during that you can see how when it's mouth rests the teeth are beside eachother like normal, but once it opens the maw they spread outward.
I miss little details like that in movie monsters, stuff that is there for the viewer to see so they can craft their own idea of how it works in a way the film won't explain.
Writing Pendergast out of the movie was the equivalent of allowing Amy to survive to the end of that movie. 😉
If you thought the use of Wilhelm scream in horror movies like this was funny, you'll love Primeval (the bri'ish tv show, not the giant croc movie), every death is a Wilhelm scream.
On the subject of primeval, the Future Predator could be an interesting video.
I call it a Horrat for horror bat.
Loved the video, watch this movie last year and enjoyed it quite a bit. Roanoke you should make a vid about the zombies from Dead Alive, an early movie of Peter Jackson's, would love to see how they could make any sense!
When I was younger I used to rent this movie from Blockbuster, I think I rented it like a total of 10 times because I loved it so much. I was a huge monster movie buff and still am
21:27 funny you mentioned that, I read on a creature design forum that one of the references used to design the Kothoga was a tiger. I also read the head was based on a spider's.