This is a very ordinary slasher flick with a standout “death-trap” GIMP set up that will not quickly be forgotten by the viewer. The movie follows a conventional slasher formula: A group of mixed-gender young people are trapped in an isolated place (an abandoned air base where they work restoring it to an aviation museum), besieged by a masked killer who is propelled by a mystical force (the titular relic) to off them one-by-one as they naturally fail to stick together for protection. All the stock characters are here, among them Whiny Chick Rachel (Kelly Ray), Virginal Good Girl Terri (Jennifer Lauren Grant), Busty Babe Alison (Caitlin Sabins) and her Prankster Boyfriend Max. Before the killing starts, all of the women get naked except of course Terri, who refuses to join in a strip poker game, and Debbie Rochon (looking a bit matronly here in a figure-hiding outfit but still the prettiest), who wins the game but nevertheless flashes a tit for the losers.

Alison and Max like to spice up their sexual liaisons with role-playing. Alison is searching for Max when she is confronted by a guy in a flight suit with identity-hiding oxygen mask and one of those cool, curved warrior knives. Without speaking, he gets his “point” across that he wants her to undress. Then he runs the blade sloooooowly over her body, and gropes her tits. Something’s not quite right, though – Alison doesn’t seem as terrified as she originally was. *spoiler* Turns out it’s really Max in disguise, who castigates Alison for stepping out of character.*end spoiler* Still, I liked this scene for the tactile use of knife against bare skin.

Later, at about the 1:09 mark, Rachel is grabbed from behind and dragged through a heavy steel door that slams shut. As her friends struggle to open it, they are unaware that the door has been rigged with a wire that slowly chokes naked, bound and gagged Rachel with every pull. This is a clever set-up and the scene drips with tension. You see very few mainstream movies these days that will push the GIMPage this far. It is the best aspect of an otherwise dull movie. And I was getting a little tired of Rachel anyway.

Terri, whose main contribution to the movie up to this point has been her scintillating crystal-blue eyes, is the next candidate for a death-trap. She is discovered, fully-clothed, with her ankles chained to the floor and her arms tied overhead, connected to a winch that pulls her up and down. A timer governs the mechanism, and a motion detector prevents Terri’s rescuers from approaching her. But if they don’t intervene she’ll be doomed for sure. This method is a kind of technological update of the old witch torture that had the victim suspended from the ceiling by her wrists with a millstone tied to her feet. Nice idea that would have worked better if Terri hadn’t been fully-dressed. *spoiler* Turns out it is a gimmick, and Terri was not in any real danger *end spoiler*. Things hurtle to a conclusion with a few twists and turns that most veteran viewers of slashers would have probably anticipated anyway.

Movie pluses: Lotsa female nudity and one great GIMP scene.

Movie minuses: Too much cheesy dialog, bad acting and cliché-driven plot developments and not enough real GIMPage.