The Ruins (2008)

Whether you consider plants a source of terror or not will ultimately determine how you feel about the grisly horror movie The Ruins, but director Carter Smith and his cast and crew certainly give their all in bringing the chills of Scott Smith's novel to the big screen. Jena Malone (Saved) and Shawn Ashmore (the X-Men franchise) are the name actors in a pair of American couples down Mexico way who are ambushed by hostile Mayans and forced to the top of an ancient temple, where a monstrous and diabolically clever entity awaits them. Director Smith and his talented crew (which includes cinematographer Darius Khondji of Se7en fame and composer Graeme Revell) create a visually impressive spookshow but can't quite deliver genuine suspense (gore, however, is handled capably), and Scott Smith's script boils away much of the character development and mounting terror in his book, which also strands the likeable cast. The movie's monster, so alarming and imaginative in the original novel, is likely to provoke as many laughs as screams from filmgoers, especially when it reveals its unique talent. -- Paul Gaita Amazon.com

A Formulaic Thriller That Gets The Formula Right.

As if chainsaw wielding psychos and third-world sadist weren't enough, travel-happy beautiful people now have a new thing to fear......Plants?

Ruins doesn't make any secret of its pretty absurd 'monster', but the film is smart enough not to take the concept to laughable extremes. When gore befalls our travelers it's mostly self-inflicted, and the tension comes not from the usual chase but from the increasingly dire situation and the character's utter inability to escape it.

Ruins is like 'Cabin Fever' with weeds instead of viruses and the pacing follows the typical slasher pic to a tee. It doesn't get points for originality, but the cast features some familiar (if hard to place) faces, all veteran B film or bit role actors who know their stuff. I wouldn't pay $20 for it, but I'd grab it from the bargain bin in a heartbeat.

The Unrated version features director commentary, making of features, plus scenes deleted from the theatrical version (read: more 'boobage'). October 7, 2008

A near miss. Some bad dialogue and early pacing deflate the creepiness

Four young, attractive Americans are in Mexico for a few days of Spring Break-like laying around and drinking. They meet a young, attractive German guy who encourages them to go with him to visit a Mayan ruin that is off the tourist radar. You see, his brother, an archeologist, has gone there with his girlfriend...otherwise they'd have the place to themselves. The Americans, in a nod towards soaking up some history & culture, accompany their new friend to the ruin, which is nothing more than a modest sized Mayan pyramid, fairly well covered in some sort of vine with red flowers. Along the way, they pick up a young Greek man, also on his way to the ruin.

They arrive and are suddenly surrounded by some natives, who speak Mayan, not Spanish, and their threatening gestures drive the 6 tourists up the pyramid and into the foliage. This, based on the reaction of the natives, is REALLY BAD. In fact, after touching a plant, the Greek man tries to leave, and is promptly killed by the natives. So our remaining "heroes" find they are kinda stuck at the top of the pyramid. Cell phones don't get signals, the natives are vigilant and vicious and there is no sign of the German archeologist and his girlfriend.

This is the setup for the laughable yet somehow insidiously creepy THE RUINS. I've never read the book, so cannot judge it's faithfulness to the source material. I can't imagine it's all that important.

As you might guess (or seen from the trailers), all is not well at this pyramid. The seemingly harmless vines actually have fairly malevolent powers, and the 5 tourists have a pretty miserable, scary time of it.

I hesitate to tell you more of the plot. This film isn't terrifically gory, nor are the effects even terribly convincing. But as time wears on and the humans become more desperate to escape...the movie begins to become effective despite itself. There is just something inherently creepy in what happens. The idea of things literally getting under your skin is just a little too cringe-worthy to simply be laughed off.

It's a very simple, direct story that could have been readily told in 20 minutes less time...but the writers REALLY stretched to get us to 90 minutes. The opening 15 minutes or so establishes the dynamics between the lead characters, and this portion is DEADLY dull. We know it's obligatory...but I couldn't help thinking about the far superior THE DESCENT, which took about 6 minutes to establish its characters. Yes, it did it in a fairly clichéd manner, but at least it got it over with in a hurry. THE RUINS seems to take forever to get going.

The acting is spotty too. Best known, and least successful is Jena Malone, who seems like the person you'd least want to take on spring break with you. Whiny and high-maintenance...she does little to win our sympathy, particularly when she gets drunk and we see how poorly she behaves with her inhibitions down.. Far better is relative unknown Laura Ramsey, who endures some of the greatest hardships and is most successful at translating her fear right to the audience. Jonathan Tucker ("The Black Donnellys") is okay as Malone's boyfriend...he is at least suitably annoyed at her through most of the film. Joe Anderson (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) is Mathias, their new German friend, and he lays on a thick accent, a little more that is very convincing.

But we all know we watch these kinds of movies for the thrills and chills. I wouldn't say it delivers many thrills, but there are a decent number of chills, if you have the patience to wait for them.

I am literally completely on the fence about recommending this movie. If you like the kind of film I've described, check it out. If you normally shy from the genre...this is NOT the film to change your mind.
September 29, 2008

A bit predictable

This film could have capitalised more on its exotic and mysterious atmosphere, but instead, focuses too much on gore and ultra-predictable plots. I also noticed that the cover of the dvd looks a lot like "The Descent."

What ruined "The Ruins" for me was the plot about the evil vegetation. Something straight out of a B Horror film, and I wasn't expecting a B Horror film. I knew it was a low-budget film, but wasn't there something else that could have been done with the plot? And there was way, way too much focus on gore. This isn't what horror films are supposed to about -- don't even get me started on the "Saw" movies, which I refuse to watch.

There isn't much else I can say. This was a very predictable film and it wasn't very interesting. It's too bad, again, that most films set in remote and mysterious jungles never live up to their promise of delivering the visual and psychological impact that they seem to hype.

Addendum: After reading a few other reviews, I realised that this movie is based on a book, so I suppose the plot couldn't have been changed all that much, if at all. Still, this film just didn't do it for me. September 24, 2008

Suspenseful Movie that Entertains

The plot and acting in this movie aren't that great, but what it lacks in story and polish it makes up for in suspense and entertainment value. I enjoy the genre (Wrong Turn, Turistas, etc) and if you are a fan of those movies then you will more than likely also enjoy "The Ruins". Works well for what it is and is worth a look. September 13, 2008

A bad book gets worse

The film version of "The Ruins" is a classic example of "not as good as the book". Unfortunately, the book wasn't that great, either. By isolating the story in one small geographic area (really, just one "ruin"), writer Scott Smith increases the despair of his characters, but also limits where the narrative can go. The main antagonist lacks the sinister, deliberate quality that it had in the book, making it seem somewhat more incidental than the secondary antagonist(s). Without giving too much away, Smith never explains the theory of "why" they are trapped, as in the book, so it feels less satisfying. Ultimately, it gets the Hollywood treatment, with a different ending, the omission of a crucial character (his lines/actions are given to other members of an already large protagonistic cast), and a final feeling of "that's it?". September 12, 2008

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