The Ruins (2008)

The overall story-arc is your stereotypical mad-mad in the woods thriller. The plot contains various reference to the typical style we've come to love and hate in horror films. However, this movie places a nice twist on the sub-plot. Whiles the teens are up to something they should not be, the monster in the dark isn't quite what you except. We don't see a mad bunch of hillbillies, or creatures with no origin. It stays clear of a supernatural entity or a more basic mad man of the seventies era. We instead, see Mother Nature take her seeds within the story and character. A welcomed change. If you're looking for a good, suspenseful horror, then I would strongly advise looking elsewhere. The horror is scares to say the least. You would find more fright in a Scooby-Doo movie and more suspense in their long running TV shows, then in any part of this film. I found myself firmly planted back in my seat, and never coming to the edge of my chair. The films need it pass on moments where they could play to the suspense, leaves the viewer feeling cheated and unsurprised at the ending.The gore within this film is brief and used mainly to further develop the story arc. The scenes are plentiful in blood and certainly make feel the need to glance away from your screens. While the amputation scene leaves much to be desired, the film more than make up for it with one of the female leads slow battle with insanity and downward spiral into cutting herself. The sexual conduct of this film is split on me. While I enjoyed the placement of nudity and welcomed the change of not having to see every female nude, for god only knows what reason. This film places a brief nude scene, while implying sexual conduct. Having said that, there is one scene that raises more questions that answered, as a female leads, give a hand job to her surprised boyfriend, following events that make you question why? It severed no purpose to the story, nor showed nothing more than a hand below the sheets, and even came following character deaths. Overall, the writing felt bland, but at points creative. The characters where un-relatable and forgettable. If felt very much like a small budget indy film, and left the viewer wondering just what it all meant. With little playing to its intended genre, I would strongly advise watching, only as a last resort.

I loved this movie, even if the actors are not always convincing. The only downside for me is that there is no explanation to explain to us why the ruins are cursed. It would have been nice at the end to tell us why the ruins are in this state. Finally, I did not much like the ending. There are two purposes and I find the second much more convincing.

Scott B. Smith, writer of "A Simple Plan" (the novel and the 1998 movie), also wrote the 2008 novel & film "The Ruins," which is about two college couples vacationing in Mexico who hook up with a German and visit an unknown Mayan pyramid off the beaten track. They are terrorized when local Natives surround the pyramid with deadly weapons, refusing to permit them to leave, and more horrified by the reason why!"The Ruins" refuses to make the mistake of too many conventional horror flicks by not going over-the-top with the situation, the "monster" or the horror/thrills, which makes these films more goofy than horrifying. For instance, take the ending of "The Ruins" (which is different than the book and, in my opinion, better): In a typical horror movie there would've been a wild (i.e. thrilling but totally unbelievable) vehicle pursuit by the Mayan descendants; not here. It's the BELIEVABILITY of "The Ruins" that makes it effective, which is reinforced by the notable acting of the five protagonists.Speaking of which, I don't normally notice acting performances, but I found the acting stellar by the main protagonists – Jonathan Tucker as Jeff, Laura Ramsey as Stacy, Jena Malone as Amy, Shawn Ashmore as Eric and Joe Anderson as Mathias, the German. The two girls and Tucker (Jeff) especially stand out.I found these protagonists likable and fairly fleshed-out for a 90-minute horror flick. For one, they're not the typical frat trash you see in so many horror movies. Secondly, we see signs of character again and again, which I detail below.Some complain that the non-human antagonists are decidedly un-scary, but that's one of the main points of the movie. Like 1963's "The Birds," it takes something we see every day and are NOT scared of and turns them into a source of horror.One memorable scene is when Stacy and Amy are in the dark bowels of the pyramid searching for a cell phone they keep hearing. What they discover is equal parts shocking, surreal and amazing. More on this below. Another memorable sequence is when Jeff & Eric are forced to perform a gruesome operation. The ending is also well-done and suspenseful.While the story takes place on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, it was surprisingly shot at Gold Coast and Tamborine Mountain, Australia, just south of Brisbane, which is on the East coast. In any case, the locations are spectacular.BOTTOM LINE: "The Ruins" really surprised me in light of the inexplicable mediocre ratings and incessant panning. It's an adventure story mixed with psychological horror utilizing something common and un-scary as the "monster." It features quality gore, excellent locations & props, top-of-the-line performances and quality filmmaking in general. Plus it takes advantage of the presence of Laura Ramsey and eschews the overdone cartoony-ness of too many horror flicks, which are more funny than creepy or horrifying. In other words, "The Ruins" delivers the goods.The theatrical version runs 90 minutes and the unrated version 93 minutes. I viewed the latter.GRADE: B+ or A- ***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read further unless you've seen the film) The plants that live on the pyramid and what they are able to do spur a fascinating point: The animal kingdom spans the spectrum of worms to human beings. What about plant life? The plants at the Mayan ruins are obviously from the higher-developed end of the plant kingdom – they work as a team to obtain sustenance and are able to mimic sounds, like human voices and the ringtone of a cell phone, etc.I've heard complaints about how the protagonists constantly make the wrong decisions. Answer: The foursome had befriended Mathias and therefore trusted him. They wanted to experience some Mayan history off the beaten track. When the Natives suddenly arrive on the scene and brutally shoot one of their members in the head the only place for them to safely flee is the pyramid. At that point they're stranded because the Natives have the ruins surrounded. How is any of this a wrong decision? Besides, show me a list of the most popular horror flicks and I'll be able to cite way more ridiculous decisions by the protagonists than seen in "The Ruins." Someone complained that the youths never attempt to escape the pyramid until it is basically too late, which supposedly defies logic. Answer: They're only on the pyramid for two nights and were waiting for help to arrive. Their only other recourse was to make a run for the jungle, which was impossible because the pyramid was surrounded by Natives with deadly weapons who already proved they would kill without mercy anyone infected by the plants. As such, the most logical thing to do was to wait for help and only make a run for it (to the jungle) if they absolutely had to, which is what happens. Sounds logical to me.I've heard the criticism that the protagonists are imbeciles with little character development. I found them likable, as noted above, and there are numerous examples of character: They desire to experience the culture of the area and not just utilize their exotic vacation to party, like the average one-dimensional spring-breakers. Also, they refuse to leave Mathias for dead in the pyramid and the girls risk going down the same dubious rope that resulted in his fall. Moreover, Jeff insists on performing the gruesome task of cutting off Mathias' legs and Eric agrees to help even while the primitive operation causes him to vomit. Lastly, Jeff willingly sacrifices himself so that Amy has a chance to escape and she makes a bold dash for freedom. All this sounds like character to me.Needless to say, the criticisms leveled at the film are mostly invalid or easily explained.

Well, the last horror movies that I have recently seen proved to be really bad, and I couldn't remember the last time I enjoyed watching one of them. "The Ruins" is what made me believe in the genre again. The story is very surprising, avoiding the genre's clichés for most of the time. For instance, the awkward introduce between the four friends and the German guy would mean, in most films out there, that the German guy is going to lure them into some real trouble-- "A Perfect Getaway", "House of Wax" and "Ghost Ship" are classic examples of this. However, once they get in the ruins' ambient, we discover that there is no bad guy in their group. They're just a bunch of adventurers who try something new and end up fighting against their worst fears. The actors involved in this project are very professional, and it feels hard not to feel their pain, since there is a lot of panic in this story, and the actors portray it with their hearts. Overall and photography directing are also well executed, delivering beautiful scenes in the beginning-- and horrifying scenes in the ending. Furthermore, the people that portrayed the natives were very well chosen, and another reason why this movie feels so real. All in all, "The Ruins" is a GREAT unknown project that deserves a better rating, and it's surely a surprise for those who expect it to be another clichéd and campy teen movie.