REVIEW: The Ruins
Apr. 5Based on a the horror novel by Scott Smith, who also wrote the screenplay, The Ruins is a harrowing tale about several American tourists vacationing south of the border who come across a monstrous evil living within the Mexican jungle. While not a masterpiece by any means, The Ruins is a satisfying horror film with enough gut-wrenching gore and genuine scares to please most horror fans.
If you thought Montezuma's diarrhea-inducing revenge was bad, wait to you see what's in The Ruins.
The movie begins with four young Americans relaxing in Cancun, sucking down tequila and baking themselves in UV rays, when they meet Mathias, a handsome German who invites the group to an archaeological site his brother is exploring which turns out to be off limits to the general public. The travelers soon find out that the Mayan ruins they are visiting are guarded by murderous villagers, who turn out to be the least of their worries as an unspeakable evil resides at the top of the ruins.
The setup is cliché horror (debaucherous white teenagers unfortunately stumble upon something that wants to kill them), until you see what lives in the ruins, which is much more frightening than any human or typical science fiction creature. That's all we'll say to avoid ruining The Ruins for anyone--just believe us when I say that it'll scare the shit out even the most hardened horror fan.
Jena Malone as Amy shows off her nice body in a bikini--unfortunately, that's all we see of her assets.
Oddly enough, the movie only takes place inside the ruins for about ten minutes.
Other than some irritatingly stupid choices the team of survivors make, an unbalanced ratio of oily man chest to naked girls (you virtually no skin other than the buff dudes who seem to have some sort of fucking allergy to t-shirts), The Ruins is actually quite good. There are moments that are truly terrifying that do not use blood to get a reaction out of the audience, but there are also moments that are almost unbearably grisly, which is a good balance to have in a horror movie.
Despite its shortcomings, The Ruins is an absolutely must-see for horror enthusiasts, and a reasonably faithful adaptation of the book that shouldn't offend those who enjoyed the novel by the same name.
Terror Rating: 4 out of 5
Originality: 3 out of 5
Level of Gore: 4 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Recommendations: The Ruins (the novel), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (both the 1956 version and the 1978 version)
"Pinches gringos se van a morir!"
Comments
QUASI-SPOILER ALERT:
As a side note, the film leaves us with one of those endings that sets up a possible sequel.
It seems an R-rating is all it takes these days to draw me into a horror flick, I mean Prom Night, PG-13? Sad, really, but it's good to hear The Ruins is a nice entry. BTW, I know we vilify horror remakes around here, but I must say your recommendations are BANK! the '56 version of Body Snatchers is one of may all time favorites, and Kaufman's remake is very very solid. Nice call, sir!
Awesome! I really wanted to see The Ruins and was hoping that it was relatively decent. 4 out of 5 ain't bad at all. I read the book too and it's scarier than hell.
Hello! This is my first post on OMGhorror, I am obsessed with this site. I have no idea why I didn't join sooner. As for this movie I was pleasantly surprised with it. Considering how horror movies turn out these days I had very low expectations. But it was a very decent flick. I would compare it slightly to the Descent with more gore, but not as good. As to comment the authore of this page, no offense, but I think it was better that they kept the skin to a minimum, since it is usually pointless and often times takes away from the movie, in my opinion. Keep up the great work guys, can't wait to get more into this site.
Hey hoipolloi1988! Thanks so much for your support!! We love hearing from horror fans like you! As for your opinion on limited skin being a good thing, no offense taken--you definitely make a valid point. Please feel free to comment as much as possible now that you're registed with the site.
I just found this site today, and love it, I am not getting any work done because of this. Anyway, I thought this was a really good horror movie, from an excellent book. I didn't like the change the filmmakers made to the ending, and some creepy parts of the book were skipped over, but it had everything a good horror movie needs. A good "R" rating, some appropriate female nudity, good creepy premise, good gory scenes. I will definitely purchase this on DVD in a few months.
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