Theatrical Poster
The Ruins (Theatrical)
Dreamworks
Director: Carter Smith
Writer: Scott B. Smith
Cast: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey & Joe Anderson
Review By: Adam Tracey
Jeff, Amy, Eric and Stacy are four friends who are on vacation in Cancun. Up until now it was all partying and drinking, but when Mathias tells them he is heading out to some ruins where his brother has been doing research they all decided to tag along. Once there, they are confronted by members of a local village, who are shouting and waving guns. Soon the 5 are trapped in the ruins with no way of escaping, but their trouble does not end there as it seems the local vegetation has a life of its own and has a taste for blood.
This movie follows all typical horror stereotypes. Mysterious kids who should foretell trouble ahead and a bunch of dumb kids who make the wrong move over and over again. I think where the movie failed was in it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a good, scary slasher type film or a dirty and disgusting exploitation piece. It had the same look and feel that Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects did. The acting was decent though a bit robotic at times. The special effects looked very life like at points, but then like puppetry others. There are some quality gore moments and Laura Ramsey is packing one hell of a rack, but that is really all there is to take away from this film.
The book, of which I count my self as a fan, is as much a popcorn book as this was a popcorn movie, but that is not to say that there were not scenes of madness, internal conflict and tenseness. All those good parts the author stripped out for the movie. The book had a very dark sense of hopelessness and you watched as all the characters slowly descended into their own version of madness over the course of a week or more. In the movie you only see one character show any real descent and the whole process takes place over one day.
