The Ruins (DVD)

...on vacation in Mexico make the acquaintance of a German tourist, Mathias, who tells them about a remote archaeological dig in the jungle. The German tourist tells them that his brother met an archaeologist and went with her to the dig… but he left a map behind. Excited at the prospect of visiting a ruin that has not yet been fully excavated or even made public, the group agree to accompany Mathias and his friend.

Hiring a taxi to take ...
...he tells them the area is cursed. The driver, keen on the cash they're flashing, drives them to the location marked on the map and drops them off beside a row of vehicles. Seeing the vehicles, the group are somewhat disappointed, thinking that the digs are no longer… exclusive. However, when they finally manage to find the path leading to the ruins, the owners of the parked vehicles are nowhere to be found.

As the tourists prepare ... more

Director: Carter Smith
Screenplay: Scott B. Smith
Novel: Scott B. Smith
Genre: Horror - Thriller
Country: Australia/USA
Certification: 18
Language: English/Maya/Spanish/German
Released: 13th October, 2008 (DVD)

MAIN CAST:

Jonathan Tucker (Jeff)
Jena Malone (Amy)
Laura Ramsey (Stacy)
Shawn Ashmore (Eric)
Joe Anderson (Mathias)
Dimitri Baveas (Dimitri)

A group of friends on vacation in Mexico make the acquaintance of a German tourist, Mathias, who tells them about a remote archaeological dig in the jungle. The German tourist tells them that his brother met an archaeologist and went with her to the dig… but he left a map behind. Excited at the prospect of visiting a ruin that has not yet been fully excavated or even made public, the group agree to accompany Mathias and his friend.

Hiring a taxi to take them into the jungle, the friends ignore the driver when he tells them the area is cursed. The driver, keen on the cash they're flashing, drives them to the location marked on the map and drops them off beside a row of vehicles. Seeing the vehicles, the group are somewhat disappointed, thinking that the digs are no longer… exclusive. However, when they finally manage to find the path leading to the ruins, the owners of the parked vehicles are nowhere to be found.

As the tourists prepare to climb the steps leading to the top of a Mayan temple, they are surrounded by a tribe of Mayan's waving rifles at them and shouting. Not knowing what to do, the group attempt to communicate with them… but then Amy, who decides to take pictures of the angry tribe, incurs their anger. Realising that the situation is getting out of hand, Dimitri, who is Mathias's friend, attempts to calm the Mayan's who are pointing their rifles at Amy, but he is shot in the head when he unknowingly steps on one of the vines covering the Mayan temple.

Forced to climb the steps of the temple, the group find an abandoned archaeological camp at the top. Unable to understand what's going on, and unable to call for help because their mobile phones aren't working, the group glance down to where the Mayans were and are horrified to see that more Mayans have arrived and are making camp around the temple. Knowing that they'll be shot if they try to escape, fear turns into terror when the group of friends realise that there is something in the ruins far more terrifying and deadly than the tribe of Mayans keeping them prisoner within the ruins.

'The Ruins' is Twilight Zone-ish in concept, but not in fact… it possesses its own unique style with a dash of the unknown, which, obviously, it relies heavily upon in order to hold the viewer's attention.

The setting, obviously, is a Mayan temple surrounded by a claustrophobia-inducing wall of greenery. The atmosphere is somewhat sedate and uninspiring, the characters are underdeveloped, apart, perhaps, for Jeff, the wannabe doctor, who appears to be the only free-thinking and considerate soul in the movie. Mathias, the German tourist, possesses a modicum of depth, but his character is wounded early on in the film and never given the chance to develop its full potential. As for the special-effects, they are somewhat limited to the omnipresent greenery.

What makes this movie worthy of a three star rating is the suspense - it's not knowing what, exactly, is attempting to kill the group of tourists. When the viewer finally discovers what the ancient evil is, the situation the tourists are in hits home, and the viewer immediately understands why the Mayans don't want the tourists to escape - in fact, the viewer doesn't want them to escape either! There's a part of us that wants at least one of them to escape unharmed, but there's another part that doesn't quite know how such a thing could be possible… or even wise.

'The Ruins' is an immersive film that, regardless of its shortcomings, intrinsically weaves its story in such a way that the viewer can't help but watch, wait… and wonder.

This is not an in-your-face horror movie with ghouls, pasty-faced ghosts with long black hair, alien creatures, monsters or zombies. There are no edge-of-your-seat moments, and you won't even gasp, not once… but what you will find yourself doing is wondering… wondering how the hell the tourists are going to get themselves out of the situation they've gotten themselves into. More than anything, this movie is a suspense.

For those who like a good solid ending - don't expect one here. The writer has decided that you have to end it yourself. There isn't actually a sequel-in-the-makings feel to it, so it is somewhat surprising and subsequently frustrating, however, it isn't a total waste of time. Once you get over the initial disappointment, you pretty much come to the conclusion that you've just watched a pretty good movie… although you might not know exactly why you've come to such a conclusion. 

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