As the ringing of the cell phone became more and more clear, the two young women ventured further into the plant-enveloped abyss. As they neared their destination, they found themselves in a dark chamber where all of the light but that of their torches was completely snuffed out. As the phone continued its chime, the girls followed the sound to a body huddled lifelessly in a corner... Approaching, they were about to find that they were in for just a bit more than they bargained for.
I won't ruin it for you, but this scene which depicts something both cool and creepy is probably my favorite portion of the entire film. Granted, it's nothing revolutionary, it still packs a good dose of intensity to an already gruesome film.
The Ruins tells a pretty basic story: some young kids during their final few days of vacation decide to take a little "adventure" into the jungle when proposed by a fellow vacationer and his compatriots. Needless to say, things don't go according to plan when the small group finds themselves quarantined by savages to a decrepit, plant-swarmed ruin. So yeah, the film won't be winning any awards for creative storytelling; but as basic a story as this is, the two key words here are: Scott Smith.
This is what actually got my attention for the movie. After witnessing the abysmal trailers and obnoxious cast of "hot young actors," I put little faith into the film which looked to be like just another, vacation/trip-goes-horribly-wrong-for-hot-young-actors-a-la-Turistas-Hostel: Part 2, etc... But that's when I noticed that name... Scott Smith... And after remembering who he was... Well, I guess I had a sort of renewed faith in the film.
For those who don't know Scott Smith is an author who wrote the book A Simple Plan. This story was then made into a film directed by Sam Raimi (Evil Dead Trilogy, Darkman, etc...), and also written for the screen by its original author: Scott Smith. A Simple Plan was (and still is) an exceptional film about the absolute destruction of the American dream. This is how The Ruins grabbed my attention. I'm a big fan of A Simple Plan and hoped that if it (the Ruins) was penned by the same person (once again, Scott Smith not only wrote the book, but the screenplay as well), then it would possibly be better than all of the drivel that is most recent horror films and the American remakes of already crappy J-horror films... And thankfully, it is.
While the Ruins is nothing that will revolutionize the horror genre by any means, it still throws in enough depth to lift it above most recent horror and thriller films alike. For one thing, I can't stand most of the actors that were picked to portray the distressed young people (Jena Malone-Donnie Darko, Jonathan Tucker-Hostage , Shawn Ashmore-X-Men, Laura Ramsey-The Covenant). But due to the exceptional acting at some of the films more intense sequences by most of the cast, I actually found myself somewhat caring and sympathetic to each of the characters and their plight. Not only must they battle the barbaric people quarantining them, the voracious plant slowly consuming everything it can get its grimy vines on, but the characters must also put up with one another as jealousy and madness rear their ugly heads towards the end of the film.
Okay... And so I've said all of this to distract from the fact that the main antagonist here is a massive, sentient, carnivorous plant. But as cheesy as this sounds, the film takes it completely serious and almost makes itself into a Mayan version of Day of the Triffids (remember that old 1962 killer-plant flick?)... Except less corny and far more intense. The plant itself is also actually quite fearsome and rather than having one god-head sort of flower at the base of all of the havoc, the plant is all one unit--one mind, making up something great. Even some tendencies it has (as vaguely mentioned in the first paragraph) show that there is something far more than just a hungry beast at work here.
As far as horror movies go, the scares depicted within aren't based off of jump moments, but instead, a gradually building intensity. This is shown not only with the brief excursions into the ruins, but the violence as well. Oddly enough, the gruesomeness of some of the violence (a surprising headshot, one girl's means to extracting pieces of the plant from her own body) impacted me far more than the recent, nearly banned in France, "Frontier(s)". Yes, they are two completely different types of horror films, but the violence in The Ruins unlike that of its brutal brethren, carried far more weight and didn't feel at all like it was trying to be exploitive.
While it does leave some questions (regarding what the characters could do to escape, the methods of the sadistic tribes people), the Ruins is still an entertaining diversion-a good weekend movie that delivers some great moments and intensity. That, and it's just a good, gory breath of fresh air amidst all of the horror rubbish of late (I'm looking at you Doomsday).
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