The Ruins - Film Review

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Two young American couples are on holiday in Mexico when they meet a German man named Mathias, who offers to take them with him to see an archaeological dig his brother is working on . The site is a remote Mayan temple deep in the jungle, not marked on any maps. When they arrive at the dig site they are unable to find Mathias' brother Heinrich, only his deserted campsite. Some local villagers arrive and begin shouting at the group in a language they do not understand, forcing them up onto the temple at gunpoint. It is only when they inside the temple itself that they begin to understand how much danger they are actually in.

The Ruins (2008) was directed by Carter Smith (director of Swallowed and The Passenger). The story was based on a novel by Scott Smith. It stars Jena Malone (from The Neon Demon and Donnie Darko) as Amy, one of the Americans, and Jonathan Tucker (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Justified) as her boyfriend, Jeff. The other Americans are Laura Ramsey (from Venom) as Stacy, and Shawn Ashmore (from X-Men and The Boys) as Eric. Joe Anderson (from Horns and The Crazies) plays Mathias.

I don't want to spoil too much of the plot, but I will say that it did not go where I thought it was going. The only part I guessed was that lots of people would die. I thought that parts of this story were genuinely creepy, partly due to the well-used visual effects. The acting was also decent. Laura Ramsey, in particular, really sells the terror of the very bad thing that happens to her. However, the characters are extremely irritating, and they make some stupid decisions even for people in a horror movie. While they could not have foreseen the specific danger they found themselves in, going into the jungle on their own like that, with basically no supplies and no plan for how to return to the hotel was insane. As Amy points out when the truck they arrived in leaves, she can't hike back through the jungle without proper footwear.

The Ruins is a watchable horror film, with a creepy premise to capture your imagination. It is currently streaming on Netflix in Australia.

Content Warning: There is some gore, violence (including the death of a child) and body horror, so this movie is not for the faint of heart.

I went into this movie cold without knowing anything about it, and I think that enhanced my enjoyment of it, but if you're not worried about mild spoilers, here is the trailer:



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More articles by Jennifer Muirhead:
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The Battery -Film Review
Freaks - Film Review
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5 Horror Movies From Around the World