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Siron Ex
07-04-2008, 10:36 PM
http://www.popcritics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/lr_scott_smith_the_ruins_poster.jpg


I’ve always been a fan of horror movies, and this is why I’ve been so disgruntled about them lately. It’s not that Hollywood has ever been that restrained with making knock-off films. Cheap remakes, lame sequels and substandard knock-offs have been going on in this town since the 1940s. (Does anyone remember Son of Dracula with Lon Chaney, Jr.?)

So when a great horror movie comes down the pike, it deserves notice. For every ten Halloween remakes you have to sit through, Hollywood will occasionally deliver an outstanding thriller that rises above the rest, even if it uses material that we’ve seen before.

When I first saw the trailers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKcCXyi7Pjs) for The Ruins, I thought it would be nothing more than another version of Turistas. And the movie definitely starts out that way. A group of aloof American spring breakers are sunning themselves in a Mexican resort when a new friend convinces them to join him on a trip to see a forgotten Mayan ruin.

We’ve seen the kids in peril many times before. And even the horror-on-the-ziggurat has been done before with Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto. But the brilliance of The Ruins is that the filmmakers didn’t try to overblow the horror.

The kids aren’t kidnapped by a bunch of savages. Rather, when they reach the Mayan pyramid, they are trapped there by some villagers. Under the threat of death, the kids go to the top of the pyramid and soon learn their fate. Something is waiting in the pyramid for them, and soon they learn they are in for a horrible death.

Director Carter Smith does the horror right, borrowing from Hitchcock rather than Rob Zombie. Instead of having things jump out at you from around every corner, the suspense is a slow build throughout the film. The monster-in-waiting isn’t hidden, but rather in plain sight, and when it attacks, it does so with slow and steady determination.

The Ruins is the first great horror film of 2008 because it did everything right. There’s violence and gore, but it is achingly necessary to tell the story. And as bad and as chilling as things get, it could easily have been worse. But then again, by not showing everything all the time, the movie is that much more chilling.

Ultimately, most of the film takes place on this pyramid, and that’s a feat of directing considering I never got tired of the location or bored with the action. Where Will Smith had all of New York as a backdrop in I Am Legend, these kids only have the top of a ziggurat, and they make things so much more interesting.

Like Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever, The Ruins serves as a modern slasher film with an almost unseen enemy. It follows the slasher model, but by presenting it in a unique location, it is given new life. Much like last year’s Vacancy, the filmmakers went back to the suspense well to make a relatively tired concept work anew.

Rarely does a horror movie do everything right, but this one does – even going as far to giving us the gratuitous nude scene with Laura Ramsey. In a year of male nudity in film, it’s nice to see some wonderful female nudity for a change.

The Ruins is one of the creepiest, most disturbing tales to hit theaters in months. The last time I saw such a visceral, effective thriller was when Neil Marshall released The Descent. It’s bleak and it’s gory, and if there is a film that is guaranteed to make your skin crawl, this one is it.

If you are into this kind of movies (like me) you definitely gotta watch this one. I rate it a 9/10.

EXEcution
07-05-2008, 03:04 AM
I normally don't go and see horror movies because most are unoriginal, cliche, and lack any sense of direction. The Ruins is a good example of this. First off, it's not scary. Second, there is hardly any backstory that explains why anything happens.

There was hardly anything that was surprising except for the fact that the plants could mimic and replicate human voices and other sounds. Acting was sub-par. The teenagers did stupid things in contrived and ridiculous circumstances.

Basic plot outline is that the main characters aren't able to get out of the situation they are by diplomacy so they are forced to fight and make sense of their supernatural surroundings. They try fighting but ultimate end up dying. All but one of the character escapes and the movie ends with her driving away from the ruins. Booooooooring.

The critic review that you posted got one thing right. The movie is bleak. Go see The Mist instead.

Siron Ex
07-05-2008, 09:50 AM
Go see The Mist instead.
or Silent Hill? :P

EXEcution
07-05-2008, 02:44 PM
or Silent Hill? :P

That was better than The Ruins but much worse than The Mist and fell far below my expectations. The acting in the movie was laughable, but the sets were well designed.

He Is Legend
07-06-2008, 01:41 AM
Silent hill was god damn amazing

The Ruins was good also, some people just don't dig horror movies.

EXEcution
07-06-2008, 03:37 AM
Yea some people don't dig shitty movies and I don't blame them.

Pathos
07-06-2008, 10:02 AM
The Ruins was good also, some people just don't dig horror movies.
Aww, those points don't really correlate. I am a HUGE horror fan, from Fulci, Argento, Ercoli, and Romero through to Jackson and a swag of the modern guys... yet find myself in almost complete agreement with Exe on this one.

I was eagerly anticipating The Ruins, it had a plethora of positive reviews and great word of mouth. To say it was a huge disappointment is an understatement.

It's watchable, there's some decent gore, adequate acting (the head of the menacing locals was awesome), and the chicks are hot... at least until they start getting bloodied up. But this is not enough to forgive a seemingly truncated, boring and repetitive plot effected through some truly horrid exposition. They seemed to be going for a spin on the isolationist themes found in films such as Carpenter's The Thing... the "spin" being the leaving out of all the good bits.

Basically you'll watch this and go.... "that's it? That's all? Meh."

At least Jenna Malone has officially grown up to the point where it's now legal for everyone to fantasize about her.


Silent hill was god damn amazing.
There i am pretty much with you. I've never seen nor played the game, but found the movie surprisingly competent (save for perhaps the ending). The only real downer was the entire go-nowhere plot dealing with the husband (Sean Bean's character). I was later to learn this was shoe-horned in to essentially "give us a break" from the doom and gloom of the central storyline.

Ridiculous, huh? Do what i did: Download a DVD fan edit with all the retarded husband crap removed. (Relax, if you own the original this is actually legal.)

KiLLerBabe
07-09-2008, 04:33 PM
yes strange movie, some dirty things happens , i thought more would happen in the ruins itself.

Sexyjess
07-11-2008, 03:56 PM
i will see it :D i post after when i seen it what i think :)

Sexyjess
07-13-2008, 09:38 PM
now i have seen it the movie made me feel very unpleasant, i whoulndt wanna be in their places lol

was a 2/5 for me and i wont go near any ruins ever again LOL :D