the Color of Context

The Ruins: A true horror that gets under your skin
Release date: 4 April 2008

By Joe DeRosa 

Have you ever found a bug crawling up your arm and then for the rest of the day you feel like there are bugs all over you? Now imagine the bug is a vine crawling up your arm. And imagine that you’ve just watched this vine devour your best friend. You’d probably be pretty creeped out. And there you have the premise for The Ruins–an extremely well-acted adaptation of the Scott Smith novel that Stephen King called, “The best horror novel of the decade.” The Ruins, rated R, tells the story of four friends on vacation in Mexico who meet up with Mathias, a fellow tourist from Germany. It seems Mathias’s brother, Heinrich, disappeared a few days ago with a young woman, and Mathias convinces his new friends to embark on a journey to find him. The adventure leads them to an ancient Mayan temple, way off the beaten path, that, for reasons unbeknownst to them, the locals wish the young travelers to steer clear from. Unfortunately, it’s already too late. Now that the group has entered the temple, the Mayans will not let them leave, even taking violent precautions to block any chance of escape. And so, life on the temple begins. The group soon discovers that they are not alone, but the only other inhabitant of the temple is a suspiciously animated vine. Things go from bad to worse when they find themselves trapped for days with little food or water, and as injuries occur, the vine reveals a taste for human blood.

Having read Smith’s novel, I find it hard to write a review for the movie without constantly comparing it to the book, yet that’s precisely what I must attempt to do. The novel The Ruins was simply amazing. I’ve never read a book that I was so creeped out to read, and of course, in a novel there is so much more time to establish characters than you have in a 91-minute movie. That being said, the cast of The Ruins the movie is so stellar, they stand out the most in this thrillfest. Jonathan Tucker, best known for his role in NBC’s The Black Donnellys, plays Jeff, the boy scout of the group. He’s the one who takes charge in hopes of helping his friends out of these traumatic events. The rest of the group–Eric (Shawn Ashmore of the X-Men trilogy), Amy (Jenna Malone of Donnie Darko), Stacy (Laura Ramsey of The Covenant), and Mathias (Joe Anderson of Across the Universe)–all seem helpless to the events around them.

Tucker has been a favorite of mine since I saw him in the lead role of Tommy Donnelly. He has a great way of expressing emotion that he’s able to showcase here, as he makes decisions most of us could never dream of making. But it’s Ramsey who steals the show. She lays it all on the line to convey Stacy’s sheer torment, as the young woman slips into the thralls of madness, convinced a vine is growing inside of her. And in the gruesome climax, Ramsey breaks all the cliches for female characters in horror movies.

The scares work well, keeping the heart rate up, and graphic scenes depicting the removal of vine from beneath skin and even amputation of limbs are done so well that even this horror-movie junkie found himself squirming in his seat. If I had any complaints, it would be that the movie felt rushed. I didn’t feel enough time was given to truly bring these characters to their breaking points. Also, the vines have a specific power that, in the movie, is not fully fleshed out, and I don’t know that viewers who did not read the book will understand what’s happening. (Pay special attention to the scene where Stacy accuses Eric, her boyfriend, of having sex with Amy, her best friend.) I wish–and here I go comparing it to the book–that director Carter Smith were more adventurous in making this movie by allowing it to evolve the way the book does. Going into this, I knew there would be much more of a Hollywood ending for the movie as compared to the book. I won’t give either ending away here. I will simply say that the ending of the book is something that will stay with you, whereas the movie ending feels like a copout.

Nevertheless, The Ruins is a great thriller filled with outstanding special effects and enough scares and gore to satisfy any true horror fan. I dare you to watch it and not have to rub at your own skin just once. Then I urge you to go home and read the book. And then give all your plants to your neighbor.