2008 Woodie Awards
'The Ruins' too bloody to enjoy
Nate Knife
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
At first glance, one might assume "The Ruins" is a fairly standard horror flick, with attractive teenagers victimized by supernatural evils as a result of their own drunken stupidity. However, one would be wrong as "The Ruins" sets itself apart from the B-grade horror flick. Whether or not you will like the direction it goes is less definite.
The Ruins" is directed by Carter Smith and is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by author Scott B. Smith (no relation). The story begins with friends Amy (Jena Malone), Stacey (Laura Ramsey) and their respective boyfriends Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) and Eric (Shawn Ashmore) on vacation in Mexico. They soon befriend German tourist Mathias (Joe Anderson) and some random Greek dudes. There is a bit of drama going on in the group, with Jeff on the verge of leaving for medical school and Amy's subsequent attraction to the German guy, but none of this interaction is vital to the plot. It is obvious that some good-looking and sexually active college-aged tourists are on the verge of being in a very bad situation.
This situation crops up in an unusual way. It is not the drunken debauchery that gets them in trouble, rather he group's pursuit of knowledge. The group decides to visit a Mayan ruin off the beaten path in order to absorb some culture and history. The sheer irony that a nasty hangover would have saved these kids in a horror flick is absolutely delightful. The overall moral that a thirst for knowledge will kill you is a little unsettling.
Once at the ruin, everything goes very badly very quickly for the tourists. To tell more would spoil the horror that ensues.
"The Ruins" manages to drum up a great deal of suspense without relying overly on the "loud noises" and "poor lighting" constructs used by directors not clever enough to think of something that is actually scary. It also does well in making the audience care about the characters. The actors portray this group of vacationing young people as nice kids, with no one fitting neatly into any of the standard horror flick molds. Both of these are tremendous accomplishments.
The Ruins" is directed by Carter Smith and is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by author Scott B. Smith (no relation). The story begins with friends Amy (Jena Malone), Stacey (Laura Ramsey) and their respective boyfriends Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) and Eric (Shawn Ashmore) on vacation in Mexico. They soon befriend German tourist Mathias (Joe Anderson) and some random Greek dudes. There is a bit of drama going on in the group, with Jeff on the verge of leaving for medical school and Amy's subsequent attraction to the German guy, but none of this interaction is vital to the plot. It is obvious that some good-looking and sexually active college-aged tourists are on the verge of being in a very bad situation.
This situation crops up in an unusual way. It is not the drunken debauchery that gets them in trouble, rather he group's pursuit of knowledge. The group decides to visit a Mayan ruin off the beaten path in order to absorb some culture and history. The sheer irony that a nasty hangover would have saved these kids in a horror flick is absolutely delightful. The overall moral that a thirst for knowledge will kill you is a little unsettling.
Once at the ruin, everything goes very badly very quickly for the tourists. To tell more would spoil the horror that ensues.
"The Ruins" manages to drum up a great deal of suspense without relying overly on the "loud noises" and "poor lighting" constructs used by directors not clever enough to think of something that is actually scary. It also does well in making the audience care about the characters. The actors portray this group of vacationing young people as nice kids, with no one fitting neatly into any of the standard horror flick molds. Both of these are tremendous accomplishments.
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