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The Ruins
This one is really just pulling your leg.
Review by Sirus
The Ruins is a movie based on the novel by Scott Smith of the same name. A group of four friends are on vacation in a South American country as a last summer fling together. While hanging out at the pool near their hotel, they meet a German man named Mathias. After spending some time together, Mathias tells the group that there is an ancient Mayan ruin nearby that they could go check out. He says that his brother went there a few days ago with a woman to do some archeological excavation. Mathias convinces the group that going to these Mayan ruins would be a lot of fun. After some arguments amongst the friends, they all agree they should go. To get to the ruins, they have to take a tour bus to a small town nearby and then a taxi the rest of the way. The taxi driver is hesitant at first and only takes them because he is offered extra money. When they arrive at and are about to approach the temple, they notice a local man who emerges from the forest. What initially is just a single man slowly grows to a crowd of locals who seem to be a little agitated. The locals scream at them in an attempt to stop them from going up the ruins but they do so anyway. Once they step foot on the temple, they find that the locals won’t let them leave, standing watch day and night to make sure. By the time the group realizes what is on the ruins, it is too late for them to save themselves. The torture they experience is traumatizing both mentally and physically.
The cast is comprised of actors who aren’t very well known. They aren’t fantastic actors but they get the job done. Their fear and pain is presented believably on their faces as they face the terrors of the ruins. The movie is advertised as a thriller primarily but it doesn’t live up to the terror and thrills of the novel. When I read the novel, I was literally unable to put it down and constantly wondering what was going to happen next. One might argue that knowing what was going to happen made the movie a little less interesting but the power behind a scene comes from more than just surprise. The movie has a good amount of gore that is shown on screen but it never reaches the point where it feels unnecessary or gratuitous. The thing they have to deal with on the ruins is translated to the big screen just as I had pictured it would be. The biggest problem with the movie was the ending. It ends far too abruptly and feels like they could have done it differently with better effect. The Ruins comes off more as wasted potential than anything else. The main concept could have been used to a lot more terrifying effect. Some scenes could have been drawn out more to truly make the audience cringe. As it is, anyone who hasn’t read the novel should do so instead and fans of the novel should be wary as this one is really just pulling your leg.
This one is really just pulling your leg.
Review by Sirus
The Ruins is a movie based on the novel by Scott Smith of the same name. A group of four friends are on vacation in a South American country as a last summer fling together. While hanging out at the pool near their hotel, they meet a German man named Mathias. After spending some time together, Mathias tells the group that there is an ancient Mayan ruin nearby that they could go check out. He says that his brother went there a few days ago with a woman to do some archeological excavation. Mathias convinces the group that going to these Mayan ruins would be a lot of fun. After some arguments amongst the friends, they all agree they should go. To get to the ruins, they have to take a tour bus to a small town nearby and then a taxi the rest of the way. The taxi driver is hesitant at first and only takes them because he is offered extra money. When they arrive at and are about to approach the temple, they notice a local man who emerges from the forest. What initially is just a single man slowly grows to a crowd of locals who seem to be a little agitated. The locals scream at them in an attempt to stop them from going up the ruins but they do so anyway. Once they step foot on the temple, they find that the locals won’t let them leave, standing watch day and night to make sure. By the time the group realizes what is on the ruins, it is too late for them to save themselves. The torture they experience is traumatizing both mentally and physically.
The cast is comprised of actors who aren’t very well known. They aren’t fantastic actors but they get the job done. Their fear and pain is presented believably on their faces as they face the terrors of the ruins. The movie is advertised as a thriller primarily but it doesn’t live up to the terror and thrills of the novel. When I read the novel, I was literally unable to put it down and constantly wondering what was going to happen next. One might argue that knowing what was going to happen made the movie a little less interesting but the power behind a scene comes from more than just surprise. The movie has a good amount of gore that is shown on screen but it never reaches the point where it feels unnecessary or gratuitous. The thing they have to deal with on the ruins is translated to the big screen just as I had pictured it would be. The biggest problem with the movie was the ending. It ends far too abruptly and feels like they could have done it differently with better effect. The Ruins comes off more as wasted potential than anything else. The main concept could have been used to a lot more terrifying effect. Some scenes could have been drawn out more to truly make the audience cringe. As it is, anyone who hasn’t read the novel should do so instead and fans of the novel should be wary as this one is really just pulling your leg.
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