The Ruins (2008)

A group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when they, along with a fellow tourist, embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle where something evil lives among the ruins.

Director:

Carter Smith

Writers:

Scott B. Smith (screenplay), Scott B. Smith (novel) (as Scott Smith)

Stars:

Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jonathan Tucker	...	Jeff
Jena Malone	...	Amy
Laura Ramsey	...	Stacy
Shawn Ashmore	...	Eric
Joe Anderson	...	Mathias
Sergio Calderón	...	Lead Mayan (as Sergio Calderon)
Jesse Ramirez	...	Mayan Bowman
Balder Moreno	...	Mayan Horseman
Dimitri Baveas	...	Dimitri
Patricio Almeida Rodriguez	...	Taxi Driver
Mario Jurado	...	Mayan Archer
Luis Antonio Ramos	...	Mayan Rifleman (as Luis Ramos)
Walter Quispe	...	Mayan Rifleman
Pauline Whyman	...	Wailing Woman
Nathan Vega	...	Mayan Boy

Storyline

A group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when they, along with a fellow tourist, embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle where something evil lives among the ruins.

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Plot Keywords:

horse | ruins | group of friends | bow and arrow | rifle | 

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Taglines:

Terror has evolved.

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and gruesome images, language, some sexuality and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Dreamworks [United States] Official site [Australia]

Country:

USA Germany Australia

Language:

English Maya Spanish Greek German

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ruinen

Filming Locations:

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$8,003,241 (USA) (4 April 2008)

Gross:

$17,427,926 (USA) (13 June 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, Spyglass Entertainment, Red Hour Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 93 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The female corpse discovered inside the temple by Amy and Stacy is intended to be the same character seen screaming for help at the very beginning of the film, but the living character and the corpse were played by different actresses.

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Goofs

The style of the pyramid does not resemble the style of actual Mayan pyramids. For example, steps are solid. Here they are shown with a basal step with a thin flat rock on top.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Archeologist #2: [She is sobbing, then begins to scream:] Help me! Somebody, help! Somebody! Help! Help me!

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Connections

Featured in Phelous & the Movies: The Ruins of Phelous (2009)

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Soundtracks

Phenomena
Written by Brian Chase, Karen O & Nick Zinner
Performed by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Courtesy of Interscope Records and Polydor Ltd. (U.K.)
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Damn Good.

I wasn't too psyched for this movie beforehand, but I got a free pass and figured why the hell not and wound up seeing one of the better horror films I've seen in a good while. Thes best thing I can say about "The Ruins" is that it plays its hand honestly, there's no tweeny BS, no winking at the camera, it's just a classic situational horror film that just keeps getting from bad to worse in the best possible way. Like I said, I got in for free and I kinda feel like I owe 'The Ruins" 10 bucks. But as a small caveat, I saw this film with a bunch of pretentious jackasses sitting behind me and surprise surprise, they didn't like it. So if you fall into that category than do yourselves and anyone who can enjoy a straight shot horror film a favor and stay away.