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)

Stars:

Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey

2 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
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

While on vacation in a resort in Mexico, the Americans Jeff, his girlfriend Amy, her best friend Stacy and her boyfriend Eric befriend the German Mathias in the swimming pool. Mathias invites the group to visit the ruins of a Mayan temple with his Greek friend Dimitri in an archeological field where his brother Henrich and his girlfriend are camped eighteen kilometers far from the resort. They hire an old taxi and when they reach the spot, they are surrounded by Mayan villagers armed of revolver, rifle and bow-and-arrow that kill Dimitri and do not allow the group to leave the place. They climb a construction covered of creepers with red flowers, and remain under siege of the locals. When they hear a cell phone in the bottom of a well, Mathias decides to seek the apparatus using a rope that breaks and he has a serious accident breaking his back. Amy and Stacy go to the bottom of the mine to rescue Mathias and they find many corpses covered by the climbing plants; further, they realize...

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Plot Keywords:

ruins | cell phone | greek | corpse | jungle | 

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Taglines:

Terror has evolved.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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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 [us] Official site [au]

Country:

USA Germany Australia

Language:

English Maya Spanish Greek German

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las ruinas

Filming Locations:

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£123,507 (UK) (20 June 2008)

Gross:

£123,507 (UK) (20 June 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, 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

Director Carter Smith had just purchased a copy of the Scott B. Smith novel and started reading it when he got the phone call offering him the film adaptation.

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Goofs

The "Maya" are played by aboriginals and look nothing like native Maya.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Archeologist #2: Help me!

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Connections

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: The Top 13 Scariest Animated Monsters (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Ponmelo"
(uncredited)
Written by Edgard Jaude, Rafael Torres, Michael A. Garcia
Courtesy of Sonic Quiver Music and Engine Co 35 Music Publishing

User Reviews

Stupidity ruined the Ruins

I certainly hope the book this is inspired from is better than this poor attempt at an horror flick. I remember a quote from Stephen King on the cover saying this was "the best horror novel of the new century". The movie makes me doubt that very much but who knows. Books are indeed almost always better than their film adaptation. The funny thing is that the screenplay is attributed to the writer of the book, Scott Smith. My main beef here was that the characters, particularly the girls, acted too stupidly. Some of it can be explained away by nerves or growing insanity but still. My other big problem was with the menace of the ruins. I didn't buy it. It felt ridiculous. Perhaps it's less of a problem imagining it while reading the book, perhaps. There were a couple of horrific scenes that worked really well (one medical involving legs) but a few effective scenes do not make for an overall satisfying horror experience. The acting was mundane with the actor playing Jeff being way too stiff and unemotional. This is worth a rental at best when there is nothing better left to see in the horror section.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10