The Ruins (Paramount Pictures)
Death Spoils the Holiday
Scott B Smiths best selling novel THE RUINS was one of the scariest, creepiest novels I ever read. It out-kinged Stephen and out-poed Edagr Allen. It stayed with me for months and made me swear in my mind never to visit any Mayan ruins in Mexico. Now they have made a movie of the book and though it has its moments, it is not nearly as scary as the written word and your minds imagination.
In the film four students are on vacation in Mexico. There are two couples Jeff and Amy (Jonathan Tucker and Gena Malone); Eric and Stacy (Shawn Ashmore and Laura Ramsey). A couple of days before they are supposed to leave and head back to school they meet a German vacationer named Mathias (Joe Anderson). He convinces them to accompany him on a trek to some ancient ruins where his brother is supposed to be. He hasnt heard from him for a few days and he has grown concerned.
Once they reach the ruins their troubles begin. There is a clearing around the structure that is totally devoid of vegetation. This indicates there is something wrong at this site. This is born out by the fact that a group of Mayan men approach and make threatening overtures towards them. The group is forced to climb the ruins and take refuge at the top. It seems the Mayans do not want them leaving for some reason. When they learn the reason it is a deadly one.
What seemed threatening and ominous in the book comes across as slightly silly on the screen. There are some vines and flowers growing on the ruins and they seem to have some special powers. The problem is they look like they are auditioning for a Disney singalong story. Again in the book it was a scary thought but in the movie it looks less than deadly.
The actors in the film are okay. Malone and Ramsey show hysteria in the right degree while Tucker and Ashmore grow more and more quietly desperate. Malone is a very good young actress whose career has been rising with each new role. This one wont help or harm her career. Ashmore is a young actor to watch but his role is only sketchily drawn.
The special effects are bloody and gross. This adds to the fear factor, but those involving the vines are not as impressive and therefore less terrifying.
The film is rated R for violence, profanity and nudity.
The thoughts generated by the script for the movie are much more horrible than that which is actually shown on screen. You never actually get to know the characters involved well enough to have complete sympathy and empathy for them.
It also weakened the impact of the film for me because the ending was changed from that in the book. This said, maybe the overall enjoyment of the movie would have been higher had I not read the book in the first place.
I scored The Ruins a wrecked 5 out of 10.
