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The Ruins

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The Ruins (2008)

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46 %
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Reviews Counted: 74

Fresh: 34

Rotten:40

Average Rating: 5.4/10

Consensus: Despite a solid cast and truly frightening source material, The Ruins founders, thanks to a weak script and an excess of gore.

Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release: Apr 4, 2008 Wide

Box Office: $17,402,425

Synopsis: Author Scott Smith adapts his own popular 2006 novel in this unsettling and surprising horror yarn. In its first half hour, THE RUINS seems to be cut from the same "body-count-of-young-Americans-abroad" cloth as HOSTEL and TURISTAS, but... Author Scott Smith adapts his own popular 2006 novel in this unsettling and surprising horror yarn. In its first half hour, THE RUINS seems to be cut from the same "body-count-of-young-Americans-abroad" cloth as HOSTEL and TURISTAS, but the film has a supernatural element not present in either of those works, keeping it clear of the overpopulated slasher and torture genres. A talented young cast also ensures that Smith's tale reaches the screen with plenty of genuine chills intact. While vacationing on the Yucatan Peninsula, 20-something Americans Jeff (Jonathan Tucker), Amy (Jena Malone), Eric (Shawn Ashmore), and Stacy (Laura Ramsey), befriend German traveler Mathias (Joe Anderson), who invites them to accompany him into the jungle to meet up with his archaeologist brother at an "off the map" Mayan temple. They agree, but once they arrive, angry locals shoot one of their party and refuse to allow them to leave. The Americans and Mathias retreat to the top of the temple, only to find the archaeological camp deserted. Mathias falls into the temple and is badly injured, but that is only the beginning of their troubles, as it soon becomes apparent that the vines covering the temple are alive in a way that goes beyond normal vegetation. It may be tempting to summarize THE RUINS by saying that it's about killer plants, but that would be undermining its strong points. The latter two thirds of the film play out like a very grim five-character stage play about survival, with large servings of death and desperation, without resorting to the fake scares that many horror films use as a crutch. The gore, while often quite nasty, is also necessary to the story, which takes on a heavy psychological component as the characters begin to fear for their lives. [More]

Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey

Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey, Joe Anderson

Director: Carter Smith

Director: Carter Smith
Screenwriter: Scott B. Smith
Producer: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfield, Chris Bender
Studio: Dreamworks SKG

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Release:

Jul 8, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital - English

Reviews for The Ruins

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image

... soft-core torture porn that quite literally sets up its pretty, Hollywood protagonists for brutal sacrifice.

Full Review Source: DVD Review | comment Comment
08/01/08
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
07/18/08
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

Not just if you're a horror fan but also if you enjoy a well fashioned, slimy yarn to get wrapped up in.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
07/14/08
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
07/11/08
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Ratings Image

Competent but somewhat slack, modest (and modestly budgeted) shocker that doesn't work quite hard enough to justify its plot mechanics. [Blu-Ray]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
07/10/08
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
Ratings Image

...gets bloodier as it goes along, substituting close-up gore for horror, grossness for fright. (Unrated Edition)

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment 1 Comment
06/23/08
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
06/20/08
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Well filmed and acted, but with a plot as cheesy as a 1950s B-movie, this film is fairly creepy but not very scary

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
06/19/08
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

... it's only after you've left the theater that you realize just how totally, utterly ludicrous the movie really is.

Full Review Source: ESplatter | comment Comment
06/17/08
Lucius Gore
ESplatter
Ratings Image

It's the kind of film that Sam Raimi might have directed 20 years ago, except that Carter Smith plays it straight, even though he seems to assume the audience won't.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
06/09/08
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine
Ratings Image

This movie wasn't screened for critics. That's too bad, because this movie was surprisingly well done.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
06/08/08
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine
Ratings Image

Just when you thought that a horror/thriller movie couldn't get more violent and gruesome; think again!

Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) | comment Comment
05/24/08
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)
Ratings Image

It may be just another white-kids-get-killed chiller, but it's a solidly made white-kids-get-killed chiller; nothing new, yet expertly put together.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
04/17/08
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

THE RUINS has turned over a new leaf in horror and will get inside even the thickest of horror fans' skin.

Full Review Source: Bloody Disgusting | comment Comment
04/17/08
Brad Miska
Bloody Disgusting
Ratings Image

I was entertained for all the wrong reasons.

Full Review Source: Horror.com | comment 1 Comment
04/16/08
Staci Layne Wilson
Horror.com
Ratings Image

Gore hounds will definitely be pleased as The Ruins boasts some of the most sickening blood and guts this side of snuff films.

Full Review Source: Peterborough This Week | comment Comment
04/15/08
Mike Sage
Peterborough This Week
Ratings Image

Loved the book, enjoyed the movie. Jonathan Tucker ably leads a cast of uninteresting co-stars.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment 1 Comment
04/13/08
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com
Ratings Image

These are the beautiful people, and by the end of The Ruins we'll have spent a lot of time watching them go downhill.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
04/11/08
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus
Ratings Image

[The filmmakers] avoid unwanted laughs only by resorting to relentless sadism. They let us know right off that nothing good will follow, and they carry it straight through to the abandon-all-hope-and-wait-for-the-sequel ending.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
04/11/08
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image

Stripped of the novel's kudzu-like excess, the story loses its timeless, nightmarish, existential power and becomes another cautionary tale in which beautiful and privileged post-9/11 young people learn the world is no longer safe for Americans.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment 1 Comment
04/11/08
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
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Latest News for The Ruins

July 07, 2008: RT on DVD: Dark Knight, Mummy 3 Sneak Peeks
This week, we dispense with the news and cut to the chase to bring you two huge new gift sets timed perfectly for this summer's Bat-mania. What will earn you more geek cred:... More...

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April 03, 2008: Critics Consensus: Leatherheads Has its Ups and Downs; Nim's Island is Stranded; Guess The Ruins' Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got pigskin pratfalls (Leatherheads, starring George Clooney and Renée Zellweger), isle imagination (Nim's Island, starring Jodie Foster and... More...

April 03, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Clooney Suits Up For Football Fun
George Clooney, the Mayor McCheese of Hollywood, leaves behind Oscar season and returns to the big screen with lighter fare with the period sports comedy Leatherheads. More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for The Ruins

The ruins is actually scary and good
by: horrorfan25 8/4


Mike_Oxsmall
A real gem that shouldn't be passed up on. A jungle version of Cabin Fever
by: Mike_Oxsmall 8/1


Lame
by: charliebatch 7/30


Real Boba
(2008)-THE RUINS cracks the Top 5, but next week's Prom Night remake could hurt it???
by: Real Boba 5/29


Real Boba
(2008)-THE RUINS cracks the Top 5, but next week's Prom Night remake could hurt it???
by: Real Boba 5/29
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