The Ruins

It's a real shame that The Ruins is fairing miserably at the box office this weekend. It's one of the rare horror movies that's really well thought out, well acted, and well executed. Not that I'm not a fan of the genre - I enjoy most horror films but even I can admit most are lacking in the substance category. This one however has more than its' share.

The Ruins follows a group of vapid twenty something Americans on vacation in Mexico. They've been spending the whole time getting drunk and soaking up the sun, but on the second to last day of their trip, they get an offer they can't refuse...the chance to visit some long-forgotten ruins off the beaten path. The invitation comes from a German dude whose brother took off for the ruins a few days back with some cute archaeologist and has yet to return. So, they find the place only to be greeted by a bunch of Mayans who are none too happy to see them but force them up on the ruins and won't let em leave. At first, the kids are stunned but soon start to peace the whole story together...they're some sort of a sacrifice. But to who? Or what? The shit really starts to hit the fan pretty quickly and the real psychological tension begins.

This movie is, like I said before, really well done...and extremely creepy. From the opening scene (which shows an attractive woman screaming for her soon to be extinguished life at the bottom of an archeologic dig  within the ruins) the movie sets a nice grim tone. They really touch on all aspects of fear, from the classic "jump" scares to searing psychological horror to supernatural fear. This movie really goes all out and is absolutely successful.

It's no surprise however that the ruins centers on such a well crafted story. It's based on the novel of the same name by Scott B. Smith who also gave us the novel A Simple Plan and then adapted it for the big screen (if you haven't seen A Simple Plan you should go right now and rent it...it's amazing and as a bonus, it's directed by Sam Raimi). Smith also adapted The Ruins again showing his talents as a screenwriter and novelist (often the two don't go together).

If this movie has a weak point it's in its' underdevelopment of the characters. There's really no time given early in the movie for us to get to know em and invest any interest in them so consequently there's little emotional connection to the four leads. This doesn't end up being too big a problem since what they're going through is enough to freak anyone out, but the experience could have been intensified if the film had taken an extra ten or fifteen minutes to set them all up thoroughly.

That being said, all four of the leads give strong performances and are beautiful in the process. The standout is the always entertaining Jenna Malone in yet another well chosen role. She's yet to be in a bad movie (OK so maybe that's debatable, but look at her filmography: The Ballad of Jack and Rose, Saved!, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys). The rest of the cast is also strong . None have had quite the career that Malone has, but all are recognizable from their prior work. Jonathan Tucker has been seen in the series, The Black Donnellys and the recent film In the Valley of Elah. Shawn Ashmore has been seen in the X-Men films as Iceman and Laura Ramsey has been in The Covenent and She's The Man.

The movie is directed by Carter Smith who's a relative newcomer having only directed one movie previously: 2006's gay-horror film Bugcrush. He's skilled in directing in this genre and has a good sense of how to convey fear and dread and anxiety and all the other emotions required here.

Overall, this movie is a winner. Like I said, my only complaint is the lack of character development although this movie didn't really suffer from it, it just could have been made scarier if we'd known and identified with the leads a little more. This movie is gonna appeal to horror fans and maybe even bring more fans to the genre with its up and coming and pretty cast. I really hope people go see this movie - even if they are going for the hot girls and guys. It's too good to have the kind of box office showing it's having this weekend.