The Ruins
Starring: Jena Malone, Jonathon Tucker, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey, Joe Anderson
Directed By: Carter Smith
Written By: Scott B. Smith
Released: 2008
Grade: B

The Ruins is an adaptation of a novel, directed by the original author, Scott. B. Smith. They both have the same basic story outline, but the movie does have a few differences. The main is that the characters; most of what happened to a given character in the book happens to a different character in the movie. Besides that it is pretty minor, but loyal fans of the book might still have problems. For those who haven’t read it though, there aren’t too many problems to be found with the movie.

Amy (Malone) and Stacy (Ramsey) are best friends who are vacationing in Mexico with their boyfriends, Jeff (Tucker) and Eric (Ashmore). Their trip is coming to an end soon. So far they have spent most of their time on the beach, by the pool, and soaking up the sun. Still, they haven’t seen too much of the country’s natural and un-tourist culture. The day before they leave they meet Mathias (Anderson), a traveler who is on his way to Mayan ruins and is sure that is where his friend must be. Amy, Stacy, Jeff, and Eric accept his invitation to go with him. The girls especially are reluctant about this, but are convinced to go since it is the last day of their trip and they want to spend it together. When they get to the path, it is blocked off, which is suspicious, but Jeff just assumes that this is only because they must not want tourists to see this place. Soon they find out that the Mayans that live there are extremely violent and confrontational. They threaten to kill them with their weapons and behaviors since language is not a commonality between the two groups. Not only can they not go any further, but they almost are not able to leave. The second they try, they will all be murdered.

It soon becomes clear that the real horrors of the land are far from human. The plants take on a life of their own and attempt to strangle life out of the people there. They attack when it is least expected, forcing the victims in to a paranoid state. They cling on to the bodies and attach themselves inside of the skin, spreading like an infection once it is in place. They are trapped in this place and whether they stay or attempt to make a run for it; death will surely be the outcome. Jeff feels that their only real hope is to wait for someone to find them. They figure either when Mathias doesn’t return or when none of them show up at the hotel or back home, the police will be called and they will come save them. The question becomes that if this is true, whether or not they can survive until that happens. The more time passes by, the more difficult things become. As horror ensues, they fall apart and become weaker, more desperate, and a little less sane.

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This movie was blessed with an excellent cast. With lesser actors, it would have suffered quite a bit. They embrace what is going on around them and show us the affects, yet are successful in making us hope somehow or another they can beat the nearly impossible odds. Jena Malone is the standout, she has become a magnificent actor that makes everything she is in better. In same ways she offered very expected reactions: she was scared, and hesitant at first in the life and death situation she was in and even before in terms of having to let her boyfriend go. She gained strength slowly as it was clear it was the only hope and she had no other choice. Her character, Amy, was easy to relate to and so we were able to invest a lot of ourselves in her. Jonathon Tucker gave one of the boldest performances. He was strong, determined, hopeful, and made sure that he stayed in charge of a very terrifying situation that seemed to be lose-lose no matter what. Tucker showed so much drive to not let things get he best of him or any of his friends. After a very impressive introduction to him in Across the Universe, it was great to see him here, and doing so much with his role. Especially across from Malone, as a couple they had great chemistry, but even more so, just as key characters they both brought out the most in each other.

I was a little surprised with Laura Ramsey as I expected her to be the lesser actress in comparison to Malone. She was given a lot as her character deals with more and more each step of the way. When she really goes over the top and is forced to deal with things in ways that are very unreal, Ramsey deals with this and brings out the insanity of the situation. I look forward to seeing what else she does in the future as this proved her potential. It seems like I have been seeing Shawn Ashmore more lately and I have to say I think this is both the best material I have seen him in and his personal best acting wise. There were a lot of struggles he had to go through and had to try to stay strong for his girlfriend. Still he had to deal with certain realities that were hard to accept, but part of his fate. Lastly, we have Joe Anderson playing Mathias, the one who lead them there. It is hard to read him at times and he always keeps us guessing, but in the end it is understanding and desperation that he gives. The fact that I even felt the need to mention all of the featured cast members speaks volumes for itself and how big of an impact the cast had on the overall quality of the movie.

We are given a nature v. man theme in The Ruins. It puts man against itself in the process. When one of the young Mayan boys is exposed to one of the deadly plants, it takes about a split second for his own people, most likely including his family, to turn on him. The group of kids the story focuses on, try to stay together, but there is questioning of whether loyalty and sticking together in this situation is even a possibility. The essential horror of them being trapped and doomed to a horrible death no matter what they do is very hard to deal with. Now that they are in the ruins, they are being kept there to die. There are some very hard to sit through moments in the film. They are given obstacles of the land as well that harm them and quickly make them weaker. There is one scene in particular where Mathias’ legs have been broken and he is pretty much helpless. If they leave him, more danger will come to him, so they have to break his legs, which is painful for everyone. The largest horrors are shown through the character of Stacy. She is attacked with the plants as they get inside of her and begin to poison her. This slowly leads to insanity and delusions. She begins to think things are there that aren’t and puts herself in danger, craving to cut it open and get the evil out. Things became hazy and twisted, making her turn on and doubt those who are looking out for her the most. Overall, The Ruins is a great study of environment and nature’s power vs. loyalty, smarts, and the fight in man, maybe not completely true to the book, but still a more rare horror premise that is far less dealt with than many we see today.