This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Horror, Movie Reviews, NEW IN THEATER, R, Thriller/Mystery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Carter Smith
Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey, Joe Anderson
Novice director Carter Smith (Bugcrush) turns out an entertaining little suspense film based upon Scott B. Smith’s novel, and screenplay. This is the first screen work for Scott B. Smith since he turned his earlier novel, A Simple Plan into a script, as well. There is some strong tension here and the performances by the young, but experienced cast is impressive. The script is a little heavy on the gore and light on action, but mounting tension still keeps the viewer in the story, aided by likable and natural characters that will be easy for the film’s target audience of teens and twenty-somethings to identify with.
Two young couples are enjoying a leisurely beach and bar vacation in Mexico when they decide to have a little adventure, after meeting a friendly German tourist, Mathias (Joe Anderson from Across The Universe). Mathias is planning to head out the next day to join his brother in visiting an unknown ruins site. Enticed by seeing history that is unspoiled by tour buses and white-legged seniors, Jeff, Eric, Amy and Stacy (Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey) decide to join him, though a hung over Amy does so only reluctantly. After something of a trek, marred only by the ominous loss of a hat, they reach the impressive site. Unfortunately, some unfriendly locals show up and soon people are screaming, crying and dying. But why?
The Ruins was a better film than I expected it to be, mainly because of the character development which, though still lacking, is still far better than the complete absence of any development, which is common in features of this genre. The group is in a tough situation and I would have liked to see more about conflict within the group under this kind of pressure. Some more action would be welcome, too, but this is still an enjoyable suspense film that illustrates why you should always stick to resort approved excursions only.
