Review: The Ruins
Filed under: Horror, New Releases, Theatrical Reviews, New in Theaters, Dreamworks
The Ruins opened on Friday like most horror films, with a single, late Thursday night "promo" screening, to which the press was gamely invited in full knowledge that it would be too late for review, even for any reasonable web deadline. What's different about The Ruins is that it's not a remake or even a copy of any horror film of recent years. We're talking first-class material, adapted from a novel by Scott B. Smith, who wrote both the mesmerizing 1993 book A Simple Plan as well as Sam Raimi's masterful 1998 film of the same name. It's a terrific airplane novel, surprising and gripping, and Dreamworks could have made an outstanding film of it. But they threw it away, perhaps deliberately, hoping for some of that fast opening weekend green, and little caring about making something worthwhile or lasting (like A Simple Plan).
The material is still here, and the director chosen for the job, Carter Smith, can't entirely squelch it (once again Smith wrote his own screenplay). In Smith's novel you hardly notice that the main characters are vapid twenty-somethings on vacation in Mexico, merely because the writer lavishes such good detail in fleshing them out. In the film, we meet the characters quickly and move on to the action. Amy (Jena Malone) and Stacy (Laura Ramsey) are best friends, staying at a resort with their boyfriends, Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) and Eric (Shawn Ashmore), who don't seem to have much in common. They meet Mathias (Joe Anderson), from Germany, who tells them about his brother, who has disappeared with a girl while visiting some secret ancient ruins. He's about to go out there to look for him; would they like to join him? After a night of drinking, dancing and making out, they depart.
The ruins are pretty spectacular; it's like a pyramid with a flat top and steps all around, located in a clearing in the jungle. Vines cover almost every square inch, except a stairway up the middle of one side, and a large clearing at the top. After a few minutes, a band of Mayan sentries show up and prove they mean business by killing one of Mathias's pals. The tourists are not to come down off the ruins. There's a deep pit at the top and they can hear Mathias's brother's cell phone ringing at the bottom of it. Mathias goes down, but falls and breaks his back. Stacy goes down after him and cuts her leg. They realize that they'll have to spend the night and ration food and water. They bicker, and things get progressively worse. (Hint: there's something supernatural at work.) I have a feeling some things were cut out, especially since one of the movie stills shows the characters cavorting in a rainstorm, which never happens.
The main characters are pretty vapid; Jeff is studying to be a doctor and he takes the lead and makes most of the tough decisions. He goes to bed early and seems responsible, but beyond that we don't really know him. Amy and Stacy are differentiated by the fact that Amy is a brunette with glasses and Stacy is a blonde. Amy's big character trait is that she got drunk the night before and started making out with Mathias after Jeff went to bed. The other guys have no real personality other than their clothes and the state of their beards. But not knowing the characters doesn't prevent the movie from growing tense when it's supposed to. Smith's ingenious tale unfolds in just the right layers, with characters making one horrible discovery after another. But each time the movie lurched to a new level, I mourned the fact that it had been tossed off to an amateur director (with only a short film or two to his credit) rather than a proven master of the genre.
Smith directs the movie in a completely rudimentary fashion, straight out of Horror 101. A mean dog jumps out of the back of a truck and "shocks" us. A girl lays in the darkness with her face turned away from the camera; when Stacy reaches for her, the girl's head suddenly turns and jerks into view, hideous and half-decomposed. (Where have I seen that before? Oh yeah. Psycho.) Whenever anything tense happens, Smith's camera begins shaking and wandering everywhere, cutting almost arbitrarily instead of letting it come to rest or discover anything. Now consider that John Carpenter hasn't directed a feature film since 2001, or that Tobe Hooper has trouble getting films financed. The supernatural element of The Ruins also applies directly to the sensibility of David Cronenberg, who is usually concerned with body issues. Not to mention that Wes Craven, George A. Romero, Brian De Palma and John Landis are almost always available these days.
If the studio was merely going to give up on this project, why not spend the same amount of money and effort hiring one of these semi-forgotten masters to do the work? It frankly made me angry thinking of the disdain and contempt they must have had for this project, for the audience and for horror in general. And to make matters worse, The Ruins eventually emerges as an average horror picture, and several steps above every other horror picture released this year. (They even went for an "R" rating, with nudity and liberal use of the "F" word.) And that's without even trying.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-05-2008 @ 11:11AM
Peter Hall said...
I've got problems with THE RUINS, particularly its lopsided structure, but I think this review undercuts much of the films merits. I agree about the vapid characters, but credit should be given to the performers and even Carter Smith for eventually mounting the problem. I started off hating every one of the roles save for Joe Anderson's, but about midway through I think each actor came into their own; especially Laura Ramesy, who sold the paranoia and horror of the Vines. The mere fact that Jenna Malone's Amy stopped being an annoying kooze at some point deserves a clap in my book.
It has been a sad year for the genre to date, but I do think The Ruins deserves to be rewarded for not only being a safe bet on the studio part, but delivering an exhilarating 90 minutes in a dark theater. You may think studios took the easy way out, but the truth is they still produced a slow burning film with relatively unpopular actors that is about killer plants of all things. I applaud them.
I also thinking you're discounting Craven, Romero, De Palma and Landis as if they are off-the-shelf hitters for hire just because they're retirement aged directors who have no need to pick up anything less than passion projects. I am as true a champion of the genre as you're likely to find, but even I want some new blood behind the camera. You can't have the future films of yesteryear without trying something new. I may be in the minority, but i think THE RUINS is a good - not great - horror flick that will find its place in the genre's heart.
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4-05-2008 @ 12:57PM
Bubba8193 said...
I read the book THE RUINS and although I haven't seen the film yet (I'm going later this afternoon), I can tell that the film is completely different from the novel. Things that happen to one character in the book happen to a different character in the film. I can tell they did that for marketing purposes only, which I think is stupid.
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4-05-2008 @ 5:20PM
Hal Masonberg said...
I haven't see THE RUINS, nor have I read the book. Nor am I familiar with this director. However, I will point out that, despite appearances, this may not have been the film this director actually directed. I only say this because in Hollywood, what hits the screen and what is made by the artists/creatives are not always one and the same. In fact, more often than not, films are "reworked" by studios (to varying degrees) and the filmmakers often remain quiet so as to save their potential careers. I'm not saying that's the case here, but it should always be kept a consideration. I wrote and directed a film that was released under the title CLIVE BARKER'S THE PLAGUE. The fim that was released was in no way, shape or form the film I wrote OR directed. Barker's people completely re-cut the film from first frame to last. Unlike many directors, I chose not to remain silent and I actually completed the film in private and started a web site and campaign to get the real version of the film released (http://www.spreadingtheplague.com). Most of the cast and crew have openly disowned the "producers' cut" and are actively supporting what we call the "Writers & Director's Cut". I found most of the producers I worked with to not be particularly bright or savvy. And they made the huge mistake (a common one) of thinking their audience was even LESS bright and savvy than they were! I guess my point here is, we never really know what the filmmakers' intent is as, in Hollywood, the artists' word is never the last one.
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4-05-2008 @ 7:12PM
Peter Hall said...
Hal, I was actually thinking of your plight the other day, but I guess you still haven't made on progress (not for lack of trying, that's for sure). Sorry to hear.
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4-08-2008 @ 12:52PM
kevjohn said...
I just saw this last night. It's one of the best horror movies I've seen in a long time. Well, since "The Mist" (hey, when you gonna let us use italics?) anyway. I don't know what that says about the industry, but it is what it is. They took what, judging by the seemingly weak cast, could have been a cheesy standard "Final Destination"-type flick and went for something deeper and creepier. I did become instantly wary when the first couple of "scares" were just the typical jump-out-at-you shockers (the pre-credit woman getting snatched away into the darkness, the stupid dog in the taxi), but it settled in nicely into a sense of genuine dread when the Incas appeared and the touristas headed into the ruins. The girls' search for the cell phone made me want to make sure I always carry a spray can of industrial strength herbicide with me at all times.
I'm glad they went with the "R" rating, although it could have easily been toned down into "PG-13" territory. A less gruesome amputation here, fewer mentions of oral sex there, take out the (very good!) nude scene, and the tweenies might have been lining up to see this one. As it was I was the only person in the theater, although it being a Monday night showing may have had something to do with that. All-in-all a very worthwhile film to check out in the theaters while you can. Then again it might not be a bad idea to wait until the DVD comes out with, hopefully, an alternate ending or two where what SHOULD have happen does.
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