Movie Review: The Ruins
Saw The Ruins this week, and have to say I was somewhat disappointed. The basic premise is that a group of college-age kids vacationing in Mexico wind up at an ancient Mayan temple where they fall prey to an ancient unspeakable horror. Now, I'm all for ancient unspeakable horrors and it had been some time since I'd seen a good horror movie, so I suppose I built my hopes up a little more than I should have.
While providing a little creepiness and a lot of gore, The Ruins falls short as a good horror movie mainly due to its setting and plot. With the exception of two very brief scenes, the entire movie takes place on top of and around the temple, not inside it. What this means is that all the action takes place in broad daylight, really killing any opportunity for scary ambiance or cinematography. You can always clearly see what's going on and there's no real mystery to what's about to happen in each scene. I realize the storyline is based upon a book, but the story really misses what could have been terrifying had they been fleeing from room to room inside the mysterious temple instead of just camping out and waiting on top of it.
Another reason The Ruins really just didn't work for me was the fact that the aforementioned ancient unspeakable horror was really not so terrifying. They really had me interested and guessing at what this ancient unspeakable horror was, so much that I can't write ancient unspeakable horror without putting it in italics. What I got at the end of the movie however, was just... well... I won't spoil the movie for you, but lets just say that unless you have no legs, are actively bleeding all over, and lie perfectly still right next to the ancient unspeakable horror for some time, it might kill you... if you exercise enough patience, that is.
All in all, The Ruins provided a couple of interesting / creepy moments, and a LOT of gore. If you can't stand people cutting giant hunks of their own flesh off with hunting knives, this isn't the movie for you. It had a lot of potential, but never delved far enough into the spooky temple to make something of itself.
SCORING: I give The Ruins 2 Agent Smiths out of a possible 5.
While providing a little creepiness and a lot of gore, The Ruins falls short as a good horror movie mainly due to its setting and plot. With the exception of two very brief scenes, the entire movie takes place on top of and around the temple, not inside it. What this means is that all the action takes place in broad daylight, really killing any opportunity for scary ambiance or cinematography. You can always clearly see what's going on and there's no real mystery to what's about to happen in each scene. I realize the storyline is based upon a book, but the story really misses what could have been terrifying had they been fleeing from room to room inside the mysterious temple instead of just camping out and waiting on top of it.Another reason The Ruins really just didn't work for me was the fact that the aforementioned ancient unspeakable horror was really not so terrifying. They really had me interested and guessing at what this ancient unspeakable horror was, so much that I can't write ancient unspeakable horror without putting it in italics. What I got at the end of the movie however, was just... well... I won't spoil the movie for you, but lets just say that unless you have no legs, are actively bleeding all over, and lie perfectly still right next to the ancient unspeakable horror for some time, it might kill you... if you exercise enough patience, that is.All in all, The Ruins provided a couple of interesting / creepy moments, and a LOT of gore. If you can't stand people cutting giant hunks of their own flesh off with hunting knives, this isn't the movie for you. It had a lot of potential, but never delved far enough into the spooky temple to make something of itself.
SCORING: I give The Ruins 2 Agent Smiths out of a possible 5.
Labels: Movie_Reviews
posted by Arizona Steve at
4:24 PM
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