by Daniel Stephens

Created on: July 01, 2009   Last Updated: September 05, 2011

The Ruins (USA, 2008)

Directed by Carter Smith; starring Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore, Joe Anderson

Give The Ruins some credit - it isn't an American remake of an Asian horror movie. But - and it's a big "but" - it is based on Scott Smith's rather average novel telling the tale of four American holidaymakers who, in trying to find a little adventure to end their vacation, stumble across an old Mayan temple which houses something particularly nasty.

When it becomes obvious the locals won't let them leave, going as far as shooting and killing one of their friends, the group become imprisoned on a relic that refuses to stay dormant for long.

You'd be forgiven thinking director Carter Smith's The Ruins would feature an old Mayan temple, teenage foe, and decaying, bandage-clad mummies chewing on limbs and chasing screaming blondes, but prepare to be surprised. Although the film does feature a Mayan temple and teenage foe, it leaves the mummies and the curses to the worlds of Stephen Sommers' movies.

However, while you won't know what's lurking in the temple - what can only be described as the tourist trap to end all tourist traps - you'll still feel like you've been here before. Scott Smith, who adapts his own novel for the screen, fails to recreate the tension and high drama of his brilliant A Simple Plan which became a successful novel as well as a superb, Oscar-nominated film directed by Sam Raimi. Here the girls are cardboard cut-outs from other movies, and we get the tired scene of a blonde girl stripping leaving very little to the imagination both in terms of her "T and A" and her eventual demise. You just know she's going to get killed in some horrific way because, as was so beautifully exampled in Scream - sex kills in teenage horror movies. And does any of the relationship angst and pop-culture asides matter at all? The answer: No. It's all just a set-up for the usual tricks, conventions, and jump-out-of-your seat moments we've all enjoyed before.

And The Ruins has its fair share of scares. When our intrepid explorers first arrive at the temple you'll be shocked at how the locals treat anyone with a camera. There's also a lovely moment for gore fans when one of the group needs medical attention on their legs. Turn away at this point if you're squeamish.

Yet, while the film has its moments, there's too much time when nothing really happens, and the whole thing is weakly held together with a sub-plot that feels contrived. On top of this, the antagonist isn't the most imaginative creation from the sadistic pits of the horror filmmaker's stable and prefers its fodder to beat themselves up rather than seek out its prey. This means the baton is firmly in the hands of the actors who have to make the oppressive force feel real and maintain a level of plot-bumbling tension. To the actors credit they all fit the bill - Good Looking College Students in Peril - but they can't do anything to help a script that plays on the same cliches we've chastised before.

Essentially, The Ruins tries to mould a different idea onto a template originally created by Wes Craven in his film The Hills Have Eyes. Recently, we've seen the likes of Wrong Turn and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes tread similar ground and do it better than Smith's The Ruins. If you're seeking horror that's modern, short and snappy, and made for the Scream generation, The Ruins is for you. If you're looking for invention and originality look elsewhere.

References:

Top 10 films to have driven men, women and children to murder

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