The Ruins (2008) is a horror movie directed by Carter Smith. The movie follows a group of people stuck on a Mayan pyramid overtaken by sentient vines. Below is my The Ruins (2008) movie review
While it was filmed in Australia in the winter, the movie follows tourists during summer going into ancient ruins. It starts off innocent enough with people enjoying their vacation, but it quickly nose dives into horror territory. Once it starts, it quickly goes into what is known as body horror or even gross out horror. This means a lot of the scenes are very explicit and uncomfortable to watch. Think of seeing nails under skin or deep splinters under nails and you will have an idea of the graphic scenes depicted.
Once they get to the ruins, it quickly becomes obvious that the vines around them are alive. They soon begin to get under people’s skin, creating very uncomfortable and painful moments to watch. As they are taken one by one, the whole dynamic of the team is thrown into a complete chaos. People turn against each other as the chances of escaping start to dwindle. Without spoiling it, their escape is not up to them as other forces act upon keeping them there. Again, as the movie progresses, the scenes with vines get extremely graphic. The director researched a lot of plants as well as how people would behave if they knew there was something growing under their skin.
The whole idea of being isolated is not new but the movie manages to create an effective setting that is claustrophobic and uncomfortable. The characters are also not the smartest but they are not too stupid considering they are in a really tough spot. They are also not interesting but they are believable. They are not there just to die but rather to fight for survival. This makes the movie stand out as graphic violence is not just thrown at us. The blood and gore has meaning to it. The amputation scene still stays with me. I have seen some gross horror movies but that one was even tough for me. Normal movie goers might find it tough to watch.
Don’t expect everything to be explained to you. In fact a lot of questions still remain regarding the vines, but this definitely will not ruin the movie. It leaves a big mystery open as it teases more to come.
All in all the movie is good. Has some good characters, great gore, and plenty of creepy moments that would leave any movie-goer tense and uncomfortable. The characters’ optimism gets crushed but they still go on. Every scene towards the end ends up draining more and more of their energy but we still root for them to escape. The gore itself is uncomfortable, but not meant to be gratuitous. Overall a fun ride with plenty to enjoy.
Thanks for reading my The Ruins (2008) movie review
