(detailed information about this entry from Wikipedia)
The Ruins is a 2008 horror film directed by Carter Smith and starring Jonathan Tucker, Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone and Joe Anderson. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Scott Smith, who wrote the screenplay for his own novel.
The film opens with a girl crying for help and tries her cellphone for any signal that she might call someone for help. Suddenly she is yanked away. Then the film pans to two American couples (Jeff & Amy; Eric & Stacy) decide to help a new-found German friend, Mathias, look for his brother Henrich, who has supposedly joined an archaeological dig, whose location is shown only on a crude map that Henrich drew for Mathias before he left. Dimitri, one of a group of Greek travelers, goes as well, leaving a copy of the map behind with his fellow Greeks in search of his friend, a journalist who has also gone to the archaeological dig. Later we come to know that this is the girl who was shown in the first scene. Following the map they first take a bus to a small town, where they attempt to persuade a taxi driver to take them the rest of the way. Initially he refuses, telling them their destination is a "bad place", however when Dimitri offers the driver twenty dollars he obliges. The six disembark from the taxi and begin the last stretch of the journey on foot through rugged terrain.
Crossing a river, the group encounters two children, both of whom ignore them. The group finally finds a path to the ruins, though someone has tried to conceal it. Following the path, they find a clearing, beyond which is a ancient looking temple covered in vines and red flowers. A Mayan villager suddenly appears on horseback, armed with a pistol. He wants them to leave, but more men, armed with bows and arrows, soon appear and they begin to shout at the group in a threatening manner. Panicking, Mathias shows the first villager his phone with the picture of his brother. The villagers take the phone but continue to shout and argue among themselves. Amy, trying to take a picture of the scene, backs up to get a better shot and mistakenly steps into the vines. The Mayans become even more hostile when Dimitri takes the camera from Amy and tries to give it to them, shooting him in the chest with an arrow, followed by a bullet in his head. The group panics and runs to the top of the temple. The Mayans remain at the bottom.
On top of the temple is an abandoned camp with a shaft in the center. The group try their cellphones but nobody has a signal. Matthias says that he did previously, but the Mayans now have his phone. From the bottom of the shaft, they hear what sounds like a cellphone and Mathias recognizes the ringtone as his brother's. Thinking they may be able to call for help, the group lowers Mathias into the shaft. Halfway down, the rope breaks, sending Mathias falling into the darkness. They repair the rope and lower Stacy down, who cuts her knee on broken glass but finds Mathias. Unable to move his legs, he appears to have broken his back. The group rigs a backboard and is able to lift Mathias out.
Jeff finds that the Mayans have ringed the hill with bonfires and armed men, and seem to be simply waiting. During the night, Stacy finds that a tendril of the vine has crept into her wound. They remove it, but Stacy becomes obsessed with the idea that the plant is growing inside her. Later, Jeff checks on Mathias and finds that the vines have wrapped themselves around Mathias' lower legs and have eaten into them, down to the bone. The cellphone is heard again, and Stacy and Amy are lowered down the shaft to find it. Amy rushes toward the sound but is stopped by Stacy, who realizes that the sound is coming from the vines' flowers which are mimicking the sound of the cellphone. The vines begin to move and start chasing after Amy and Stacy. They make it out, panicking.
The group begins to realize that the vines are deadly and that the Mayans are actually trying to keep them quarantined. The Mayans have kept outsiders at bay (as well as keeping trespassers from leaving the ruins once they have stepped foot on them) and have salted the earth all around the hill to prevent the vines from growing further.
With Mathias' condition deteriorating, Jeff amputates Mathias' legs with Eric's assistance. However, in the middle of the night Mathias is killed as the vines invade his body.
Stacy shows the group that the vines are now growing inside her. Even after Jeff cuts her open to remove several of the vines, her paranoia grows and she demands to be allowed to cut herself more. After giving Stacy a drink the group notices vines moving inside her head. While the others sleep, Stacy cuts herself in a futile attempt to remove the vines. Upon discovering her bleeding profusely from many wounds, Jeff tries to help but Stacy slashes his hand with the knife. Stacy continues cutting and when Eric tries to grab the knife, Stacy stabs him through the heart, killing him. As the vines move in to take Eric's body, Stacy cries in Amy's arms, begging to be killed. Jeff takes the knife from Erics' body and kills Stacy.
Realizing the chances of rescue are slim, Jeff finally decides that they must try to escape. While distracting the Mayans to allow Amy to escape, Jeff is fatally injured by arrows and then killed by a gun shot. The Mayans chase Amy but she makes it to the car and drives away. Vines can be seen creeping inside her body, conveying her possible fate.
Later, the Greeks arrive at the ruins, looking and calling out for "Dimitri". They walk across the clearing and towards the hill, presumably to suffer the same fate as the others and leaving the movie open for a sequel.
The alternate ending shows Amy driving further down the path from the DVD ending. The scene then cuts to cemetery where a caretaker is walking among the headstones whistling, "London Bridge Is Falling Down". He hears the same tune coming from a headstone, with the name Amy on it and notices the flowers making the sound, as he reaches out to touch them the vine grabs his arm.
In the original theatrical ending, Amy is shown racing through the jungle and escaping in the Jeep. There is no sign of the vines indicating that Amy wasn't infected. The film then proceeds to the original ending where the Greeks arrive at the temple.
[edit] Production
Filming in Australia completed on February 7, 2008, and the film was released April 4, 2008.[3]
[edit] Release and Box Office
The Ruins was released in the US on April 4, 2008 and in Australia it will be released on August 7, 2008. In the US box office it debuted at #5 making $8,003,421. After 3 weeks it exited the top 10 [4]. As of July 7, 2008 it has grossed $17,432,844 domestically and $22,007,764 worldwide. [5]. Despite not being a huge hit, the film is still considered a success, as it made back it's production budget ($8 million) in it's opening weekend and more than doubled it overall.
[edit] Critical reception
The film received generally mixed reviews from critics. As of June 4, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 43% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 61 reviews.[6] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 13 reviews.[7]
Among critics who gave the film favorable reviews, James Berardinelli gave the film three stars out of four, saying, "The Ruins does what a good psychological horror movie should do: rely on tension rather than gore to achieve its aims. This bleak, edgy motion picture isn't concerned with appealing to the masses that flock to multiplexes to enjoy the spatterings of the latest serial slasher or the hollow weirdness of a PG-13 ghost story."[8]
Audiences gave the film mixed-to-positive reviews, with a 52% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes among audiences as of June 30, 2008 (though most certified it "fresh") and a 6.3/10 rating on Imdb as of June 30, 2008. As of May 13, 2008, The Ruins has grossed over $20 Million.
[edit] DVD Release
It was announced on June 2, 2008 that The Ruins will be released on DVD on July 8, 2008 in both rated and unrated versions. [9] No extra material will be included on the rated edition. The unrated DVD will include a commentary by Director Carter Smith and Editor Jeff Betancourt, 3 featurettes (Making The Ruins, Creeping Death, Building The Ruins), 5 additional scenes (Rain, Celebration, Going Over The Escape Plan, Alternate Ending, Original Theatrical Ending), and trailers. An unrated Blu-ray edition will also be available with identical features. [10]It was also said that the unrated edition would include 6 more minutes than the theatrical cut.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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The Ruins (2008) 
The Ruins (2008)
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