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Ruins, The
DreamWorks Pictures


4.9

based on 14 reviews
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based on 15 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for strong violence and gruesome images, language, some sexuality and nudity

Starring Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Jena Malone, and Shawn Ashmore

Based on the terrifying best-seller by Scott Smith, The Ruins follows a group of friends who become entangled in a brutal struggle for survival after visiting a remote archaeological dig in the Mexican jungle, where they discover something deadly living among the ruins. (DreamWorks)

GENRE(S):	Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Scott Smith
DIRECTED BY:	Carter Smith
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: April 4, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	91 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Australia / USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

ReelViews James Berardinelli

In order to appreciate The Ruins, one has to be a die-hard fan of horror or bloody thrillers. Those in that category will discover that The Ruins delivers the goods.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A surprisingly effective little horror nightmare.

LA Weekly Jim Ridley

First-time feature director Carter Smith, working with resourceful cinematographer Darius Khondji, pulls off the neat trick of using the wide screen to claustrophobic effect. And the actors give such a convincing display of starvation-fueled fear that they deserve their own private craft-service table.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The Ruins is, with one major caveat, about as good an adaptation of Scott Smith's bestselling novel as Hollywood was ever going to make.

Los Angeles Times Mark Olsen

The characters never evolve past mere functionality, and the adherence to certain tried-and-true horror tropes -- the good girl who doesn't want to go but does, the generic naughty kids who get it first -- feels workmanlike, robbing the story of any real suspense or surprise.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

In the end, the gimmick is too risible and its effects on the characters too forced to sustain either suspense or horror.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Director Carter Smith suffers from another, more common problem: In trying to squeeze every plot point from the book into a 90-minute movie, he failed to capture its chilling essence.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Smith has changed a few plot points around to keep readers who already know the secret of the ruins guessing, and to some extent the strategy works. There was, however, no reason whatsoever to change the book's perfect endings.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The Ruins is lumpish, static, and obvious. It's a gringos-go-home cautionary fright flick done in the spirit of a cheap '50s horror movie, except that it leaves you longing for the competence of grade-Z studio-system trash.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

There are a handful of intense sequences and a few scenes of squirm-inducing gore in The Ruins, but not much else.

The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz

More disgusting than scary, The Ruins is the latest in a long line of horror films about upper-middle-class travelers being terrorized in unfamiliar environments.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Ultimately less dependent on suspense or even scares than on squirm-inducing grossouts, this tale of Yank hardbodies vs. carnivorous creepers should flower briefly in hardtops, then spread like an invasive weed in ancillary.

New York Post Kyle Smith

The movie doesn't do anything with these viney bastards. There's no back story, no satire, no allegory, no implications beyond what's happening on the pyramid.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

As it stands, The Ruins is about as interesting as a pile of old stones and a monkey-dumb yanqui falling prey to the horrors of globalization. And that's pretty dumb.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.9 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ryencoke gave it a0:
This movie was just horrible. Boring, Lame. Plot went nowhere. You don't see no monster/cool thing. Seriously so horrible.

Chad S. gave it a7:
This is no mere ruins, this is "The Little Mayan Ruins of Horror". The menace in the Frank Oz-directed musical sang like an old school-soul stylist from planet Motown, his backup singers were green. In "The Ruins", the adversary is more like Kraftwerk than The Four Tops; like a Korg with a built-in sampler. The tourists aren't portrayed as ugly Americans, they're just four young people caught in a situation that's way over their heads. A film like "The Ruins" works better if the audience has a rooting interest in the characters' survival. When Stacy(Laura Ramsey), then Amy(Jena Malone), is lowered into the cavern, "The Ruins" looks like the toughest season of "Survivor" ever. The four Americans are split into two teams, and the German is like Jeff Probst. Stacy wins the battle of the girlfriends after the round of knives. Contrary to most horror films in which a homicidal maniac tortures his victims, in "The Ruins", body parts are hacked off without the stigma of villiany. Torture is disguised as a medical procedure which satisfies genre convention with tongue placed firmly in cheek. Jeff(Jonathan Tucker), the wanna-be doctor, so impassive as he works on the German, makes you draw parallels between surgeons and serial killers. They both have no feelings.

J. Tunes gave it an8:
One of the best Horror/SciFi films I've seen in a long time. My girlfriend read the book and she agreed. Well acted, great special effects and lots of blood. If you can't watch surgeries on TLC this is not the movie for you!

Kitty J. gave it an8:
The beauty of this film is its ability to transcend simple body-horror to sheer psychological terror. The cast does an incredible job of selling the villain, something that I, myself, was skeptical of when told of the book. As a person heavily affected and in love with the book, I had a lot riding on this film. I think it does a great job of living up to expectations and satisfying the horror lover in all of us. While I'm not entirely sold on the ending and do believe it needed another 15 minutes or so to really drive the terrifying story home, it's a true delight and worth the $10.

Chris gave it a3:
No character development to make you care about the actors, no backstory, and the "monster" is about as lame as I've ever seen. The ending sucked. The only good part was the realism of the gore, which is worth about 3 poknts.

Fraier M. gave it a9:
This is the most gory movie ever! Seriously. My date almost threw up at the leg part. This is a high intense movie that really gets under your skin. It follows the book good, except for a few parts and they switched two ppl around... but other than that, it was a good follower.

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Ruins, The DreamWorks Pictures

Ruins, The
DreamWorks Pictures