The Ruins (film)

The Ruins
Promotional poster
Directed by	Carter Smith
Produced by	Ben Stiller (executive) Chris Bender
Screenplay by	Scott Smith
Based on	The Ruins by Scott Smith
Starring	Jonathan Tucker Jena Malone Shawn Ashmore Laura Ramsey Joe Anderson
Cinematography	Darius Khondji
Editing by	Jeff Betancourt
Studio	Spyglass Entertainment Red Hour Films
Distributed by	DreamWorks Pictures
Release date(s)	4 April 2008
Running time	90 minutes (Theatrical Cut) 94 minutes (Unrated Director's Cut)
Country	Australia
Language	English Spanish Mayan
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$22,375,000

The Ruins is a 2008 Australian-American horror film directed by Carter Smith and starring Jonathan Tucker, Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey and Joe Anderson. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Scott Smith, who also wrote the screenplay. It is also the first non-comedy related movie to have as its executive producer Ben Stiller.

Plot

In a dark, dungeon-like room, a young woman tries to call for help on her mobile phone. Unable to receive a signal, she is dragged away by an unseen force.

Two young American couples (Jeff and Amy, and Eric and Stacy) vacation in Mexico. At the pool of their hotel, they make friends with a German tourist, Mathias, and decide to help him look for his brother, Heinrich. Heinrich had met a female archaeologist and followed her to an archaeological dig at a remote Mayan ruin in the jungle. The next morning Jeff, Amy, Eric, Stacy, Mathias, and Dimitri begin the journey by bus.

The location of the ruin is shown on a crude map Heinrich drew before departing. After a long ride, the group arrives at a remote village near the dig and takes a worn-down taxi to the destination marked on the map. After arriving at the trail head, they spot Heinrich's jeep and proceed.

When they reach the ruins, Mayan villagers appear with guns and bows. Mathias tries to tell them they're looking for his brother by showing them a picture of him on his mobile phone. Then Amy accidentally steps into vines at the base of the ruins and the Mayans aim their weapons at them. Dimitri tries to calm the situation by going over to Amy and taking the camera, which he thinks is the cause of the problem, also stepping into the vines as he does so. He walks towards the Mayans with the intention of giving them the camera, but he is struck with an arrow in his shoulder and then shot in the head. The rest of the group then flees up the steps of the ruins to escape the Mayans.

At the top they find an abandoned camp with two tents and a shaft in the center leading down. Eric and Mathias are the only two with mobile phones, but Eric's has no signal and the Mayans still have the other. Then they hear a mobile phone ringing and realise it's coming from the bottom of the shaft. Mathias says he is certain it's his brother's ringtone and is lowered down. As he is being lowered, the rope breaks, and he falls into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Amy descends the temple steps to reason with the Mayans. She angrily throws a clump of vines at them and hits a young boy, which leads to the Mayans going on to kill the boy. At this point they realise that it is the vines the Mayans are scared of, and as they've all touched them, the Mayans won't let them go. Later, Stacy and Amy descend the shaft to help Mathias and to find the mobile phone. Mathias has broken his back. Jeff and Eric rig a backboard and the paralyzed Mathias is lifted out.

Next morning, Stacy observes a tendril of vine has crept into a wound on her leg. The vines have also wrapped themselves around Mathias's lower legs and eaten them down to the bone. The mobile phone is heard again. This time, Stacy and Amy descend the shaft, and in a small, vine-covered room find the body of the young archaeologist from the opening scene and her phone, which is broken. Amy discovers that the flowers are vibrating and screeching, reproducing the ring of the phone. The vines attack, but the two manage to escape. Stacy is convinced the vines are alive, and growing inside her. The group now realizes the vines are predatory. They also see the Mayans salting the earth around the hill. Jeff insists that "four Americans on vacation don't just disappear" and that help is on the way.

With Mathias' condition getting worse, Jeff amputates both his legs. Stacy becomes jealous at Eric comforting Amy, saying she overheard them having sex. When Jeff tries to defuse the situation, Stacy calls Amy's fidelity into question. While the four argue, the vines suffocate Mathias.

Stacy knows the vines are now growing inside her, so Jeff cuts them out. Stacy claims she can feel more, but the others reluctantly deny her pleas to remove them. While the rest sleep, Stacy sneaks out of her tent and begins to cut herself. Jeff tries to stop her, and she slashes out at him, cutting his hand. Then Eric tries to stop her and she fatally stabs him. Overcome with remorse, Stacy begs Amy to kill her, and Jeff goes to remove the knife from Eric's body. At this point the film cuts to the Mayans watching at the base of the pyramid. We hear Stacy screaming, then her screams stop.

Realizing they'll eventually die, Jeff makes a plan for Amy to escape. He smears blood all over her, then carries her to the bottom of the temple and lays her on the ground, making it seem she has died. While distracting the Mayans, Jeff is shot, but not before Amy makes a run for it. She reaches the jeep and escapes.

In a final scene, Dimitri's Greek friends are seen moving toward the temple, looking for him.

Alternate endings

An alternate ending shows Amy driving away from the ruins like in normal ending, but this time the vines appear under the skin of her face and her eye fills with blood. The scene then cuts to a cemetery where a caretaker is walking among the headstones whistling Frère Jacques. He hears the same tune coming from Amy's grave. Around the headstone lie a few of the same red flowers, and as the caretaker reaches for one, the music surges and the scene cuts to black.

Cast

• Jonathan Tucker as Jeff McIntire
• Jena Malone as Amy
• Laura Ramsey as Stacy
• Shawn Ashmore as Eric
• Joe Anderson as Mathias
• Dimitri Baveas as Dimitri
• Jesse Ramirez as Mayan
• Karen Strassman as Vocal effects for The Vines

Release and box office

The Ruins was released in the US on 4 April 2008. In the US box office it debuted at #5 making $8,003,421. After 3 weeks it exited the top 10. As of 7 July 2008 it has grossed $17,432,844 domestically and $22,321,810 worldwide. Despite not being a huge hit, the film is still considered a success, as it made back its production budget ($8 million) in its opening weekend.

In Australia, The Ruins was originally planned to release on 17 April 2008. Then the release was pushed to 31 July 2008 which was then pushed to 7 August 2008. These plans were scrapped when Paramount pulled out of distributing it to theatres, but however has not scrapped plans for a 4 December 2008 DVD release. The premiere in Queensland was on 28 June 2008.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of 12 February 2009, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 45% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 77 reviews.

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."

DVD release

The Ruins was released on DVD on 8 July 2008 in both R-rated and unrated versions. It debuted at #4 on the DVD Sales Chart, selling 189,128 copies. As of 3 August 2008, The Ruins has sold 343,414 copies. The R-rated edition includes a commentary by director Carter Smith and editor Jeff Betancourt, three featurettes (Making The Ruins, Creeping Death, Building The Ruins), additional scenes (Rain, Celebration, Going Over The Escape Plan, Alternate Ending), and trailers. The unrated edition includes the theatrical cut and extra material, and also an alternate ending and optional commentary with additional scenes. An unrated Blu-ray edition is also available with identical features.

External links

• Official website
• The Ruins at the Internet Movie Database
• The Ruins at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Ruins at Metacritic
• The Ruins at Box Office Mojo
• The Ruins at AllRovi
• Human Lab Rat (Viral marketing Justin.tv channel)