A good idea that just doesn't work out

(before we get to the review...)

YEAH! MAX IS IN THIS! FROM ACROSS THE UNIVERSE! AND HE DOES AWESOME! WOOO!!!

Sorry. Anyway, once they enter the jungle the movie gets pretty good. The effects aren't great, but they don't really ned to be, so th... (read more) (before we get to the review...)

YEAH! MAX IS IN THIS! FROM ACROSS THE UNIVERSE! AND HE DOES AWESOME! WOOO!!!

Sorry. Anyway, once they enter the jungle the movie gets pretty good. The effects aren't great, but they don't really ned to be, so that's fine. All actors do a great and believable job, behaving exactly how one would expect them to in that situation. It really makes me wanna read the book it's based on, and was a great hour and a half that didn't turn out like I was expecting at all.

edit: Having now read the book, I can say that the movie is as good as it ever was, but is not quite as creepy as the book. It's still good, though. (edit date: 11/30/9)

The book is WAY better!

A different sort of horror/suspense movie. This one involves a group of American students on vacation in Mexico. They go off on a trek to some ancient ruins and find themselves quarantined there by the locals, though they're not sure why. Slowly, ... (read more) A different sort of horror/suspense movie. This one involves a group of American students on vacation in Mexico. They go off on a trek to some ancient ruins and find themselves quarantined there by the locals, though they're not sure why. Slowly, as they begin to exhaust their resources, they begin to find out the secret of the ruins...

The scares in this film are more psychological than anything, which I like. There's some gore, but not a whole lot. You experience the gradual degradation of sanity along with the characters.

This movie doesn't do anything extremely well, but it's creative and has good actors in it. I was surprised to see indie darling Jena Malone in a movie like this, but she's great as always.

The overall premise is a little silly, but The Ruins is well-made and entertaining.

Good book, not great movie

When you've got cute young tourists, an exotic locale (well, sort of: Mexico), ancient Mayan hoodoo and surly peasants with machetes, you expect a bit more than The Ruins gives you, which is: killer plants.

The film's depiction of deteriorating-under-pressure group dynamics comes to an abrupt end just as it gets going