The Ruins

Jun 20 2008 The Journal

(1hr 30mins) Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore. Director: Carter Smith

IN Carter Smith’s gruesome horror film, adapted by Scott B Smith from his book, humans aren’t top of the food chain after all, plants are, and their fertiliser of choice is freshly spilt blood.

The Ruins unfolds in the scorching heat of Cancun, Mexico, a paradise of tropical forests and sandy beaches.

Diligent medical student Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) and girlfriend Amy (Jena Malone) soak up the sun on a well-earned break with Amy’s best friend Stacy (Laura Ramsey) and her boyfriend Eric (Shawn Ashmore).

Poolside, they meet German holidaymaker Mathias, whose brother has ventured into the jungle on an archaeological dig at a remote temple.

He suggests they all make a day trip to the crumbling structure which was the site for human sacrifices hundreds of years ago.

The sightseeing expedition turns ugly when bow and arrow-wielding locals chase the tourists up the steps of the temple and refuse to let them leave, but the holidaymakers soon realise that the bloodthirsty mob is nothing compared to the horrors that lurk inside.

The Ruins sows the seeds of an entertaining and campy B-Movie, but Smith’s script and the cast play this hellish game of survival with a straight face, and on the whole the film succeeds.

Visual effects bring the voracious man-eating vines to life in a series of bravura set pieces, while Tucker, Malone and co ably convey the escalating panic of their trapped vacationers.