Release date: June 20 2008
On general release
Our Rating 2/5

The Ruins starts like any routine teen horror. Happy, care-free, young Americans enjoy a blissful existence while the audience look on, knowing that this kind of flamboyant behaviour results in a strong kick of malevolence from the forces that be. Picture the scene. Two young couples on a debauched holiday in Mexico, approached by a mysterious stranger with a thick accent, teasing them with the prospects of a cultural adventure to some ancient Mayan ruins ‘not even on the map’. 

So the adventure begins with obvious nods at their impending doom: the taxi driver saying it’s a bad place, the collection of unused cars, the hidden jungle path and creepy, silent jungle children. 
 
If The Ruins didn’t seem so formulaic it might have achieved some genuine tension but instead it’s like watching a frog being dissected. Intriguing but you knew the frog had to die.

Eventually things get interesting, as it all goes very wrong very quickly and we are brought into the world of ‘survival horror’ which is actually pretty involving, with a believable, if not key to keeping it grounded, performance from both Jonathan Tucker and Laura Ramsey. 
 
The nature of their enemy, however, is as terrifying as a goldfish with nunchucks. Threatening indeed but hardly a masterful or deceptive foe. As I am not a fan of plot spoilers, however weak the plot, so I’m not going to elaborate but anyone expecting to see something visually frightening will be disappointed. 
 
However fans of a bit of gore will have a whale of a time as there is a lot of claret spurting all over the place and one particularly brutal self harming scene which even with an iron constitution makes you cringe. These scenes are not looked into to much and the gore never overtakes the plot or is gratuitous.

There are also some inadvertently humorous moments such as when Jeff (Tucker) states “Four Americans don’t just disappear on holiday.” This launched a tirade of laughter in the cinema.

In brief this film begins like any other, draws us into a scuffle for survival and then ends with an anti climax that leaves you wanting to write angry letters…

See trailer

Tom Cole, MyVillage, 07th May