The Ruins
Unrated Edition
Directed by Carter Smith
Starring Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey, Joe Anderson
Paramount Home Video
Release Date: July 8, 2008

I’m finding that approaching this review of The Ruins is a bit more of a challenge than I expected it to be. While I have a pretty solid idea of my opinion of the film, I’m also realizing that over the years I’ve become very picky toward some genres, especially the horror genre. With that in mind, I’ll try and offer my own opinion along with a little open-minded perspective for others interested in checking this out.

The first 30 minutes or so are pretty boring, as we meet Jeff (Jonathan Tucker), Amy (Jena Malone), Stacy (Laura Ramsey), and Eric (Shawn Ashmore) — the typical hot, young group of kids on vacation — and they’re deciding whether to do the scary-sounding, “we probably shouldn’t” activity. In this case, a random German dude named Mathias (Joe Anderson) who finds one of the girls’ missing earrings invites them to join him in meeting up with his archaeologist brother at some ancient Mayan ruins. Naturally, seeing as how the man has a very friendly German accent, the kids decide to go on the adventure and after a few minor complications, they arrive at the mysteriously hidden site; this is where the chaos begins.