Reviewed by Johnny McNair 

Paramount Home Entertainment – 93 minutes – 2008 – Unrated –Widescreen 2.35:1 – Dolby TrueHD 5.1

When you first look at the poster for The Ruins, it looks like one of those ‘make a quick buck off of stupid teenagers’ horror films that we’ve been slammed with lately. But if you give this film a chance you’ll quickly discover that this doesn’t fall into that molding, and is actually a well-directed thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The Ruins comes to Blu-ray via Paramount Home Entertainment, and may make you change your plans if you were thinking of taking a quick trip to Mexico.

THE MOVIE

The Ruins is based on the novel by Scott Smith, who also adapted the screenplay, telling the tale of a group of young friends who take a trip to Mexico for some fun and sun. Hearing of a mysterious archaeological dig in the Mexican jungle from another tourist, they take a journey into a forbidden area to see it for themselves. Things go immediately wrong when they are surrounded a group of hostile Mexican locals armed with weapons, and a forced to climb up to vine-layered temple that stands in the jungle and remain there. The locals watch them from below demonstrating that if any of them attempts to come down from the temple, they will be killed immediately. The situation grows more intense when they discover the remains of a corpse on top of the temple, and as the hours unfold, they group learns that there is a reason that they are not allowed to leave from these grounds. They have become the prey for something so deadly that the chances of all of them making it off this temple alive are highly questionable.

No spoilers will be revealed; because this is something you should see for yourself. What starts out like the set-up for a typical horror flick quickly morphs into something much more intelligent than just a psycho with a machete and hockey mask. Directed by Carter Smith, The Ruins works because it puts the viewer in a scenario where you’ll constantly ask yourself “what would I do know if I were in that situation.” And what make it more satisfying is that the characters aren’t the cliché batch you normally see in these films, and actually make rational decisions (at times), that you’ll be able to relate with.

This is not necessarily a scary movie; it goes more for making you uncomfortable, rather than just splattering blood all over the place. The cast is relatively TV actors, with the only recognizable face being Shawn Ashmore, who played Iceman in the X-men movies. And being that there is no big star, you never know who will meet there fate next, making every character vulnerable to face a horrific death. Yes, there are moments when you’ll see blood, but it’s done in a manner that will make you look away rather than watch it as a sadistic voyeur.

Another benefit to this film is that it’s paced very well in its 90-minute time frame. From the beginning, the story just gets to the point, and you never have to deal with any silly character’s side story that they usually stick into these films, and no one really cares about anyway. Within 15 minutes you’ll know these guys are in deep jeopardy, and the remainder of the film is just killing them off one-by one while they attempt to survive. There are some plot holes in the narrative, but because the story keeps moving, it’s not enough to affect the outcome.

It’s very hard to write a review for this film without giving away what the main element of horror is, but the best way to view this movie is by not knowing anything about it so that you can make no pre-judgement. But if you enjoyed such films as The Descent or Hostel, this film should work for you. Whether this film is worthy of being added to your collection is based on how you feel about it as the ending credits role. The Ruins wasn’t a huge box office it, but I’m sure it will win the audience that missed it now that it’s on Blu-ray and DVD. This one is worth a look.

VIDEO

With it’s 1080p image and 2.35:1 aspect ratio the ruins look very good, mainly because it benefits from exterior daylight scenes. The opening scenes on the beach when the friends are together and having fun are brighter with more colors, but when they are on the temple and the terror begins, the colors become more washed out and the sun drowns out the sharpness of the image. Obviously this is done to highlight scenarios the characters are facing, and at times it may make it look like standard definition, but that’s all part of the effect. The Ruins is not top of line hi-def show off material, but it’s a good transfer that fits the mood of the film.

SOUND

The Ruins offers a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound mix that works because it doesn’t attempt to exaggerate sound as most horror flicks usually do. Here the sounds of the jungle will creep you out, and when you hear how audio is used to reveal the threat of the ruins, it will make or break how you feel about the film itself. There is plenty of dialogue in the film that goes from casual in the beginning to complete chaos later, and it stays crisps even when everyone is shouting lines over each other. And speaking of shouting, this film has some of the most ear-shattering screens you’re going to hear. Definitely crank up the speakers for this one.

EXTRAS

There is a decent batch of extras included on this Blu-ray, particularly since this isn’t a big budget movie, and the best part is that they are all displayed in HD.

There’s an audio commentary track from director Carter Smith who is joined by the film’s editor Jeff Betancourt. This is a solid track that goes inside the production. These guys really believed in this film and provide a lot of good information for those of you who want to know more about the movie.

‘Making The Ruins’ is a fifteen-minute featurette that has a few interview clips with the cast and crew, as well as some behind the scenes shots, and what drew everyone to the project. It’s very quick, but they cram a lot of production info in there to keep you involved.

‘Building The Ruins’ runs five-miutes and looks at the temple set that was built, which is the prime location of the film.

‘Creeping Death’ is a fifteen-minute look at the movie’s “terror factor,” and how the effects team made it happen. It also looks at several of the body parts shots and what went into making it look convincing.

There are twelve-minutes of deleted scenes that includes two alternate ending shots. Most of the deleted scenes are just talking heads stuff, and the alternate endings are basically re-edited versions of the ending used on the cut of the Blu-ray.

BOTTOM LINE

Overall, The Ruins is a much better film than you would give it credit for by seeing the poster or the trailer. While in no way flawless, it’s well crafted and at times will make you cringe. This unrated Blu-ray offers picture quality and great sound and could become a cult hit now that it’s a home video release. This is definitely worth a look, and there’s a good chance it’ll win you over and become apart of your collection.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 3.5

Video: 3.5

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 3.0

Bottom Line: 3.5