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Ruins, The
DreamWorks Pictures


5.0

based on 15 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 30 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for strong violence and gruesome images, language, some sexuality and nudity

Starring Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Jena Malone, and Shawn Ashmore

Based on the terrifying best-seller by Scott Smith, The Ruins follows a group of friends who become entangled in a brutal struggle for survival after visiting a remote archaeological dig in the Mexican jungle, where they discover something deadly living among the ruins. (DreamWorks)

GENRE(S):	Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Scott Smith
DIRECTED BY:	Carter Smith
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: July 8, 2008 Theatrical: April 4, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	91 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Australia / USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

ReelViews James Berardinelli

In order to appreciate The Ruins, one has to be a die-hard fan of horror or bloody thrillers. Those in that category will discover that The Ruins delivers the goods.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A surprisingly effective little horror nightmare.

LA Weekly Jim Ridley

First-time feature director Carter Smith, working with resourceful cinematographer Darius Khondji, pulls off the neat trick of using the wide screen to claustrophobic effect. And the actors give such a convincing display of starvation-fueled fear that they deserve their own private craft-service table.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The Ruins is, with one major caveat, about as good an adaptation of Scott Smith's bestselling novel as Hollywood was ever going to make.

Los Angeles Times Mark Olsen

The characters never evolve past mere functionality, and the adherence to certain tried-and-true horror tropes -- the good girl who doesn't want to go but does, the generic naughty kids who get it first -- feels workmanlike, robbing the story of any real suspense or surprise.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

In the end, the gimmick is too risible and its effects on the characters too forced to sustain either suspense or horror.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Director Carter Smith suffers from another, more common problem: In trying to squeeze every plot point from the book into a 90-minute movie, he failed to capture its chilling essence.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Smith has changed a few plot points around to keep readers who already know the secret of the ruins guessing, and to some extent the strategy works. There was, however, no reason whatsoever to change the book's perfect endings.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The Ruins is lumpish, static, and obvious. It's a gringos-go-home cautionary fright flick done in the spirit of a cheap '50s horror movie, except that it leaves you longing for the competence of grade-Z studio-system trash.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

There are a handful of intense sequences and a few scenes of squirm-inducing gore in The Ruins, but not much else.

Empire Staff (Not credited)

Slick, sick stuff, but save the odd squirm, a killer-plant horror that doesn’t grow anywhere.

The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz

More disgusting than scary, The Ruins is the latest in a long line of horror films about upper-middle-class travelers being terrorized in unfamiliar environments.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Ultimately less dependent on suspense or even scares than on squirm-inducing grossouts, this tale of Yank hardbodies vs. carnivorous creepers should flower briefly in hardtops, then spread like an invasive weed in ancillary.

New York Post Kyle Smith

The movie doesn't do anything with these viney bastards. There's no back story, no satire, no allegory, no implications beyond what's happening on the pyramid.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

As it stands, The Ruins is about as interesting as a pile of old stones and a monkey-dumb yanqui falling prey to the horrors of globalization. And that's pretty dumb.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Matthew gave it a9:
I don't understand all the negativity and derision this film has garnered. I found it to be a very interesting and well-done horror film. One of the better American offerings I have watched in the past 6 months.

Tiago M. gave it an8:
IS really not very original, but the cast is very good, the locations is ok and the tension is great!

Jay H. gave it a5:
In spite of some tense scenes and a good performance from Jena Malone, this is a tired story, needlessly gory and lacks originality. Well produced, It begins to fall apart after the first half. It does have it's moments though.

Lev S. gave it a1:
Excellent gore effects. [***SPOILER***] But a cannibalistic vine? Laughable.

V C. gave it a2:
Note to writer: If you are going to make a movie about people being trapped on a pyramid by locals who appear out of nowhere as soon as you set foot on the damn thing, please be kind enough to explain why said locals didn't just stop said people from going there in the first place, especially considering another group of random people had gone to the evil pyramid a few days earlier.

Gigi M. gave it a5:
Interesting setting and hot cast, but it lost me when the vines got grabby and the flowers started making noise -- very Little Shop of Horrors. Gory/gross and yet too silly to be great.

Hunter H gave it a1:
I rarely watch horror movies. I find them to be poor quality, and reliant on cheap thrills rather than substance. I got dragged to this by some friends, and it merely confirmed my suspicions. Not so much a coherent film as much as an excuse to show a number of scenes concerning graphic amateur surgery. There wasn't a single point in the film that was scary, but plenty that were pointlessly gory.

Ruins, The DreamWorks Pictures

Ruins, The
DreamWorks Pictures