Macabre...ish Horror Review: Ruins

The Ruins, 2008/ 90 min.

A group of Americans go to some Mayan Ruins to look for some friends who’d gone prior and hadn’t returned. They soon find that the way to the Ruins is quite a ways off the beaten path and in fact, on the way the locals tried to detour them, even blocking the pathway with debris. Not to be thwarted, the group make their way to the location, a structure almost entirely covered by vines, and in doing so attracted an audience of locals who set up camp at the base of the site.

As they go up, in search of their friends, they soon find evidence of a vacation gone wrong. An empty camp, recently abandoned, a ringing cell phone that they can’t locate and soon, a body. As they rush back down for help, they discover there is no help to be had there as they are attacked by the locals, if they try to leave the ruins. Turns out, they’ve been keeping watch over the area and they clearly know something the tourists don’t.

Any attempt to leave, there is no warning, they will do what they have too to stop you. To make the point, they kill one of their own children that goes near the Ruin. With no choice, the Americans return to their friends abandoned camp, at the top of the pyramid, to try to find the phone to get help and discover the awful origin of that ringing phone.

The ruins are a trap that no one is meant to escape and the plants surrounding the place are a big reason why. With a series of miscalculations that lead to serious injuries, they discover the truth of the trap.  And their chance of survival. The friends, that this group came to look for, never left. No one leaves. Escape seems impossible. Or is it?

This movie is graphic and brutal. It’s bloody and you’re going to see everything. Plant horror at it’s best! I really enjoyed this movie and the actors (Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawna Ashmore) did a good job making it hard to watch. Enjoy!