'The Ruins' Brings Novel Horror to the Big Screen

By Connect Mason Reporter Emily Culley

If "The Ruins" proved one thing, it's that all movie adaptations should be written by the writer of the original novel.

Scott Smith adapted the movie from his 2006 horror-thriller best seller. It was a book that was so grotesque and creepy it won horror veteran Stephen King's stamp of approval. But did it make it on the big screen? Almost.

• Watch the trailer.

The plot is easy enough to understand. Four American college kids, Jeff (Jonathan Tucker), Amy (Jena Malone), Eric (Shawn Ashmore), Stacey (Laura Ramsey) are vacationing in Mexico when a zany German man asks them if they would like to join him on a private tour of the Mayan Temples.

Later, the audience finds out that the German man, Mathias (Joe Anderson), is looking for his brother - who left on the same tour with a girl days before, rather than an adventure. Once they arrive at the temple, they are immediately greeted by an abrasive, loud and primitive tribe who immediately kills a member of the group and quarantines the others to the top of the temple.

On the second day of their quarantine, the five realize that the plant covering most of the temple has a sickening taste for blood. Terror ensues. The rest of the movie is a psychological portrayal of the human mind going nuts. For example, Stacey believes she has become infected by the plant and goes to drastic means to rid her body of the plant.

As far as horror movies go, this one is fairly enjoyable. There were multiple moments where I couldn't stop myself from yelling at the screen, and even more instances when I had to cover my eyes. The trick is the movie's subtlety. From the beginning to the end, the plot and it's rises and falls are controlled by subtle moments. These subtle moments were also the most grotesque. B