The Ruins (2008)★★★☆☆

I don’t have too much to say about this one. It was mostly okay. Nothing really special.

The cast was pretty good – I like Jena Malone and Shawn Ashmore, and I’m pretty sure I like Jonathan Tucker. I thought that Joe Anderson’s fake German accent was a bit much, though. They couldn’t have found an actual German actor to play Mathias?

But the vines were creepy, especially when they started, well, ringing. They were definitely an appropriate horror movie creature thing. So why add in the weird trouble with the locals and their guns? It felt like too much, a bit contrived for a story that didn’t really need it. The group were already making many stupid decisions on their own; I imagine they would have gone into those ruins even if they weren’t being chased.

As it is the movie dragged on a bit towards the end. I think if they had done without the armed locals chase, they could have spent a little more time actually in the ruins and the film would have been better paced. But I did like the opening sequence and the title screen and the music wasn’t too over the top at any point. Overall, this movie will probably keep you entertained. At least until the last twenty minutes or so.