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"THE RUINS"
(2008) (Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Heavy Extreme Heavy Extreme Extreme
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Mild Heavy Extreme None Extreme
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Extreme None Mild Moderate Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Horror: Five tourists find themselves trapped atop a ruin in the Mexican jungle, unable to go down due to Mayan descendants who won't let them leave, and terrorized by a carnivorous entity living inside the ancient pyramid.
PLOT:
Amy (JENA MALONE) and Stacy (LAURA RAMSEY) are best friends from America who are vacationing in Mexico with their boyfriends, Jeff (JONATHAN TUCKER) and Eric (SHAWN ASHMORE). When they meet German tourist Mathias (JOE ANDERSON) and hear that his brother is exploring ancient Mayan ruins, they and Greek tourist Dimitri (DIMITRI BAVEAS) decide to accompany him to the remote spot.

Dropped off by jeep, they then hike through the jungle until they reach the remote pyramid ruins that are mostly covered in vegetative overgrowth. They're not alone, however, as Mayan descendants suddenly show up, none too happy that outsiders have found the pyramid.

When some of the vacationers step back into the vines covering the base, the locals go crazy, and aim various weapons at them, eventually killing one. The rest scramble up the steep steps to safety, but then realize that the Mayans are not pursuing or attempting to kill them from down below. Instead, they've simply surrounded the ancient structure and won't let anyone off it.

The survivors soon learn why, but not before Mathias ends up falling down a vertical shaft and seemingly breaks his back. The others manage to rescue him, but then discover that a carnivorous plant entity lives inside the pyramid, luring in unsuspecting humans to their deaths. With no cell phone coverage, little water and the realization that the vine-based intruders are hungry for their next meal and can literally smell blood, the remaining five tourists try to decide upon their best options and next courses of action, all while trapped atop the pyramid.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Those who are fans of horror movies featuring trapped young people and/or anyone who's a fan of someone in the cast might want to see it.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For strong violence and gruesome images, language, some sexuality and nudity.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • JONATHAN TUCKER plays a medical school student who finds himself trapped in a very bad situation while on vacation. He then takes charge and tries to make the right decisions, including how to save lives. He uses strong profanity and drinks early in the film.
  • JENA MALONE plays his not exactly brilliant girlfriend who's drunk early in the film (and tries to make out with Mathias) and later does stupid things that endanger the group. She uses strong profanity.
  • LAURA RAMSEY plays her more adventurous friend who becomes infected by and then delusional from the vines. She uses strong profanity and performs oral sex on Eric off-screen early in the film.
  • SHAWN ASHMORE plays her boyfriend who receives that treatment, but is resentful of Jeff taking charge once their situation turns dire. He uses strong profanity.
  • JOE ANDERSON plays another tourist who takes the Americans to the ruins, unaware of what awaits them. He drinks early on, and uses profanity.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror film. Profanity consists of at least 25 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually related dialogue (some of it explicit) is present, as is the sight of a fully nude woman as she changes clothes (from the side, including bare breasts, and a full rear review), while she and another woman are occasionally seen in their panties, tights tops or bikinis (showing varying amounts of cleavage). Off-screen oral sex (female to male) occurs and is commented on, while a man's bare butt is briefly seen.

    Violence includes people being killed by other people (gunfire, arrows, a knife to the chest), others being wounded by various means, and those who are attacked and physically invaded by carnivorous, vine-based plant life. Most of that has extremely bloody, gory and graphic results, as does an amputation and removal of invasive vines via primitive surgery (a knife into the skin).

    Those scenes and various moments of potential peril will likely be unsettling, suspenseful and/or scary to any number of viewers. Some drinking is also present (with one character being intoxicated), as are bad attitudes and brief tense family material.

    If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

    For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some flicker from torches in a cave.

    For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of handheld camerawork in the film (sometimes a bit bouncy).


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Eric walks up and offers the others some "hair of the dog" and they drink beer and/or margaritas (with Mathias having one of the latter).
  • Stacy, Jeff and Mathias have beer, while Amy drinks a lot straight from the bottle and is literally falling down drunk (in that state, she dances with and tries to kiss Mathias). The next day, we see her vomiting into a toilet from being hung-over, while some miscellaneous characters are passed out and/or asleep on the beach.
  • Liquor is given to Mathias before his legs are amputated.
  • Amy gives Stacy a bottle of liquor to deal with her pain, and Stacy drinks from that.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • Stacy comments on there being feces in the local water (in general, not something she's seen).
  • We see Amy vomiting into a toilet from being hung-over.
  • We see an arrow land in a man's chest, followed by a graphic gunshot blast to the front of his face. We see then the dead body on the ground, along with blood splatter in the dirt by it. Amy has a little of that blood splatter on her neck.
  • Mathias's legs and head are bloody after falling down the vertical pyramid shaft (and his pants appear to have a large wet stain across the crotch), while Stacy's leg is very bloody after she lands hard (and we see a graphic view of her pulling a large shard of glass from her leg). She then yells up to the others that it smells like "sh*t" down there.
  • Jeff urinates with his back to the camera but we see his urine stream.
  • Jeff finds a decomposed body (we see the face) in the vines.
  • Stacy wakes up to find vines covering her legs and partially in the wound on them. Eric then yanks them out (in a very bloody and graphic fashion). Amy then finds Mathias in a similar but even worse state, with vines all over and in his very bloody legs.
  • When a person is turned around, we suddenly see the ghastly view of a decomposed face (with the eyes still open). We then see suddenly that or another one thrust out toward the women as they try to flee from the vines.
  • Jeff, a med school student, realizes they must amputate Mathias's badly damaged legs to save his life. The others reluctantly agree, and after some prepping, we see Jeff raise a large stone and smash it down to Mathias's leg (to break the bone), and then use a small knife to finish the amputation (with very grisly and bloody results), before cauterizing the wound with a hot skillet (all as Mathias screams and writhes about). This is done to the other leg, and we then see the vines slowly dragging off the severed legs (with bloody stumps). Jeff then vomits from experiencing that.
  • We see vines moving beneath Stacy's skin on her leg and back. As the others hold her down, Jeff uses a knife to cut into her to remove them, and this is done in very graphic fashion (with views of the knife and his fingers down through her skin, and him pulling out bloody vines, etc.).
  • As the others sleep, Stacy gets up, retrieves a knife and then cuts into herself to try to remove the vines beneath her skin. When the others find her, she has a huge gash in her forehead, and is slicing through a huge, open wound already on her leg (all with extremely bloody results).
  • As others try to stop her from cutting into herself, Stacy turns and swings her knife, slicing Jeff's hand (with very bloody results). When Eric then tries to stop her, she spins around and accidentally stabs him in the chest, killing him (the knife stays there, with blood on his shirt around the blade).
  • We see a vine coming out from a large gash in a woman's forehead.
  • Jeff smears blood all over Amy in hopes of faking her death.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Amy tries to kiss Mathias while intoxicated (thus nearly cheating on Jeff).
  • The Mayans are seen as the villains for killing people (even a child of their own), but they're doing so to prevent the vines from escaping the pyramid and thus endangering others.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary, especially to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material.
  • We see a woman seated in the dark, scared, and yelling out for someone to help her. Something unseen (presumably the vines) suddenly yanks her away.
  • After the tourists arrive at the ancient pyramid, a Mayan man shows up and isn't happy they're there. He's then joined by other men, and they aim handguns and a bow and arrow at the group. An arrow then lands in Dimitri's chest, followed by a graphic gunshot to the front of his face. Shocked and frightened, the rest of the group scrambles up the steep pyramid steps to the top (but then realize their attackers are not pursuing and no longer are trying to kill them -- they're simply keeping them there).
  • The survivors realize they're trapped atop the pyramid, with little water and no cell phone coverage to call for help.
  • The group hears a phone ringing from somewhere at the bottom of a vertical shaft going down into the pyramid. Mathias opts to go down to retrieve it, but as he's being lowered into the shaft, the old rope frays and breaks, sending him falling a long distance. We hear but don't see the impact below (but later see that his legs have been broken and hear that he also broke his back). Stacy is then sent to try to help him (and we see what look like large insect legs moving in the vines lining the wall), but the now shortened rope won't reach the bottom, so she must jump the rest of the way down, and injures her leg in the process.
  • Amy runs down to the bottom of the pyramid, but the Mayans aim their guns and arrows at her, with Jeff having to stop her. She then throws a clump of vine at them in frustration, and that hits a young boy, prompting his own people to freak out and aim their weapons at him. The leader then shoots that boy dead.
  • We see what appears to be something moving beneath the cover of vines.
  • Down at the bottom of the shaft, and with a suspended, makeshift backboard not reaching the ground, Amy and Stacy must lift Mathias (with his broken back and leg wounds) onto it. In doing so, they cause him a great deal of pain.
  • Stacy wakes up to find vines covering her legs and partially in the wound on them. Eric then yanks them out (in a very bloody and graphic fashion). Amy then finds Mathias in a similar but even worse state, with vines all over and in his very bloody legs.
  • The survivors note that they have some sort of vegetative matter growing on their clothes.
  • Hearing the ring of a cell phone again, Stacy and Amy are lowered down into the vertical shaft once more in hopes of finding it. They're scared and cautiously walk through vines and enter a cave of sorts where they find a body huddled against a wall. When they turn it by the shoulder, they see the decomposed face (with open eyes), and Amy then realizes the ringing sound is coming from the blooms on the vine. She reaches out for one, and a vine suddenly grabs her arm, the women's torches, and Stacy by the legs as they try to escape (all while that body or another one is thrust out toward them from the vines). They scream for the men to hoist them out, and as that occurs, we see the vines rapidly coming after them, including those along the vertical shaft closing in on them as they're barely pulled to safety.
  • Jeff, a med school student, realizes they must amputate Mathias's badly damaged legs to save his life. The others reluctantly agree, and after some prepping, we see Jeff raise a large stone and smash it down to Mathias's leg (to break the bone), and then use a small knife to finish the amputation (with very grisly and bloody results), before cauterizing the wound with a hot skillet (all as Mathias screams and writhes about). This is done to the other leg, and we then see the vines slowly dragging off the severed legs.
  • We see many vines slithering into Mathias's mouth and throat, with Jeff then pulling them out, but it's too late as Mathias dies from that.
  • Delusional from being infected by the vines, Stacy thinks they're under her skin and grabs a knife to cut them out, but the men stop her.
  • The blooms of the vines make the imitative sound of Stacy screaming.
  • We see vines moving beneath Stacy's skin on her leg and back. As the others hold her down, Jeff uses a knife to cut into her to remove them, and this is done in very graphic fashion (with views of the knife and his fingers down through her skin, and him pulling out bloody vines, etc.).
  • We see more vines moving beneath Stacy's skin.
  • As the others sleep, Stacy gets up, retrieves a knife and then cuts into herself to try to remove the vines beneath her skin. When the others find her, she has a huge gash in her forehead, and is slicing through a huge, open wound already on her leg (all with extremely bloody results).
  • As others try to stop her from cutting into herself, Stacy turns and swings her knife, slicing Jeff's hand (with very bloody results). When Eric then tries to stop her, she spins around and accidentally stabs him in the chest, killing him (the knife stays there, with blood on his shirt around the blade).
  • The vines pull away a dead body.
  • Jeff draws the attention of the Mayans (thus causing them to aim their weapons at him) so that Amy can escape. She then races away, with an arrow and several gunshots hitting trees by her. She gets to a jeep and finally gets it to start and thus speeds away.
  • We see arrows land in a man's body, severely wounding him (we see three sticking out). We then see the victim's point of view as the Mayan leader walks over and aims his gun at his face. We then hear but don't see the fatal shot.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Handguns/Arrows/Knives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "So f*cking crazy in the head," "F*cked up," "What the f*ck /do they want/was that?" "There is no f*cking phone," "You're f*cking crazy," "Let's f*cking vote," "I heard you f*cking her," "F*ck you," "Just kicked Jeff's ass," "Pissed," "I know I'm a dork" and "Shut up."
  • We see miscellaneous graffiti.
  • Amy playfully pats Stacy's clothed butt.
  • We see that Stacy has a tattoo on her lower back.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • We see a woman seated in the dark, scared, and yelling out for someone to help her. Something unseen (presumably the vines) suddenly yanks her away.
  • A dog suddenly lunges and barks at the tourists from the back of a vehicle.
  • An arrow suddenly lands in a man's chest, followed by a sudden and graphic gunshot to his face.
  • Jeff finds a decomposed body (we see the face) in the vines.
  • When a person is turned around, we suddenly see the ghastly view of a decomposed face (with the eyes still open). We then see suddenly that or another one thrust out toward the women as they try to flee from the vines.
  • As Amy reaches out for a vine blossom, a vine suddenly grabs her by the arm.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music occurs in the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 25 "f" words (5 used sexually), 3 "s" words, 1 ass, 1 hell, 5 uses of "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "Jesus Christ," "Oh God" and "Oh Jesus."
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Stacy shows varying amounts of cleavage in various outfits, including a bikini, while Amy is also seen in a bikini (as are miscellaneous people).
  • Eric is seen shirtless poolside, as are other men.
  • There's some joke about Amy "buffing" the floor (presumably meant sexually).
  • Seeing how intoxicated Amy is, Eric bets with Stacy about Amy trying to kiss Mathias. They agree, with oral sex as the payout to the winner of the bet. We then see Amy close dancing with Mathias and then starting to kiss him, but Stacy breaks that up and Eric looks pleased (due to winning the bet).
  • As Stacy changes clothes, we see a full side and rear view of her standing nude (thus we see her bare breasts and butt). She then puts on a small pair of panties and a tight tank-top, and stands above Eric on the bed. She playfully asks what she owes him (referring to the above oral sex) and he says he'll be quick, as he then has her sit down on him. Later, Amy asks what he's so happy (suggesting Stacy did the deed).
  • We see Amy in her panties and camisole type top, while Jeff is in just a towel. We brief see his bare butt as he drops that, and then see him shirtless while wearing pants.
  • Amy playfully pats Stacy's clothed butt.
  • We see Dimitri shirtless.
  • Delusional from being infected by the vines, Stacy confronts Eric and says she heard him "f*cking" Amy. The "f" word is used sexually several more times during her rant, including her telling Jeff, "My boyfriend is f*cking your girlfriend."
  • We see Stacy in her panties, but she's covered in blood, mud and sweat, so the view is not played to be sexually enticing.
  • SMOKING
  • None.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Mathias wonders what happened to his brother at the ruins.
  • A Mayan woman sees their leader shoot her son dead (for having come into contact with the vines), but we only see a split-second reaction from her.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Jeff's comment that American tourists don't just disappear while on vacation.
  • Carnivorous plants.
  • The Mayans and their culture.
  • Visiting Mayan and other ruins.
  • VIOLENCE
  • We see a woman seated in the dark, scared, and yelling out for someone to help her. Something unseen (presumably the vines) suddenly yanks her away.
  • An arrow lands in Dimitri's chest, followed by a graphic gunshot to the front of his face.
  • The group hears a phone ringing from somewhere at the bottom of a vertical shaft going down into the pyramid. Mathias opts to go down to retrieve it, but as he's being lowered into the shaft, the old rope frays and breaks, sending him falling a long distance. We hear but don't see the impact below (but later see that his legs have been broken and hear that he also broke his back). Stacy is then sent to try to help him, but the now shortened rope won't reach the bottom, so she must jump the rest of the way down, and injures her leg in the process.
  • Amy runs down to the bottom of the pyramid, but the Mayans aim their guns and arrows at her, with Jeff having to stop her. She then throws a clump of vine at them in frustration, and that hits a young boy, prompting his own people to freak out and aim their weapons at him. The leader then shoots that boy dead.
  • Down at the bottom of the shaft, and with a suspended, makeshift backboard not reaching the ground, Amy and Stacy must lift Mathias (with his broken back and leg wounds) onto it. In doing so, they cause him a great deal of pain.
  • Stacy wakes up to find vines covering her legs and partially in the wound on them. Eric then yanks them out (in a very bloody and graphic fashion). Amy then finds Mathias in a similar but even worse state, with vines all over and in his very bloody legs.
  • A vine grabs Amy's arm and then Stacy by the legs as the women explore and then try to escape from a cave.
  • Jeff, a med school student, realizes they must amputate Mathias's badly damaged legs to save his life. The others reluctantly agree, and after some prepping, we see Jeff raise a large stone and smash it down to Mathias's leg (to break the bone), and then use a small knife to finish the amputation (with very grisly and bloody results), before cauterizing the wound with a hot skillet (all as Mathias screams and writhes about). This is then done to the other leg.
  • We see many vines slithering into Mathias's mouth and throat, with Jeff then pulling them out, but it's too late as Mathias dies from that.
  • We see vines moving beneath Stacy's skin on her leg and back. As the others hold her down, Jeff uses a knife to cut into her to remove them, and this is done in very graphic fashion (with views of the knife and his fingers down through her skin, and him pulling out bloody vines, etc.).
  • As the others sleep, Stacy gets up, retrieves a knife and then cuts into herself to try to remove the vines beneath her skin. When the others find her, she has a huge gash in her forehead, and is slicing through a huge, open wound already on her leg (all with extremely bloody results).
  • As others try to stop her from cutting into herself, Stacy turns and swings her knife, slicing Jeff's hand (with very bloody results). When Eric then tries to stop her, she spins around and accidentally stabs him in the chest, killing him (the knife stays there, with blood on his shirt around the blade).
  • In a mercy killing, a person stabs or slices another person to death (not seen).
  • We see arrows land in a man's body, severely wounding him (we see three sticking out). We then see the victim's point of view as the Mayan leader walks over and aims his gun at his face. We then hear but don't see the fatal shot.



  • Reviewed April 3, 2008 / Posted April 4, 2008

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