The Ruins Review

I swear sometimes the film industry is trying to keep me in the country. Everytime I get this sense of freedom where I'm gonna go travel the world back pack style I watch a horror film that warns of the dangers of doing just that. I feel like Truman Burbank in the travel agents staring at the poster of an airplane with lightning hitting it, underneath the caption reads - IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU! It could happen to me couldn't it?

The IT of that question in this case is what happens when you go off to see an ancient Mayan temple with a guy who looks like a young Robert Patrick, that chick from Donnie Darko, Iceman from X-Men and some random blonde. The answer is you get forced to camp on the temple by some pretty pissed off Mayans for days on end. Then your mobiles stop working. Then trees start to eat you. No seriously. The trees start to eat you. It could happen to me!

In fact this last bit seems to be the most likely. Pissed off trees are every bloody where at the moment. I know movies are usually a 'sign of the times' and its a nice message that we should all stop masturbating by the light of the fridge (it really zaps the energy) I don't know how much more 'angry foliage as metaphor for global warming' I can take. In the last week The Happening, Prince Caspian and now The Ruins have all had some furious forests. I live next to a wood, could it happen to me?

Whats a little striking about this film is that it actually works in spite of its crazy premise. What should be a B-movie hoot a minute is quite unnerving and as creepy as the vines wrapping the temple. It could do with a bit more shock and a bit less gore but the cast are capable and their characters are not your usual 'please die now' fodder. To be honest as I near the 100 films for the year tally I'd even go so far as to say I enjoyed The Ruins. Well, you try watching every movie released and see if your tolerance level for shit drops. It could happen to you.