Day 277: The Ruins

The Ruins

That's right. Let it alllll out.

“Stupid People Take A Trip” should be a subgenre in horror it happens so much. Whether the movie is like “Hostel” and “Turistas” or “An American Werewolf In London” and “The Hills Have Eyes”, it seems that leaving your couch is just a bad idea. A lot of these movies do require the main characters to make poor decisions which can range from a simple mistake to “Jesus, no one in the history of anywhere ever could be this stupid!” Regardless, it's once they make their mistake where the movie can either shine or come down with a case of visual amoebic dysentery. And yes, I keep thinking the poster says "The Runs".

The Ruins is a 2008 horror movie starring Jonathan Tucker (100 Girls, Hostage) as Jeff McIntire and Jena Malone (Sucker Punch, Donnie Darko) as his girlfriend Amy. Jeff and Amy, along with their friends Eric (Shawn Ashmore, X-Men, Frozen) and Stacy (Laura Ramsey, The Covenant, She's The Man) are on vacation in Mexico when they meet a German tourist named Mathias (Joe Anderson, The Grey, The Crazies). Mathias tells them that his brother Heinrich went with a female archaeologist to find a hidden Mayan ruin in the jungle. Heinrich has not returned and Mathias asks the group for help. Initially hesitant, they decide to go along, joined by Mathias's friend Dimitri. The group starts climbing the ruins, which is covered in vines, when a group of native villages surround them. Weapons drawn, the villages start screaming at the group and kill Dimitri when he gets too close. They escape to the top of the ruins where they find the remains of camp site. They hear a phone ringing at the bottom of a shaft and Mathias recognizes it as his brother's phone. They lower him down, but the rope breaks, sending Mathias crashing to the ground below. Jeff and Amy descend the ruins, but again the villagers won't let them leave. In anger, Amy throws a bunch of vines which hits a young boy. Terrified, the villagers kill the boy. Amy and Jeff flee back to the top and realize that everyone in the group touched the vines. They lower Stacy down to get Mathias and in the process she cuts her leg. The next morning, Stacy discovers a vine growing out of her wound. Mathias's injured legs are also covered in vines. Amy and Stacy travel down the shaft to retrieve the phone only to discover that it is the vines making the ringing sound. After amputating Mathias's legs, the group begins to unravel from stress, lack of food and water, and loss of hope. The vines continue to creep up on the group, mimicking their words. How will they be able to survive with their sanity dwindling and the vines getting closer and closer?

It's like an Abercrombie & Fitch ad come to life

I like the general idea behind The Ruins because you really don't see many “killer plant” horror movies nowadays. It's the execution that is hit and miss. The movie is slow for the first 40 minutes. Yes, there's some action, but it's not particularly interesting or thrilling. Up until that point, we have to suffer through the usual “annoying young people in a foreign land” routine with a dash of relationship issues. Most of the characters are pretty annoying up until the action starts, but they could have been worse. The acting is fine and the direction is good. I'm sure she's heard it before, but Jena Malone does look similar to Kristen Stewart. Thankfully she's not as bland and emotionless as Ms. Stewart. The killer vines look pretty good and I really enjoyed that they made mimicking sounds. It was a nice twist and was not overdone. There are a few good scenes of blood and gore which may make people with a weaker stomach ill.

My biggest issue with The Ruins is that it's not sure what type of horror movie it wants to be. It has flashes of good ideas and some good scenes, but it doesn't quite bring things together. I think the problem is that the movie wants to hit on too many passable notes instead of focusing on one good note. The story has the potential to be a great psychological horror movie with the group's isolation and the creeping knowledge that they are going to die. There is no escape, no one is coming to help, and they are exposed to the elements. Just when the movie seems to be going in that direction, we get action and violence with the vines. Then we get gruesome blood and gore from amputations. True all these things fit together, but none of them have time to shine. We get lots of little good things instead of one or two great things. Sometimes less can be way more.

Feed me, Seymour!

The Ruins has lots of good little ideas, but is unable to come together to make for one great watch. The lack of focus on what the movie wants to be hurts the overall watching experience. If it wanted to be psychological, it should have went that route. If it wanted to be a monster for, it should have been a monster movie. It's a slow first 40 minutes, but things do eventually pick up. There is a decent amount of action and a few unexpected scenes of gore. The acting is mediocre, but the direction is good. The Ruins does have a few good scenes, so it's worth a watch if you're looking for something new. You won't be blown away, but you'll appreciate the effort.

6.5/10

Day 249: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

High-five!

A movie doesn't need crazy special effects, lots of blood, or even a big budget to be scary. Sure those things help, but a good story and solid acting trump any amount of severed limbs a movie can throw at the audience. A movie that allows the imagination to fill-in the blanks is smart and clever to do so. It doesn't take much to let the mind run wild and great storytelling gives the audience just enough of a push to make it happen.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers is a 1956 science fiction horror movie adapted from the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. The movie begins with a distraught Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy, Death Of A Salesman, The Howling) being brought into the emergency ward of a hospital by police. Miles composes himself enough to explain to doctors why he is so franctic. A few days back, Miles, who is a doctor in the small California town of Santa Mira, begins receiving calls from patients insisting they were sick. Inexplicably, each patient cancells their appointments with Miles. People from around town also begin to express a strange fear of their loved ones, claiming they are no longer who they used to be. A former girlfriend of Miles, Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter, In Love And War, Sink The Bismark!) has a cousin named Wilma who believes her Uncle Ira is no longer the same man. Miles meets with her and sees Uncle Ira for himself, convinced that he has not changed. That evening, Miles' friend Jack Belicec (King Donovan) discovers a body that shares Jack's features, though not completely developed. Miles sees the body for himself and realizes that Becky might be in trouble since her father was acting strangely earlier in the night. Miles sneaks into Becky's house and discovers her duplicate in the cellar. He runs upstairs and carries a sleeping Becky out of the house. When calls Dr. Dan Kaufmann, a psychiatrist from town, Jack's duplicate has mysteriously disappeared. They then go to Becky's house and discover her duplicate gone as well. Dr. Kaufmann believes that both Miles and Jack are suffering from a mass hysteria that is the cause for all the strange behavior in town. The following night, more duplicates are discovered, this time emerging from giant plant-like pods. The conclude that the townspeople are being replaced in their sleep by these pod people. Miles and Becky hide out in his office and watch the people of the town load up trucks and cars with giant pods. Dr. Kaufmann and Jack corner them and explain that the pods are extraterrestrial seeds that crash landed in a local farm. By being replaced, they no longer have feelings or emotions, completely devoid of their human nature. Miles and Becky run for the California hills, evading the pod people. How will they be able to survive when everyone, even sleep, is an enemy?

Looking sharp is important, even during an alien invasion

The modern movie audience has come to expect the big summer blockbuster when it comes to an alien invasion movie. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers comes from a simpler time in movies when big explosions and effects didn't equal entertainment. Granted, the special effects from that era can't even come close to today's effects, but that's not the point. If you watch other science fiction movies from the 50's, there are space ships on strings and actors and goofy-looking rubber suits. This movie doesn't need that because the fear doesn't come from the aliens, it partially comes from friends and family. Much like a zombie movie, everyone can become an enemy. Your loved ones are no longer who they used to be, replaced by an unloving, uncaring monster. The other scare factor comes from the loss of self. The loss of free will and identity is quite unnerving and plays into the overall fear of the movie. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers can be seen through many different political scopes. Some may see it as a commentary on Communism while others see it as the homogenization of the United States after World War II. The allegorical subtext is evident, though the filmmakers stated that the movie has no strict political point of view.

The movie is a good mixture of science fiction, traditional horror, and thriller. The science fiction aspect is treats the audience with respect, as it never becomes too fantastical or cartoonish. The pods look like plants from Earth, just larger. Kevin McCarthy, who some younger viewers may recognize as R.J. Fletcher from Weird Al Yankovic's “UHF”, is particularly good in his role. He plays the everyman, strong and confident. Initially skeptical, we see that confidence start to slip as things become bleak. The iconic scene where Miles stands in the highway, yelling directly into the camera, “They're here already! You're next!” is downright fantastic. The audience knows the truth and aches when no one believes Miles, making us as powerless as he is. Unfortunately, the movie does not end there as the studio felt it was too dark. They book-ended the movie with a prologue and epilogue that hurt the flow of the movie, but added a slightly more optimistic ending. It's a shame, because the original dark ending fit the movie's overall despair far better. 

Happy Anniversary, baby!

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers is a mixture of multiple genres that blend into an enjoyable and frightening watch. The science fiction aspect does not overshadow the rest of the movie. The story is simple, but very enjoyable with Kevin McCarthy having a fantastic performance. The writing is smart and the dialogue is believable. Invasion manages to be scary without relying on visual effects, violence, or even a big budget. There have been a few remakes over the years, including one starring Donald Sutherland and an adaptation starring Nicole Kidman. The film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry for good reason. It is smart, scary, and entertaining.

9/10