1/4  25%
Action: 1 / 3. Comedy: 1 / 2, Good vs Evil: 0 / 1, Love/Sex: 0.5 / 1, Special Effects: 0 /1, Plot: 0 / 1, Music: 0 / 1. Overall 2.5 / 10 or 25%, which gets this 1 / 4 stars per my rating formula.

This really is a below average outting ... (read full)

1.5/4  The end ruined this entire movie
Damnit!! I really wanted to love this film and almost did. Sure it didn't have the greatest actors, the plot was a bit shallow and Carter Smith hasn't really directed a notable film. Still -- I fell for the previews and the original story... (read full)

2/4  Not Good Enough
I really wanted to like this movie a lot more but I couldn't find myself to do so because I ultimately didn't care for the characters. I guess the film should've taken its time to grab a hold of their audiences and establish why they shoul... (read full)

3.5/4  The Ruins
Another horror movie that avoids the usual pitfalls of the genre and gets it done right. I have to admit I wasn't expecting much after the trailer made it seem like another monster out to get you movie, but I digress I was pleasantly surp... (read full)

1/4  The Ruins Quick Review
The biggest let down film I've ever seen in a theater.

3.5/4  The Ruins Quick Review
one of my favorite slasher films. i really like the psychological aspect of the film.

2/4  The Ruins Quick Review
Although it has a good premise - more original than another lame remake, it's not enough to make it stand out. Everything falls short is almost every aspect, characters, actions, story - nothing ever rises above mediocrity.

3/5 couldn't possibly say it better than the editorial review
  by B. Lafave (lakeland , fl)
lots to enjoy and admire here . i'd strongly suggest a rental for those on the fence . its' story is surely unlike any i'd seen before . the extras are fun and interesting . see what you think .

4/5 quite a nice job
  by Ho Ka Ming
I sometimes search for horror films in Amazon so I have a breif memory about this file so when I see this DVD i just bought it.
I don't remember any of this film plotline so I had no expectations at all when I started watching it.
Story turned out to be very sad, special effects were quite good, plays were good, especially whom called 'stace' in the movie, acted really up to the level. Of course the rest of the actors were not bad either.
Funny thing is I watched this one and there was this 20 something year old girl beside me also watching (from China), she puked after several gore scenes... seems not many China people have experienced movies like, the thing, braindead, the fly, the beyond....;-)

2/5 Ruined
  by D Strick (Birmingham, AL)
Relatively spoiler free thoughts:
The Ruins falls into the "people making bad decisions" type of movie. Every problem that befalls our characters ultimately stems from bad decisions that they make. Chief among those bad decisions...? Taking a 20 mile taxi ride to the middle of nowhere in a jungle in Mexico into an area with no cell service and LETTING THE TAXI DRIVER LEAVE! Just going to hike back through the jungle huh guys? Sure there's a Jeep there but they don't know if they'll be able to find the person with the keys and didn't even try to stop the taxi driver or ask him to come back later.

They do this type of thing often. They end up going to the ruins they came to see and are quickly encircled by some crazy men waiving guns around who won't let them leave. On top of the pyramid they hear a cell phone down in a deep dark hole. Never mind that none of them have cell service (and have not had it for quite some time while hiking) and another phone in the same location down inside a pyramid should have no chance - and that it keeps ringing and ringing and never going to voice mail, let's drop down in there and get it! Granted they were pretty freaked out. I think I'd still check the rope that's been out in the elements for who knows how long first before I let my friends drop me in a hole though.

Before long several of the crew are hurt and they start to learn why they've been quarantined. And they begin to be picked off one by one in various ways. Good thing the characters are the typical 1 note fair so we're not too emotionally involved. There's whiny girl, likable guy, other whiny girl who turns out to be tougher than she looks, bossy guy, injured guy and guy who gets killed really early on so we know this movie means business.

Some silly plot elements, unlikable and uninteresting characters and a lack luster "monster" make this a pretty lame movie. It did have a few creepy moments and decent effects though and a couple of gory moments. It's a one watcher.

Slightly more spoiler filled discussion:
OK the monster is a plant. You probably already knew that. As far as a monster antagonist goes it wasn't very good. It demonstrates that it is fast and strong and fully capable of grabbing a person and dragging them off yet it instead tries to use traps and slowly sneak up on people while they sleep. Must not have been a very hungry plant. It has the ability to mimic sounds, which is an interesting concept but not used very well in my opinion. I will say this though, seeing the plant grow up inside of people and killing them is pretty creepy and a scene where whiny girl tries to cut the plants out of her is easily one of the bloodiest moments in the film.

The idea of these people quarantining the pyramid so this plant can't spread is also interesting but wouldn't it make more sense to scare people away instead of letting them get there and then keeping them there to die? I kind of got the sense that these people were trying to do a good thing but it seems they chose a weird way of doing it. The movie even starts with another person trapped in the pyramid before our group arrives. I'm starting to think these guys are just jerks.

In the end the less whiny girl gets away though and nothing is made of that. We just see some new folks showing up at the pyramid (Hey guys! Scare them away this time don't just let them.... Too late). The whole point was that these guys were quarantining our group in so I'd have thought that seeing the plant spreading because she got away would be a more sensible ending. Oh well, I'm no film maker. Much of this plot seemed silly to me.

3/5 Watchable horror film won't impress too much
  by Andrew F (Seattle, WA)
I watched the blu-ray version on a 1080 HD Projector on a screen approximately 120" diagonal. Quality of the transfer to Blu Ray was high and the sound effects/music good as well.

Not so good was the movie itself. The premise of the movie, best described as shrubs gone wild, doesn't really lend itself to building much tension, much less actual horror. It doesn't help that the killer plants, especially on the blue ray version, don't look that real.

Without any tension, the film becomes more of a gorefest, and with an amputation scene and a self-mutalation scene, it delivers to that on some extent. Some of the characters are sympatheic and you can root for their survival, but unfortunately the sympatheic characters die off before the end leaving only the ones you wish would die. At least the acting is alright, and there is enough action to hold your interest.

5/5 Ruins Review
  by Lawrence W. Zippi
Received as brand new (as advertised)......could not have asked for a better deal in terms of price, condition and prompt delivery!!!!