The Ruins

After the not very good trailer, this film was a pleasant surprise. I expected another stupid teenage horror movie with frantic editing set in the bowels of a pyramid and with something “scary” jumping out of the shadows at every turn. What I got instead is a completely different kind of film that relies mainly on believable characters and their logical behaviour (for the standards of the genre). What’s interesting is that the scenes that in the trailer don’t work at all are the best in the entire movie, they work without problem. My only real complaint is the last shot, it’s something that shouldn’t be done today. 80% (06/15/2008)

After a while, the traditional "young, horny, and bored kids set off on an adventure" setup turns into a thriller that is based on a primitive plot. However, the sympathetic, rational characters, creepy cinematography, ominous music, and, above all, the director's flair, turn this unassuming-looking film into a spectacular spectacle that is closest in atmosphere to The Descent and in terms of brutality to the best of contemporary French cinema. Australians are clever folks who know how to make things the right way. That’s a good thing. (11/01/2008)

Did Ruins really have to be blessed with such an incredibly uninteresting opening hour? That it could have been significantly better is proven, among other things, by the excellent final thirty minutes. (07/13/2008)

A very good B-movie with an effective atmosphere and script that it’s never dumb or illogical. The characters may be lifted from a bunch of similar teen horror films, but none of them are downright obnoxious and their behaviour is easy to accept and understand. The horror premise is unorthodox and interesting, and while its execution doesn't offer much in terms of originality, its reasonable runtime delivers plenty of gore and narrative drama. Certainly better than the similarly set Roth’s Green Inferno. 65% (07/14/2016)