Post by bladestarr on Apr 5, 2008 9:02:05 GMT -5
As with all of my reviews, this review contains a "Before" seeing the movie section which is safe to read and an "After" seeing the movie section which contains spoilers.
BEFORE
What makes a good horror movie? That is a hard question to answer and the answer really depends on what you are looking for. I am looking to be SCARED. So I guess the real question is: what scares you? Is it being stalked by a madman, being in the middle of a natural disaster, or being exposed to some stange creature that can kill you in a moment? I think that no matter what scares you, it almost always comes down to one basic fear: death. As much as we say that we do not fear death, or take solace in our numerous faiths for assurance of an afterlife, at the basest primal levels we still have that fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of "what comes next". That is why horror movies scare us. Because we can place ourselves in the shoes of the people we see on the screen, imagine ourselves in that position, and fear for their lives as we fear for our own.
Good horror movies place realistic characters that we can empathize with into realistic danger and let us follow them for the ride. The more "realistic" the horror and the more we can sympathize with the victims, the scarier it becomes to us. The less that those things are true, the more the movie looks like a freakshow instead of a life or death situation, and the more that we distance ourselves from those on the screen and we become the spectators, looking in from the outside.
The Ruins is a GOOD horror movie. The characters all have differing personalities that react in different HUMAN ways to the same situation, the horror that they face is real and quite scary, and the situation is grim and dire.
A group of "kids" go out for a hike in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, seeking out some ancient ruins that aren't on any of the normal maps. They want something to remember their trip by, something that they will be able to tell everyone else back home about. What they find when they get there is like nothing they've ever seen before, and because of it, they may never see anything again.
If you want squirm-inducing terror that will make you really feel for these people, if you want to see something not quite like anything you've ever seen before, then go watch this movie. The situation the characters are in is so dire and hopeless, that you begin to wonder if ANY of them will make it out alive. After making "The First Mistake" of getting to the ruins, you will actually be SHOCKED to see that the characters not only don't do the same stupid things that most horror movie fodder do, but they are actually pretty smart and resourceful by comparison. These are probably some of the smartest people in a horror movie that don't KNOW they're in a horror movie, but the situation is so difficult that I honestly couldn't see ANY way out. I won't spoil it by telling you if they get out, you'll have to see that for yourself.
This is not a movie about "jumps". Sure, there are one or two here and there, but this movie is all about dread..... that feeling that you have in the pit of your stomach when you know the fear, you can name it, it is right near you, but all you can do is sit there and wait. Wait for it to happen. That dread is the heart of this movie's horror, and it is one of the scariest feelings I've had in a while.
It's an AWESOME movie. Just awesome. As a horror fan, I've been disappointed in recent years, but this one was great. If you like horror, go see it.
Oh, FYI do NOT read the Wikipedia article on the book before you go. It spoils the whole movie, which is very true to the book. Then again, if I hadn't read it, I wouldn't have gone, so it was bittersweet. I'm glad I went to see the movie, I just wish I didn't have to read that article to convince myself to do it. Que sera, sera. C'est la vie.
AFTER - SPOILERSSSS
Not much else to say in this section, except that I need to reiterate how impressed I was by the hopeless situation. They get stuck on top of a ruin, can't get off because some guys that don't speak English OR Spanish won't LET them off, and the ruin is covered in this intelligent sentient vine that wants to eat you. Oh, and it's also starting to grow ON YOUR CLOTHES. A perfect, hopeless situation. The scariest thing for me was the vines crawling under your skin. As a man afraid of doctors, needles, and the like.... the very idea of something entering my body and living inside of it eating me alive from the inside out just made me squirm in my seat the entire time.
I was impressed that they used subtle computer graphics only when necessary. The vines are not like a stalker that is stronger than you and will take you away and take you apart, it is more like a vulture, sitting, waiting, until you are unconscious or immobile. Creepy, and very scary. It was done well. I was impressed with the gore effects that did look realistic. I was EXTREMELY impressed with how the actors pulled off their convincing roles as people that respond VERY differently to the same hopeless situation. Like I said above, these are not your typical Hollywood horror idiots, and that was refreshing.
Oh, and I was EXTREMELY impressed with Laura Ramsey's lovely breasts in the first ten minutes. WHAT?! I'm a typical man and I call 'em like I see 'em!
BEFORE
What makes a good horror movie? That is a hard question to answer and the answer really depends on what you are looking for. I am looking to be SCARED. So I guess the real question is: what scares you? Is it being stalked by a madman, being in the middle of a natural disaster, or being exposed to some stange creature that can kill you in a moment? I think that no matter what scares you, it almost always comes down to one basic fear: death. As much as we say that we do not fear death, or take solace in our numerous faiths for assurance of an afterlife, at the basest primal levels we still have that fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of "what comes next". That is why horror movies scare us. Because we can place ourselves in the shoes of the people we see on the screen, imagine ourselves in that position, and fear for their lives as we fear for our own.
Good horror movies place realistic characters that we can empathize with into realistic danger and let us follow them for the ride. The more "realistic" the horror and the more we can sympathize with the victims, the scarier it becomes to us. The less that those things are true, the more the movie looks like a freakshow instead of a life or death situation, and the more that we distance ourselves from those on the screen and we become the spectators, looking in from the outside.
The Ruins is a GOOD horror movie. The characters all have differing personalities that react in different HUMAN ways to the same situation, the horror that they face is real and quite scary, and the situation is grim and dire.
A group of "kids" go out for a hike in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, seeking out some ancient ruins that aren't on any of the normal maps. They want something to remember their trip by, something that they will be able to tell everyone else back home about. What they find when they get there is like nothing they've ever seen before, and because of it, they may never see anything again.
If you want squirm-inducing terror that will make you really feel for these people, if you want to see something not quite like anything you've ever seen before, then go watch this movie. The situation the characters are in is so dire and hopeless, that you begin to wonder if ANY of them will make it out alive. After making "The First Mistake" of getting to the ruins, you will actually be SHOCKED to see that the characters not only don't do the same stupid things that most horror movie fodder do, but they are actually pretty smart and resourceful by comparison. These are probably some of the smartest people in a horror movie that don't KNOW they're in a horror movie, but the situation is so difficult that I honestly couldn't see ANY way out. I won't spoil it by telling you if they get out, you'll have to see that for yourself.
This is not a movie about "jumps". Sure, there are one or two here and there, but this movie is all about dread..... that feeling that you have in the pit of your stomach when you know the fear, you can name it, it is right near you, but all you can do is sit there and wait. Wait for it to happen. That dread is the heart of this movie's horror, and it is one of the scariest feelings I've had in a while.
It's an AWESOME movie. Just awesome. As a horror fan, I've been disappointed in recent years, but this one was great. If you like horror, go see it.
Oh, FYI do NOT read the Wikipedia article on the book before you go. It spoils the whole movie, which is very true to the book. Then again, if I hadn't read it, I wouldn't have gone, so it was bittersweet. I'm glad I went to see the movie, I just wish I didn't have to read that article to convince myself to do it. Que sera, sera. C'est la vie.
AFTER - SPOILERSSSS
Not much else to say in this section, except that I need to reiterate how impressed I was by the hopeless situation. They get stuck on top of a ruin, can't get off because some guys that don't speak English OR Spanish won't LET them off, and the ruin is covered in this intelligent sentient vine that wants to eat you. Oh, and it's also starting to grow ON YOUR CLOTHES. A perfect, hopeless situation. The scariest thing for me was the vines crawling under your skin. As a man afraid of doctors, needles, and the like.... the very idea of something entering my body and living inside of it eating me alive from the inside out just made me squirm in my seat the entire time.
I was impressed that they used subtle computer graphics only when necessary. The vines are not like a stalker that is stronger than you and will take you away and take you apart, it is more like a vulture, sitting, waiting, until you are unconscious or immobile. Creepy, and very scary. It was done well. I was impressed with the gore effects that did look realistic. I was EXTREMELY impressed with how the actors pulled off their convincing roles as people that respond VERY differently to the same hopeless situation. Like I said above, these are not your typical Hollywood horror idiots, and that was refreshing.
Oh, and I was EXTREMELY impressed with Laura Ramsey's lovely breasts in the first ten minutes. WHAT?! I'm a typical man and I call 'em like I see 'em!
