Mayan temples have always been great tourist attractions. But you must be aware of the ones that lie beyond secret ways because you may be subjected to unspeakable horror in the midst of those cursed places.

Movie description:
The Ruins is a supernatural horror movie that has been directed by Carter Smith and that stars Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, and Jonathan Tucker. The screenplay by Scott Smith is an adaptation of his own 2006 book The Ruins. The movie was released on April 4, 2008, in the United States and on June 20, 2008, in the United Kingdom.
Synopsis:
The story is about two American couples on a vacation in the beautiful Mexican countryside. On their last day of vacation they decide to go visit a mysterious Mayan temple with Mathias, a German tourist who claims his brother, an archeologist, has vanished. Soon after setting foot on the temple ground, the group of friends is faced with a local native tribe that gathers around the temple and forces them onto the temple. While they are trying to plan an escape from what has now turned into a nightmare, an evil presence is slowly creeping on them. Perhaps the locals were only trying to warn them.
Praises and critiques:
First and foremost, I have to say that The Ruins was a pretty good supernatural horror movie. It was definitely creepy and gory. I was riveted to the screen wanting to know how they could possibly get out of this nightmare.
As for the storyline, it was definitely original. I loved the theme of the cursed Mayan temple it has always been a good source of scary stories. The author, Scott Smith, did a wonderful work of adapting the screenplay from his original novel The Ruins, 2006, which was also excellent. Additionally, I think that the plot is not too predictable adding some suspense to the story.
Subsequently, the cast’s performance was great. You could almost feel their dread and terror as the movie culminates towards a horrific end.
Finally, the visual effects were awesome with lots of gory scenes.
Recommendations:
I recommend The Ruins to all horror fans because it is definitely a great supernatural horror movie.
Rating:
I give The Ruins 4.5 stars on the grounds that it was scary, gory, of good quality, and thrilling to watch.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time! It got panned by critics, but I thought the flesh eating vines was a pretty amazing concept.
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“It got panned by critics” usually means I will like it 😉 LOL
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I’ve seen this one. Yes, it is a fun movie. I felt sorry for the actors because it looked so hot and humid! Good review!
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Strong visual effects and lots of gore make this movie a winner in my book! Speaking of the book, was it better than the movie? That is usually the case.
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I admit that it is not the best of films or rather it is not the film that falls into my genres that I would try to see, so I thank you anyway for the review.
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Oh man, I don’t think I could stomach this movie. Gory movies make me super uneasy!
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I’m with you! It looks way to scary for me!
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My husband loves this movie. I couldnt’ do it haha
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Good review.
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This sounds interesting! May have to give it a try – thanks for the review!
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That movie creeped me out. I guess that is what horror is about.
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Ayayayayayaaaa….this is some chilling plot to watch and follow! I love it already. Can’t wait to watch it.
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Not a fan of watching a horror movie but this one looks really a good one to watch. I need to add this to my watch lists.
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Thank you for this recommendation. I’m a horror film junkie and this film goes onto my watch list ASAP.
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I’m back, just to let you know I watched this movie and liked it vey much. Thank you!
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Good thing I didn’t see this movie before I explored Mayan ruins or I probably would have skipped it! Sounds scary!
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I’m weird in the sense that I like watching some supernatural stuff but not the horror parts. Haha, this might be good for me.
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The storyline sounds interesting and I like this kind of scary + historical kind of movie. Thanks for sharing your honest review 🙂
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Sounds interesting. I’m not sure I if could get through all of this movie though. It sounds a bit gory for me!
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Bit creepy and horrifying for me. I have watched it once though. But you have reviewed it well.
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supernatural horror film. This is a well made horror film. Two young college girls and their boyfriends investigate some Mayan ruins.
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Never heard of this movie! Sounds fun, I may watch it over the weekend, thanks for recommending.
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I’m too big of a chicken to watch. My sister would probably love it though!
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never saw or heard of this movie before.. Now I am curious to actually watch it, your review made me do it!
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Nice review, I’d never heard of this movie before. Like some others, it might be a bit too gory for me, but I definitely know a few people who would love it.
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I have seen this movie twice, its like each of the cast slowly die because there was some mysterious force inside that temple and they could not go out of that space because the tribe would kill them. I enjoyed this movie. If i could recall there were living /killing vines in this movie.
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That sounds like a wonderful movie to check out and a movie marathon seems like a good idea nowadays. Thanks for such informative post you shared with us.
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I hadn’t heard of this one but we’ll definitely add it to our watching list. My husband and I love our scary movie nights – it’s a tradition!
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I have watched this movie but didn’t love it too much although the story initially seemed of interest. I quite agree with a lot of your review.
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What a detailed review of the movie! I haven’t watched it because I am scared of horror but am sure it’s a great one judging by your review.
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This is not a movie that I’m familiar with and am generally not a horror fan. But this one sounds like it would certainly be interesting. I like the plot, especially the couples being on the last day of their vacation and everything goes wrong. You know the true stories that are stranger than fiction? This seems like it would be like that. Thanks for the review. I’ll have to check it out soon.
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My husband and I can NEVER agree on a flick for our random “movie nights”. This looks like it’s right up his alley. Neither of us is big horror movie buffs, but we do love ancient ruins so I think we will give this a shot. Where did you find it? Netflix, Prime, Hulu…
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It is on prime at the moment. Also thanks for your comment.
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It sounds like a movie I definitely want to see. Awesome review, thanks!
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This looks like a great movie. I think my hubby would love it!
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This sounds pretty interesting, I haven’t heard of this one yet so I will have to look it up. I always enjoy a good spooky/horror/suspense movie. Not needed, as it is easy to look up but a bit of bonus info you could add to your post is which streaming platforms the movie is available on. Great review!
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This sounds like a really interesting movie. I feel like most horror pictures are based on the same basic concepts – the serial killer/psychopath, the haunted house, etc. However, this feels like it breaks free from that box a little. I’m going to share this with my husband – we both enjoy a good horror flick and might just have to add this to our next movie night date night lol
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Thank you for the thorough review. It seems to be a very interesting movie.
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