The Ruins

Play trailer

1:04

The Ruins

R

Released Apr 4, 2008

1h 31m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

51%

Tomatometer

97 Reviews

30%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Amy (Jena Malone), Stacy (Laura Ramsey), Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) and Eric (Shawn Ashmore) look for fun during a sunny holiday in Mexico, but they get much more than that after visiting an archaeological dig in the jungle. Carnivorous vines try to ensnare the friends in their tendrils, forcing the group to fight for survival.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Despite a solid cast and truly frightening source material, The Ruins founders, thanks to a weak script and an excess of gore.

Read Critics Reviews

Nigel Floyd

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

Smith's singularly bizarre novel managed what this film cannot: fear and sympathy.

Rated: 1/5

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

The narrative itself doesn't really offer many surprises, but its special effects makes for a cringe-inducing experience.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 24, 2023

Full Review

Emma Wolfe

SpookyAstronauts

It had a good story, I hadn't seen anything like this in a little while.

Jun 1, 2021

Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

A solid little pandemic/creature feature with a mean streak and some fantastic practical effects and gore.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 30, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Theode A

The last 20 to 25 Minutes were really good but the rest of the movie was really boring. It has some brutal scences, but it wasn't scary at all,

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/18/25

Full Review

RaiderRo D

This was a good watch. Wasn’t expecting much out of it when I turned it on paramount plus but it was entertaining movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/25

Full Review

Calvin T

It fell apart at the end but it's was decent ✌🏾

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/15/25

Full Review

Audience Member

Absolutely the worst movie I have ever seen. Yes, worse than plan 9 from outer space

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/12/25

Full Review

James C

This is a laughable storyline which can be summarised in one sentence: "a group of tourists visit a ruin and get killed off by tiny vines". The story is very lacking, and very illogical. Scenes where the plants are moving fast and by huge mass mean the rest of the scenes where they are hardly moving make little sense. No one tries to kill the plants with anything (they have fire) and it just seems like one cliché after another. Even watching the natives using salt to ward off the vines doesn't catch on with the main characters. I did watch it to the end so it partially entertained me for near two hours but I would not watch it again.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/11/24

Full Review

Audience Member

The natives are dumb. Why stay in that place anyway? Imagine that danger and you live with it everyday. If they work as guardians of the that ancient secret why shout frantically and kill the trespassers. Those are just plants for f sake that can throw do a bonfire over it. Sorry, the story is imaginative but totally unhinged.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/05/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Carter Smith

Director

Jonathan Tucker

Jeff

Jena Malone

Amy

Laura Ramsey

Stacy

Shawn Ashmore

Eric

Joe Anderson

Mathias

The Breed

27%

30%

The Breed

Watchlist

The Strangers

49%

48%

The Strangers

Watchlist

Timber Falls

43%

28%

Timber Falls

Watchlist

Sorority Row

25%

33%

Sorority Row

Watchlist

Wrong Turn 2

67%

48%

Wrong Turn 2

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

The Ruins: Trailer 1

1:04

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Amy (Jena Malone), Stacy (Laura Ramsey), Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) and Eric (Shawn Ashmore) look for fun during a sunny holiday in Mexico, but they get much more than that after visiting an archaeological dig in the jungle. Carnivorous vines try to ensnare the friends in their tendrils, forcing the group to fight for survival.

Director: Carter Smith
Producer: Stuart Cornfeld, Chris Bender
Screenwriter: Scott B. Smith
Distributor: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG
Production Co: Red Hour Films
Rating: R (Language|Gruesome Images|Nudity|Some Sexuality|Strong Violence)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 4, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.4M
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Most Popular at Home Now