First time director Carter Smith of The Ruins showed the seasoned work of a professional handling the camera. The Ruins wasn't at all what I expected. Instead of the typical gore fest that seems almost mandatory for any horror flick these days, the gore was actually dialed down, and Carter left the camera alone, letting the environment do the rest. I’ll describe the film as Little Shop Of Horrors meets the Invasion of the Pod People or something.
 
The cast, while not the best actors in the world, did a great job in this movie. Standouts were Jonathan Tucker and Shawn Ashmore, both of who gave very good performances. The story, while confusing at times, is pretty straightforward. Four college kids get trapped on a set of ruins overrun by carnivorous plants. Sounds stupid, right? It really wasn't.

Instead, most of the action here is aboveground, as tourists try to stay alive on top of an ancient Mayan pyramid-type structure. Now, while the gore was toned down, there were several squirm-in-your-seat moments that were very intense.
 
There's something about the plant life that lives inside of and all over the surface of this pyramid, and not only do the protagonists have to contend with that, but they've been surrounded at the base of this structure by the local natives, who are intent that nobody accidentally escapes the ruins and brings the carnivorous fauna out into the world.

So the action is pretty much localized, giving the movie an overall claustrophobic feeling, even though almost all of it takes place in the great outdoors. All in all, it was a pretty good movie, and worthy of being checked out.

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