Revisiting The Ruins

The Ruins was on TV last night and while I own it on DVD, I still ended up watching the whole thing. And I loved it! Again!

In case you've never heard about this horror gem before, The Ruins is a 2008 film starring Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey and Joe Anderson. It's based on the novel bij Scott B. Smith, who also wrote the screenplay. It's about a group of friends vacationing in Mexico, who along with a fellow tourist (Anderson), end up trapped in (or on?) the ruins. Think survival horror, not slasher.

The film looks great. I love the use of color. Obviously, they're out in the sun a lot so the colors are bright, but not in an unnatural Resident Evil: Extinction kind of way. It's similar to the colors in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes remakes as well as All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

Also, the cast bring their A-game. There isn't a weak link here and I'm usually not a fan of Jena Malone, so if she sucks, I would tell you. While her character, Amy, is very annoying, Malone plays her very well. My favorite is Laura Ramsey as Stacy.

SPOILER ALERT Stacy believes there are vines moving around inside of her and she plays her character's breakdown beautifully. END SPOILERS

This is a horror film, yes, but it's more psychological than it's horror in the sense that someone or something is out to get them. Sure of course that is the case, but that's also what's so great about this film. While it may be about monster plants, the film plays it straight. There's no nudge nudge, wink wink humor here. Just people trapped in a horrible situation. What would you do? A 4/5.

Review: Frozen

I watched Frozen with boyfriend last night. And while we were sitting on his comfortable couch in his warm home, we had a terribly uncomfortable feeling watching the film. Even 15 minutes after it ended, we were still feeling tense. And that's a huge compliment.

Frozen is about 3 college kids stuck on a chairlift in a ski resort that has closed for several days.

That may sound like a boring premise, but it's not. Kevin Zegers, Emma Bell and especially Shawn Ashmore make it work with their sometimes emotional performances. Even if their characters are unlikeable in the sense that they put themselves in that situation and you kinda think they deserve what's coming to them. Okay, not always. But sometimes! They convinced the dude at the closing ski resort to let them go one last time even when he warmed them for the bad weather. Yes, very smart.

But besides that, it's pretty great. Well played, Adam Green. A 4/5.