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The Ruins
Vegetation and gore
By
TOM MEEK
|
April 9, 2008
THE RUINS
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1.0
Stars
The Ruins
In Carter Smith’s adaptation of the popular novel by Scott Smith (
A Simple Plan
), a group of archæologically minded twentysomethings check out an ancient Mayan temple in the Mexican jungle and wind up with hell to pay. So does the audience. At first the trouble’s with the angry Indians (no English, no Spanish), who won’t let our heroes leave the confines of the temple. Then the young hotties (Jonathan Tucker and Jena Malone among the disposable) realize they’re quarantined because of the killer ivy that shrouds the ancient structure. Via spores, the vegetation can invade a person from the inside out; its buds can even emulate a cellphone call to lure a victim to his or her doom. It’s an inane and boring concept — imagine
Little Shop of Horrors
played straight. The scenes of impromptu amputation and self-mutilation do jolt, but that and some egregious T&A aside, Smith’s film just vegetates.
91 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Circle + suburbs
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