The Ruins Unrated

DVD Review

Paramount Home Video

DreamWorks

Release: July 8, 2008

Paramount has released the thriller The Ruins on an unrated DVD, based on the best-selling novel by Scott Smith. So does it provide a scare? Or does it fall flat on its face trying?

The Ruins tells the story of two couples who go on a vacation in Mexico. The great young cast is made up of Joe Anderson, Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Jena Malone, and Shawn Ashmore.

These couples head to an undisturbed Mayan ruin, and find that they may have made the wrong choice in exploring. You can tell as soon as they start to head out there that something is wrong, as you see these strange Mayan children watching them from a distance. Things end up turning into a disaster, as they realize that they may not be able to leave the ruins.

The Ruins certainly has some high points and low points to it. This is not your typical horror film to say the least, as instead of making it all dark and gloomy, the director and cinematographer give it a far different feel. You actually get a sense of what these characters are going through, which is a huge plus to the experience.

The biggest flaw of the film, like with any horror movie, is that the characters really do not develop all that much. Overall though, the premise of it, which I won’t ruin for those who really want to see it, takes some time to believe. It is nothing too over the top or special for the horror genre, but fans who want a little fright will find enjoyment in this.

The video quality of this DVD release is pretty top-notch as it looks great in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreem. The studio, DreamWorks, did a fantastic job to rid of any noticeable grain or distortion. Overall nothing to complain about, a great looking DVD.

The audio has to be solid for a horror movie, as it can truly sell the experience. Thankfully, the film has received a good one on DVD presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The audio in the film deal quite a bit with dialogue, as this is not a film that relies on big loud bangs to scare you. Instead, it relies on very clear and crisp dialogue, with supplemental ambience to create a great feel to the whole thing, well-done.

The highlight of the special features for the DVD release, beyond the alternate ending, are the deleted scenes, all which come with optional commentary. The scenes were removed for a variety of reasons, but are all actually pretty fun to watch.

The alternate ending, on the other hand, was a good cut because the one in the original movie I certainly felt was better, as it fit more with the entire film.

On top of that, you also have some great behind-the-scenes features. The first runs for around 15-minutes and is called Making the Ruins, which is your standard making-of featurette. Beyond that, you also have a 15-minute feature called Creeping Death, which shows how they created the vines, which make up the monster of the movie.

There is also a 6-minute feature which focuses on how they created the ruined pyramid, and how it all came about.

Rounding out the extras is a great commentary track with director Carter Smith, as well as editor Jeff Betancourt.

Overall this is a great release for horror fans from Paramount, as The Ruins is a fun film to watch, and the DVD release has some solid extras which fans will appreciate. If you are in the mood for a scare, The Ruins is a solid choice.

On top of that feature, you also get commentary by

Film: 7.8

A very respectable horror film with some high and low moments, fun to watch.

Video: 9.0

The video quality is top-notch, no grain or anything of that nature.

Audio: 8.5

A very strong audio mix, with great use of dialogue and ambience noise.

Special Features: 8.5

A very nice collection of extras with some good deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and much more.

Final Score: 8.5