If Audrey in "Little Shop of Horrors" got together with a whole lot of its friends, you might have something on the scale of the madness on display at THE RUINS.
While Little Shop had plenty of humor and songs to tell its tale, this story is almost completely devoid of humor, but its not short on violence and blood.
Two couples of a predictable variety are in Mexico, about to wrap up their vacation. For their last day, they decide to go off the map and visit some secret, desolate ruins deep in the jungle.
Jeff (Jonathan Tucker of "Westworld") and Amy (Jena Malone of "Hunger Games") are a med student and his rowdy girlfriend.
They head to the ruins with hungover Stacy (Laura Ramsey) and boyfriend Eric (Shawn Ashmore of "XMen").
They follow the maps of German student Mathias, played by Joe Anderson (Across the Universe) in perhaps the most sympathetic role in the film. At least he's consistently likable, even if he's clearly a questionable tour guide.
What awaits them are some natives that are fiercely protective of the site and the most disturbing creeping vines in memory.
M. Night Shyamalan failed to make plants scary in his worst movie, "The Happening" but thanks to some clever twists and unexpected traits from writer Scott B. Smith, adapting his own (much superior to the film) novel, these plants are downright freaky.
The gore is graphic and there's some good suspense, but unlike the book, it just kind of fizzles out in what should have been its best moments.
If you're a reader, grab the novel instead.
As a film, yes, it's way better than "The Happening", but what isn't?
These vines are voracious, but THE RUINS left me hungry for a lot more, earning a C.
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