The Ruins (2008)

November 14, 2018

Directed by: Carter Smith

Written by: Scott B. Smith

Starring: Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker

Budget: $8,000,000

Quote: "We're being quarantined here. We are being kept here to die!"... "This doesn't happen! Four Americans on a vacation don't just disappear!"

Trivia: Though the film takes place in Mexico during the summer, it was shot primarily in Australia during the winter. Heavy coats were provided for the actors in between takes, and water and olive oil had to be sprayed onto their bodies to simulate sweat.

I didn't get a chance to see The Ruins when it first came out and had absolutely no expectations when I finally watched it. I have to say, I was underwhelmed. It begins by building a cool atmosphere and we get a brief look into the psychology of the characters (that will no doubt come to bite them later on). The setting of the ruins themselves are well made and I believed throughout the movie that the film was shot in the jungles of Mexico and not Australia. However, when it is finally discovered that the monster is a bunch of plants, I couldn't help but ask the screen, "Really? The plants?" There is so much mysterious and possibly terrifying about the Maya and their ruins that I was hoping for some cool monster or something, but no, all we get is vines. That being said, there are so very brutal moments that were painful to watch. What ended up being more entertaining was the psychological toll the plants have on the characters who begin to destroy each other. However, I still cannot get over that plants are the bad guys. As disappointing as the wind in Shyamalan's The Happening which came out the same year (if you haven't seen it, sorry for the spoiler, but count yourself lucky that you don't have to sit through it). Also, you have girls in bikinis throughout the entire movie and no one gets topless? I don't get that either.

Piranha (1978)

August 24, 2018

Directed by: Joe Dante

Written by: Richard Robinson, John Sayles

Starring: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Ulrich

Budget: $600,000

Quote: People eat fish, Grogan. Fish don't eat people.

Trivia: Universal Studios attempted to sue New World for spoofing Jaws (1975). However, Steven Spielberg saw the movie in advance and loved it. After that, Universal dropped the lawsuit.





The horror genre has always fed off of its own successes. Whenever one of its own hits, you can expect dozens of imitations to hit the theaters or go straight to video. Most of these ripoffs are really, really terrible. But every now and then there comes a couple of great ones. Friday the 13th was the filmmakers attempt at doing Halloween. Italian director Lucio Fulci blatantly ripped off George Romero's zombie films with his own Zombi (Zombie 2). And then there's Piranha. Created for the sole purpose of capitalizing on Jaws' success, Piranha is actually a really fun movie with a lot going for it in its own right. Produced by the lord of exploitation, Roger Corman, Piranha also marks the directorial debut of Joe Dante who will go on to to fame with Gremlins, the Howling, and the "It's a Good Life" segment from the 1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie. Piranha captures the fun of the late seventies and ins't afraid to push the boundaries of taste a bit.

Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

July 11, 2018

Directed by: Barbara Peeters

Starring: Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, Vic Morrow

Tag Line: From the Ocean Depths They Strike ... To Terrorize ... To Mate ... And To Kill!

Trivia: Actress Ann Turkel once said why she chose to do this film: "It was an intelligent suspenseful science-fiction story with a basis in fact and no sex". However, with the filming of additional footage, the sex content changed.







Humanoids from the Deep is the quintessential Roger Corman movie. It is cheaply made, contains gratuitous nudity and gore, and is absolutely brilliant! The movie is one of the first movies to address the potential dangers of genetic modification. It also deals directly with racism, land and water rights, and the exploitation of indigenous peoples. Corman uses his trademark sex and violence to package and sell these important topics. Unfortunately, when the movie was originally released people focused too much on the sensationalism in the film and ignored the social messages. It was attacked as being sexist and mean spirited, which isn't completely an unfair criticism, but much less so when the fact that the director is a woman is taken into account.

Food of the Gods (1976)

June 20, 2018

In the immortal words of Jeff Goldblum's character from Jurassic Park, "Nature uh uh finds a way." Food of the Gods is a nature horror film about giant animals (mostly rats) terrorizing a group of people who are trapped in the woods. Apparently a scientist has discovered or created something that he calls "Food of the Gods" that causes animals to become giant. His wife, a couple bacteriologists, and two campers must find a way to survive the giant animals.