Cinefantastique Online

THE RUINS opens on Friday. Although it sounds like a familiar tale of travelers who run into big trouble in a foreign land, it is based on a novel by Oscar-nominated writer Scott Smith. UK Weekly offers up some interview soundbites with the cast of the film, including Jena Malone and Laura Ramsey.

Laura Ramsey: I think personally the reason why it’s more scary than the other movies is because this has sort of like a realistic factor to it, like you can actually picture yourself being in stranded somewhere and having to deal with a life or death situation and having to have survival [skills] and knowing how to survive. I just think it’s scarier because you can, as a person, you can compare it to, like, this ghost jumping out or this person trying to murder you; it’s more on an element of survival and human instincts.

Jena Malone: There were a lot of elements that drew me to “The Ruins”; first and foremost it was Carter Smith, the director. I had seen his short film “Bugcrush,” and it was one of the creepiest and most tangible horror/suspense/: just, you know, really messed up film that I’d seen in a long time, that sort of reminded me of David Lynch and Cronenberg. So I really love Cronenberg’s horror films; it’s all about human nature, and there’s really not necessarily a bad guy, it’s just sort of a battle that you fight within as a human.

I’m a little bit disappointed to hear Ramsey’s comments about the “realistic factor,” which makes THE RUINS sound just like another TURISTAS (itself a knock-off of HOSTEL). The trailers for RUINS, though not impressive, implied that something more intriguing - and possibly supernatural - was going on. Do we really need another tale of travelers struggling for survival? I think STORM WARNING was more than good enough to be the last word on the subject, even though Hollywood didn’t bother to give it the theatrical release it deserved.