MovieChat Forums > The Ruins (2008) Discussion > I'm guessing a lot of people on here don...

I'm guessing a lot of people on here don't read.

posted 8 years ago by lisa11171-161-497689
3 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I did see many posts from people who, like me, read the book and found it to be awesome, and then saw the movie. But when I hear comments about "Vines, really" and "Nothing happens" it really makes me wonder. Would you rather have a slasher/killer be chasing them? If you read the book you would understand it's about what six people, just like you or me, would do in this unfathomable situation. People's human nature comes out, people fight, they try to survive, they figure out what's going out, and eventually some give up. Go read the book and then see the movie. It's similar but not in the least a superb rendering of the book. The book was a best seller for quite a while. Obviously it was found excellent by most people and quite scary. Do you think when people saw Jaws they were like "A shark, really?". No they expanded their imagination and took in a new experience. Read guys! Then there won't be so many asinine comments.

[–] mike_NY 8 years ago

I liked the movie; I really liked the book. I remember when the book came out, the literary critics were vicious because he had not written another 'A Simple Plan.' But, I thought the suspense - and horror - was intense.

[–] Maniac_In_Black 8 years ago

Agreed. I enjoyed it

[–] zooymtoo 8 years ago

Yes, the book was awesome.
It has been a while since I read the book but I remember even reading it twice (one time after another) because of the artistry in the way that it was written. If I had read a summary of what this book was about...and that's all...I never would've picked it up in the first place. The synopsis does sound dull.

But if memory serves me right it was written from the inside out as opposed to the outside in..and by this I mean the characterization and descriptions were especially rich and conveyed a real sense of the horror if something like this were to really happen. So when the strangeness started creeping in our empathy was particularity strong for these guys. It didn't feel lame or dull. It felt real.

We knew these people; we liked these people. Their predicament did not seem cheesy but especially terrifying.

It's really difficult to convey the power of the written word to film when so many horror fans are looking for a strong antagonist that one can visually be terrified by. This was really as much psychological as it was physical and I was not surprised that the movie would fall short.