The Ruins is another gem to be unearthed by Netflix, only 15 years after it came out. One of the best horror movies of the 2000s; viewers can’t seem to get enough of the picture since it currently stands at number one on the service’s UK side. Does that make it one of the best Netflix movies currently available?
If you’ve never heard of The Ruins, you’re definitely not alone. Coming out in 2008, the thriller movie follows a group of tourists (of course) who venture into the forests of Central America looking for a friend who disappeared. Gradually, they’re picked off by jungle vines and eventually meet Mayans, who’re just as murderous.
There are plenty of tropes, but The Ruins is one of the best body horror movies of the last 20 years. Considering it’s a big studio production, people getting eaten by vines and carving leaves out of themselves is pretty gnarly.
Carter Smith directed the film, from a book by Scott Smith, who contributed the screenplay. Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Shawn Ashmore, and Laura Ramsey star in the monster movie.
A box office bomb in 2008, Netflix has allowed The Ruins to turn over a new leaf. An alternate ending was circulated post-original release, that teased the vines spreading after the climax we see, but it doesn’t appear that Netflix has that version. At the time, Smith commented that he believes his ending sits alongside the novel’s.
“It has not changed in tone at all; I think that’s the key thing that we wanted to keep was to not have it be to turn it into sort of a film with a happy ending,” he told Horror.com. “It wouldn’t have sat well with the film, but also it is different from a book. I don’t think it will be disappointing for fans of the book.”
People seem to be enjoying it now, anyway. For more screams, you can check out our list of the best Netflix horror movies. We have plenty more picks in our lists of the best Netflix series, and best Netflix anime too.
Our new on Netflix guide will tell you what’s coming out, and we have new movies guide and a best movies list if you’d prefer something less skin-crawling.