When Good Vacations Go Dreadfully Wrong

So...you may see a bit of a theme on this blog at times. I tend to gravitate toward stories of vacation misadventures as a rule. Whether I'm writing the story (yes, I'm a writer!) or someone else is, it's that theme I seek out again and again. This could have to do with a very bad vacation in the Caribbean that changed my life forever over three years ago. Or maybe I just like watching other people go through the worst possible vacations from the safety of my own armchair. (Sidenote: I don't actually have an armchair. I sit in bed or on the couch most of the time while on the computer.)

So today I'm going to discuss a movie (based on a book by Scott Smith) that goes along with this theme, just to warm us up.

The Ruins



From IMDB: A group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when they, along with a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.

This movie does not disappoint in that it follows a very common horror movie trope. When Americans (and sometimes British or Australian, sometimes European, sometimes a mixed batch) travel outside their resort comfort zone and dreadful things happen. These movies tend to uphold an age old cautionary tale. Don't leave your borders, don't travel too far outside the box, never be too comfortable with your privilege. In this movie, two American couples and a German (My memory is a little hazy because i in the book a guy from Greece also joins them) leave their very comfortable Cancun resort to help the German man look for his missing brother. They end up imprisoned on some Mayan ruins. And then things really go downhill. I won't reveal any more, aside from it makes Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors look like a fluffy kitten in comparison.


Vacation gone wrong factor: * * * * * (can't have a suckier vacation than being eaten by an evil plant)

Did I care about the characters factor: * * (not really, they were spoiled and annoying most of the time)

Verdict: * * * (Book was way better (and darker)).