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The Ruins 2008 ★★★½
Jeff: Four Americans on vacation don't just disappear.
Womp womp. Sometimes they just do, Jeff.
Netflix does us a solid. How about that?
The Ruins starts off with four friends enjoying the typical tourist zombie stuff: beach, booze, bed, repeat. Until the most cultured one of the group (do a shot for every time the script mentions he's going to be a doctor) gets an opportunity to actually see stuff and drags the rest into a hairbrained scheme that turns out to be their undoing. The scene with the masked road. Every fiber of your being screams out this is a really bad idea. But they... ah, fuck it.
The characters were a nice change of pace compared to earlier 2000s horror. With well written characters who were at least convincing as friends. Maybe they went a tad out of their way to make Jeff so gosh darn likable, but that's nitpicking. They were written well enough for me as a viewer to want to see them survive and the most sympathetic one gets it in a horrific way. Well done, mister Smith. Good job.
I also like the switch they pull on us with the locals and the plants. Shooting a kid, shooting their friend... yaips, these people don't mess around. But the genuine evil waiting for them is much worse. Crawling up on you if you stay immobil for too long, being able to mimic sounds, getting into your body through open wounds,... Which actually makes for a nice open ending. Will she save herself or infect the rest of the world and cause even more havoc?
For fans of Netflix horror. There is some good stuff on there. You just have to find/stumble across it.
The Loved Ones 2009 ★★★★
I have seen this one pass by on a few of the many many Youtube-lists (Top 10 horror movies so and so, umpteen horror who this and that... 8, 9, 10, 11, ball park numbers really). Now that I finally got around to watching it, I can only say that it delivered on its premise and cult reputation.
The loved ones is a solid Aussie horror on a girl named Lola. She is alone, the boys will not ask her to go the dance with them, and if the boys don't come themselves, well... guess we'll just have to bring them in then.
After we set up our main characters, it gets messed up real damn quick, with a scary kidnapping and an almost dead moment. From that moment, we go on to a progressively worse piece of torture porn, revealing throughout what has really been going on, with a full circle moment to round it off. Only made worse by the (forcedly) cosy atmos between the father and the daughter. The Tanners meet the Sawyer family from Texas Chainsaw. With a hint of incest thrown in for that extra bit of discomfort.
What can I say? I was into it. Sympathizing with the main character, rooting for him to escape. And the end delivers two punch the air moments when the main bad gets
run over.
Well recommended for fans of (Aussie) horror. Good stuff.
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