The Ruins (2008)

The Ruins is a 2008 supernatural horror film directed by Carter Smith and written by Scott Smith, based on his 2006 novel of the same name. The film stars Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey, and Joe Anderson.

Two young American couples — Jeff, Amy, Eric, and Stacy — enjoy their vacation in Mexico. They meet Mathias, a German tourist, who is looking for his brother Heinrich. His last known location is an archaeological dig at a remote Mayan ruin in the jungle. They are also joined by Dimitri, Mathias's friend. The group reaches the ruins of a Mayan temple, and are confronted by Mayan villagers armed with knives, bows, arrows, and a gun. Mathias tries to explain their purpose, but the villagers do not understand Spanish or English. When Amy accidentally steps on some vines, the villagers become extremely agitated. Dimitri approaches the villagers, hoping to appease them, but they shoot and kill him. The rest of the group flees up the steps of the ruins.

At the top, they find an abandoned camp and a shaft in the center. They hear a phone ringing from somewhere inside the ruins. The group lowers Mathias down the shaft with a rope, but it breaks and Mathias falls, becoming paralyzed. Amy and Jeff descend the temple steps hoping to reason with the Mayans, but to no success. In anger, Amy throws a clump of vines which hit a young boy, whom the Mayans promptly kill. They realize the Mayans are afraid of the vines, and will not let them leave as they have all touched them. Later, Stacy and Amy descend the shaft to rescue Mathias.

The next morning, Stacy sees a tendril of vine has crept into a wound on her leg. The vines have also wrapped themselves around Mathias's lower legs and eaten them down to the bone. Eric and Jeff are barely able to remove the vines from Stacy, but cannot get them off of Mathias. The phone is heard again from deep in the shaft so Stacy and Amy descend again. In a small, vine-covered room, the two find the body of the young archaeologist, Heinrich's friend, and a broken phone. They then realize that the ringing sound was made by the flowers of the vine. As Amy touches one flower, the vines attack and the two barely escape.

As Mathias' condition worsens, Jeff amputates his legs to avoid an infection. Stacy becomes jealous at Eric comforting a distraught Amy and accuses them of having sex. While the four argue, the vines suffocate Mathias.

In the morning Eric brings Amy and Jeff into the tent and tells Stacy to show them the vines underneath her skin. Eric uses a knife to remove the vine from her leg and spine. Stacy tries to take the knife, claiming that the vines are in her head. The rest of the group watches her as a vine moves under the skin in her forehead, revealing that her fears are true.

The next morning, Stacy awakens and leaves the tent where the rest of the group is sleeping. She finds a backpack, which contains a knife. Jeff hears moans coming from outside and goes to see what is going on. Jeff walks over to Stacy trying to calm her down as she has a deep gash on her forehead and is slicing up her thigh to get a vine out. He touches her and she flails the knife at him, slicing his palm. Eric also tries to calm her, but she spins around and fatally stabs him in the chest. While the rest try to restrain Stacy, Eric is dragged away by the vines. Overcome with remorse, Stacy begs Amy to kill her, and Jeff kills her as an act of mercy.

Jeff makes a plan for Amy to escape. He smears Stacy's blood all over her, then carries her to the bottom of the temple and lays her on the ground. He then provokes and berates the Mayans, drawing their attention away from Amy. The Mayans eventually shoot Jeff with arrows. Amy gets up and runs through the jungle with the Mayans chasing after her. Jeff is killed by the Mayan leader with a gunshot to the head. After escaping from the Mayans, Amy reaches the Jeep and manages to drive away.

After Amy's escape, Dimitri's two Greek friends are seen walking through the woods and come up to the temple, looking for him.