Warning: Some spoilers ahead. Though if you've either read the book or seen the movie, you're cool.

Order matters. It's not true what they say: that as between a book and a movie, you inevitably prefer whichever one you read or watch first. But the order you take them in nonetheless profoundly affects the experience. You can try to be objective – claim that each work has to stand or fall on its own merits, other incarnations be damned – but it won't work. You've been tainted.

I liked The Ruins – the movie. It was tight, brutal, ruthlessly effective; along with The Strangers, one of the year's few R-rated breaths of fresh air. Though it hewed pretty closely to genre conventions, it also recombined them to come up with its own interesting take on survival horror. I appreciated the movie's simplicity (the vines are a pure, almost elemental villain); its gruesomeness that never turned into sadism or needless cruelty; its grim, harsh relentlessness. It was a gripping roller coaster of a movie; a fun ride I enjoyed, praised, and pretty much put out of my mind.

Now that I've read the book, I ask myself: Would I still have liked the movie had I gone to the book first? The answer, I think, is no. It's not that I now think I was wrong about the film; to the contrary. But Scott Smith's novel is so extraordinary a genre achievement that the movie – adapted by Smith himself – can, in retrospect, feel only like a hapless abridgement, a wispy simulacrum of the novel's all-encompassing sense of doom and spiraling psychological terror. Taking the two in reverse order would have made the film feel cheap, impotent, lame; The Ruins for Dummies.

The Ruins opened on Friday like most horror films, with a single, late Thursday night "promo" screening, to which the press was gamely invited in full knowledge that it would be too late for review, even for any reasonable web deadline. What's different about The Ruins is that it's not a remake or even a copy of any horror film of recent years. We're talking first-class material, adapted from a novel by Scott B. Smith, who wrote both the mesmerizing 1993 book A Simple Plan as well as Sam Raimi's masterful 1998 film of the same name. It's a terrific airplane novel, surprising and gripping, and Dreamworks could have made an outstanding film of it. But they threw it away, perhaps deliberately, hoping for some of that fast opening weekend green, and little caring about making something worthwhile or lasting (like A Simple Plan).

Just about anyone who follows horror has bemoaned the sorry state of the genre these days. Nearly everything is a remake, either of some 1970s or 1980s classic or of some recent Asian hit. The rare films that aren't remakes are simply lazy copies of whatever worked a year earlier, the current "torture porn" subgenre, for example. And hardly anything screens for the press, which means that even the studios now understand how low things have sunk.

The new film The Ruins likewise isn't screening for the press, but it is based -- of all things -- on an actual book! With pages! It's by Scott B. Smith, who many years ago wrote both the book and screenplay for the excellent A Simple Plan. The new movie inspired me to look up other literary-based horror movies (whether inspired by novels or short stories). Sadly, aside from Stephen King and the upcoming Midnight Meat Train (based on Clive Barker's short story), I couldn't find much good recent work, but there is plenty to choose from ...

This weekend will see three new major releases representing the romantic comedy, family, and horror genres.

Leatherheads
What's It All About: George Clooney stars in and directs this romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the rise of professional football in the 1920s.
Why It Might Do Well: Well, it's directed by Clooney, and despite the fact that every time his name comes up I feel obliged to make a crack about Batman and Robin (those wounds have yet to fully heal), his last directorial effort was the excellent Good Night and Good Luck. That film had a $7 million budget and pulled in $54.6 million worldwide.
Why It Might Not Do Well: This one should do well enough, but based on the number of theaters, I don't see this one hitting number one.
Number of Theaters: 2,700
Prediction: $19 million

Like our own Scott Weinberg, I'm a fan of the Scott B. Smith novel that is the basis for the upcoming horror flick The Ruins, though I'm hoping the filmmakers cut out certain risible elements -- not the scenes that made me wince, but ones that were so stupid they made me want to throw the book across the room. As a whole, though, the book is very good in setting up a scenario that slowly morphs from perfectly ordinary to horrifying beyond belief.

Scott pointed to posters and a "red-band" trailer last month and now two new clips have been released. They're both available on the restricted portion of the official site, where you'll need to provide your name and date of birth to gain entry. If the trailer left horror fans wondering how far they would push things in the gore department, the clips -- especially the one titled "Get It Out" -- make it clear. They're blood-soaked, but more in the vein of excruciating rather than exploitative.

For a story like The Ruins, featuring a small group of characters dealing with a terrifying situation, it needs to be grounded in reality, and I'm hoping for the best. Carter Smith makes his directorial debut; the film stars Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore and Jena Malone, all of whom look up to the task of screaming and grimacing, at least in the trailer and clips. The Ruins creeps into theaters on April 4.

[ Via Dread Central ]

One of the studio-based horror projects that I've got my eye on is The Ruins, which is based on a very fine novel by Scott B. Smith. If they hew closely enough to the source material, I'm thinking The Ruins could make for one ferociously memorable little terror flick -- but we'll have to wait until April 4 to find out.

Helmed by first-timer Carter Smith and starring folks like Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore and Jena Malone, The Ruins tells the tale of an ill-fated trip into the jungle ... but it's NOT your typical hack 'n' slash affair. Trust me on that. Two new posters for the flick gives away a little bit of who/what the antagonist is, but not enough to ruin the fun. Check out that one-sheet right here at Shock, and then head on over to JoBlo's for a peek at the second poster. (Starting to sense a theme in these posters?)

The official site also has a new "red-band" trailer up, and it's even better than the "all ages" teaser that appeared a few weeks back. Ooh, and best of all: The Ruins has been rated R by the MPAA for "strong violence and graphic images," in addition to some other adult-oriented stuff. So to those who were worried that Smith's story would be toned down for a PG-13 crowd, feel free to offer some thanks to Paramount and DreamWorks.

Some of the best times at the movies are spent either laughing or screaming, sometimes both at the same time. This week's collection of trailers are for films designed to frighten and/or amuse.

Son of Rambow
The MPAA tag says the film has earned its PG-13 rating in part because of "reckless" behavior," and some of the funniest bits in this trailer come from the stunts performed for a home made Rambo sequel. Set in the 1980s, two British school boys set out to make their own homegrown sequel to First Blood, the first of the Rambo films. One of the boys is from a strict religious family, and participating in the project conflicts with his faith. This looks like a hoot, and I was especially pleased to see Jessica Hynes (a.k.a. Jessica Stevenson) from the Simon Pegg TV series Spaced. Here's Monika's take on the trailer and James' review of the film. Check out the trailer right here:



Shutter
This remake of a Thai film deals with spirit photography, the process of photographing ghosts. There's a shot in this one of someone flipping through a series of photos, and the images act like a flip book, showing a translucent figure crawling across the floor. Yeah, that gave me the willies. There are some shots of Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson gettin' busy with some kind of other worldly entity that creeped me out, but I'm still feeling lukewarm about this one. I get the feeling this is yet another de-fanged PG-13 horror movie. Here's Patrick's take on the trailer.

At least four different people had asked me "Hey, did you read The Ruins?" before I finally got off my ass and bought a copy of the Scott Smith novel. (He also wrote the fantastic A Simple Plan, both the book and the film.) The Ruins is about five young travelers who venture deep into an unforgiving rain forest in an effort to track down a missing guy, only to find themselves trapped by natives atop a creepy hill. And that's not even remotely the worst part. Turns out there's a new breed of foliage out there -- and it does very terrible things.

Once I finished the book I was pleased to realize that the movie version was already well into production. First-timer Carter Smith is in the director's chair; Smith is on adaptation duty; and the cast includes names like Shawn Ashmore, Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone and Laura Ramsey. Release date for the DreamWorks / Paramount project is April 11, and while we don't have a trailer just yet, Bloody-Disgusting.com does have a trio of brand-new stills from the pic. (The first pic looks a LOT like how the book "looked" in my brain, so that's a good thing.) Once that trailer pops up, we'll be sure to let you know.

Oh, and the book? Good stuff. Here's hoping the studio lets Smith keep his finale intact.

Since February, I've been keeping you up-to-date on The Ruins, the latest adaptation by Scott B. Smith, the guy who wrote the novel and Oscar-nominated screenplay to A Simple Plan. Bugcrush man Carter Smith had signed on to direct, and last month, Black Donnelly star Jonathan Tucker was cast as Jeff. Now we've got the rest of the lovebird couples who stupidly think it's a good idea to follow a stranger into the jungle to find his missing brother. It's got all those thrilling aspects in place -- well meaning but stupid people, and a remote, nature location.

With principal photography beginning at the end of the month in Queensland, we've got the rest of the vacationing couples. Unfortunately, there's no word on who plays who, so you can pair the actors up for now as you see fit, and then see if you're right. There's Laura Ramsey, from Lords of Dogtown and The Covenant. Next comes Jena Malone, the Kevin Kline-kissing, Saved! pregnant Christian girl. Finally, there's none other than Shawn Ashmore, Mr. Iceman himself. It's not a bad cast -- an interesting collection of supporting actors -- although I prefer Malone much more when she's in a good comedy than in a serious piece. Then again, this is a deadly jungle thriller, so I'd say they're all up to the task. Are they enough to make you want to take a trip to The Ruins?

That kid who loved those suicidal virgins is really starting to make a name for himself. Jonathan Tucker, who played Tim Weiner in The Virgin Suicides, has been farting around for a while, finding both starring horror roles like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and supporting bits like John C. Reilly's indie flick, Criminal. Now things are starting to spin for the actor, who just had a stint as a Black Donnelly, and he just might make a more mainstream name for himself. He's already wrapped up his role as the disappeared son in Paul Haggis' upcoming In the Valley of Elah, and now he has signed on to star in the upcoming horror-thriller, The Ruins.

In February, I brought you word of the adaptation of Scott Smith's novel (the man who also wrote and adapted A Simple Plan). With Smith confirmed as the screenwriter, this should have more promise than Tucker's Chainsaw stint, since Plan earned the writer an Oscar nomination. If you haven't read Ruins, it's about two couples who head to Mexico on vacation -- Jeff/Amy and Eric/Stacy. They meet a German traveler who is desperate to find his brother, who has disappeared on some archaeological dig with a girl. Tucker will be playing Jeff, who The Hollywood Reporter says convinces the rest of his group to join this stranger on the remote dig in the middle of a jungle they're not familiar with. Of course, in typical horror fashion, something evil lurks in the jungle, and the scary horror commences. With one star tied down and principal photography to begin next month in Australia, we should have more casting news soon.

It's been almost a decade since Sam Raimi brought Scott B. Smith's debut novel and screenplay, A Simple Plan, to the big screen. You remember it, right? Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda starred in it. The film nabbed an Oscar nomination for the author and his screenplay, as well as a supporting actor nod for Billy Bob. After the best-selling success of his first piece, Smith took his time crafting his follow-up, The Ruins, which was published last year. Now, the novel has been picked up for feature treatment, and the only thing that's surprising about this is how long it took.

Production Weekly has reported that the thriller will be heading into production in the coming months (tentatively scheduled for May), but there's no word on whether Smith is once again penning the adaptation, or if someone else will be giving it a shot. Honestly, I can't see why he wouldn't, since he's proven to be skilled at changing his prose into dialogue. Carter Smith, filmmaker and photographer, has also signed on to direct the adaptation.

Similar to Plan, Ruins deals with a group of well-meaning people who find themselves embroiled in dangerous drama. Two couples, Jeff/Amy and Eric/Stacy head to Mexico after Jeff finds a great deal. While in Cozumel, they meet Mathias, a German traveller who is distressed about the disappearance of his brother, Henrich, who ran off to be with some girl on an archaeological dig. He convinces the couples to help find his missing brother, and the group, along with a Greek named Pablo, find themselves face-to-face with a horror in the jungle -- one that Stephen King has described as "suffocating, terrifying, claustrophobic." Not too bad, eh? If you're hungry for more, follow the PW link to read an excerpt that gives a lot of backstory to the characters.

* Thanks to JF for pointing out that there are two Carter Smith filmmaker/photographers. The correction has been made. MB