The Ruins: DVD Exclusive Interviews

The Ruins, a nature-bites-back horror movie based upon a bestselling novel by Scott Smith, may not have blossomed at the box office, but it's hoped that the new unrated disc will ensnare many more fans. Star Jonathan Tucker says, "A lot of people didn't see it in the theater, but for the DVD, I can't think of a more fun Saturday night with friends and a few cocktails! Especially if your guests don't know what they're in for, they'll be going, 'Oh, my gawd. What are we watching?'"

Indeed. The sublimely silly story, which is about villainous vines who are fully cognizant of their evil deeds, follows a small group of tourists vacationing in Mexico who decide to leave the beaten path… and get beaten down by Mother Nature in a big way. One thing the movie, and now on the unrated version of the DVD, doesn't shy away from is nudity, gore, and teeth-clenching violence. The thing that makes the terror that much more palpable is the fact this it's the characters who must inflict the worst of the pain upon one another: when the plants invade their bodies, the only recourse is to hack those extremities away.

In a scene that rivals Ang Lee's Ride With Devil in the cringe-factor, American college boy Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) is forced to remove both of Mathias's (Joe Anderson) legs. With nothing but a slug of whiskey and a belt to bite on, the German tourist has lost a lot more than just his luggage by the time the end-credits roll. For most of the movie, Mathias, legs horribly broken and crushed, is lying on his back in the dirt; the actor's real torso, shoulders and head are visible, while gruesome, bones-bared artificial lower limbs are doing the stunt work.

Anderson reports, "I was in a hole for days and days on end. I had to go to the gym afterward and get my back straightened out; it wasn't fun. I mean, it was fun… but it was kind of brutal, too, because I had to get into this prosthetic suit with these legs and also I was there in my underwear, you know. It was embarrassing most of the time."

While that amputation scene was quite shocking and gory for the characters, the actors turned it into playtime. It was more amusing for some than others… Anderson says Tucker "threw grapes at my head when I was half-buried in the ditch and couldn't move." When asked for his side of the story, Tucker chuckles somewhat evilly. "Uh, yeah. He was totally defenseless in that hole. It was great sport. We also had all these fake rocks up there, you know, made of Styrofoam — and at one point I fooled him when I tossed it and he thought a 25-lb boulder was coming at his head. Ah, the look on his beautiful British face! Priceless."

The Brit plays an amiable German in The Ruins, and as director Carter Smith points out on the DVD's commentary, he worked diligently to convey just the right the nuances. "It was difficult to master in some ways," says Anderson, but the main goal was just to "not sound like Peter Sellers doing a fake accent." The actor reports that he actually picked up a few tips from the female members of a German swinger's club for elderly sextarians (don't ask for more details; they're scarier than the movie!), and also from the Bavarian camera assistant on set, who'd help him toe the line whenever he misspoke.

In spite of some "Oh, I see you've still got your legs!" razzing from his friends, Anderson says looking back, the experience was pretty much a good one — but his parents really didn't like to see him "ruined" on film, and found the movie somewhat hard to take. 

When he watched the flick for the first time himself, Anderson was able to get absorbed into the story as viewer "more so than any other" of his previous films. "I was curious to see how it would cut together, and how they'd pace it. I hadn't seen any test screenings [prior to my first time seeing it] as there was very little post-production work for me to do on it. It had been awhile since I'd made the movie to the time I saw it, so I was refreshed. And I've got to say, it made me jump a couple of times. It's different, right? I mean, I haven't seen too many killer vine movies."

Tucker concurs. "When they say, 'We have to cut off his legs', you know this is not the sort of film that's going to shy away and is going to very explicit when it comes to the misadventures of these characters." Indeed, it's a vine mess the poor fodder find themselves in.

If the promise of ferocious flowers isn't enough to get you to watch this DVD, then you mustn't miss the flesh on display. Yes, it's eventually covered in blood and ravaged most savagely, but in the beginning, Tucker and his costars — Jenna Malone, Laura Ramsey and Shawn Ashmore — all drop trou and/or slip nips at some point. On the commentary, Smith laughs about "The Ruins Diet," says that everyone, knowing they'd be seen in undies and less, took to extreme exercise and severe food deprivation.

"I did the reverse," says the ever-devilish Tucker, "I did not diet! I figured Jeff wouldn't be the kind of guy to be shape." But there is a booty-baring scene in which the actor is, er, prominently featured.  While we as an audience stare at his derriere, actress Malone is seated in front of him, and, well… "When we were doing rehearsals for that, I'd kind of forgotten… I mean, I knew the crew would see and everything, but I forgot that Jenna would be getting quite the show when I dropped that towel."

The Ruins Unrated DVD will be available for purchase and rental on July 8, 2007. Read Horror.com's review of the disc here.

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